Nepal NP

A tourist can legally fly a drone in Nepal, but only after a bureaucratic, multi-step process: CAAN now requires every drone to be registered regardless of weight, and any flight beyond your own private property under about 60 m needs separate clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Department of Tourism, plus a further, costly park permit if you plan to fly in a national park or conservation area such as the Everest/Khumbu region. Customs at Tribhuvan International Airport commonly flags or holds undeclared/unapproved drones, since CAAN will not register a drone without a customs clearance certificate. Casual visitors without weeks of lead time should not expect to fly on a whim.

Draft: not yet reviewedUpdated 24 Sept 2026Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) — Flight Safety Standards Department (FSSD)

39Fly score

37Import score

38Combined

Your plan

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1 thing to sort out before you fly

Register your drone in Nepal
Must be completed in person at CAAN's FSSD office in Kathmandu (Sinamangal Road) with the drone present, passport, drone photos showing the serial number, manufacturer specifications, and a customs clearance certificate obtained on arrival. The online portal exists but is reported to go offline for days or weeks at a time, so plan to register in person if needed. Fee: 10 USD (Reported as roughly USD 10-50 plus 13% VAT depending on drone category. One other source instead cites NPR 10,000-15,000 (roughly USD 75-115), which may bundle in agency/service fees rather than reflecting the CAAN fee alone — treat the exact figure as unconfirmed.). Allow about 42 days before your trip.
Open official page
Bringing your drone in
No blanket personal-use exemption was found. A drone must be declared at the Customs Red Channel at Tribhuvan International Airport, and CAAN will not register a drone without a customs clearance certificate issued on arrival — in practice this means an undeclared or unapproved drone is commonly flagged, held, or requires extra processing at the airport rather than simply passing through with checked luggage. Drones are expected to carry CE marking. A customs clearance certificate is a prerequisite for CAAN registration, effectively linking import clearance to the ability to fly legally at all. Batteries: No Nepal-specific rule was found; assume standard international air-travel lithium-battery limits apply (carry-on only, spare batteries under the usual 100/160 Wh airline limits) — relevant given many popular flying areas are at high altitude, which also reduces battery performance.
Before each flight
Every drone must be registered with CAAN regardless of weight (an update reported through the 2025-2026 season removed the earlier exemption for very light/sub-250 g drones) · Flying on your own private property, under roughly 2 kg and below about 60-120 m (sources cite both a 200 ft/2 kg private-property exemption and a general 120 m/394 ft ceiling), needs no separate flight authorisation beyond registration · Any flight above that, in public space, or with a heavier drone needs prior authorisation from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Department of Tourism in addition to CAAN — this is separate from, and on top of, basic registration

Flying

VisitorsPermit needed

Max altitude120 m

Line of sightRequired

Night flightsBanned

Every drone must be registered with CAAN regardless of weight (an update reported through the 2025-2026 season removed the earlier exemption for very light/sub-250 g drones)
Flying on your own private property, under roughly 2 kg and below about 60-120 m (sources cite both a 200 ft/2 kg private-property exemption and a general 120 m/394 ft ceiling), needs no separate flight authorisation beyond registration
Any flight above that, in public space, or with a heavier drone needs prior authorisation from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Department of Tourism in addition to CAAN — this is separate from, and on top of, basic registration
Maximum horizontal range from the pilot is 500 m, and visual line of sight must be maintained at all times
No flying within about 5 km of airports or international borders, within 1 km of religious/heritage sites, government buildings or military installations, or within 150 m of gatherings of 1,000+ people
Daylight flight only; no night flying reported as permitted
National parks and conservation areas (Sagarmatha/Everest, Annapurna, Langtang, Manaslu, etc.) require a further, separate permit from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation or the relevant conservation-area authority, on top of the CAAN/ministry authorisation — the Everest/Khumbu region is reported as the most tightly regulated airspace in the country given it is simultaneously a national park, UNESCO site and sensitive border area
Even with all permits in hand, flying can still draw complaints from other trekkers or police about noise, and confiscation has been reported in practice even where paperwork was valid — treat permits as necessary but not sufficient for trouble-free flying

Commercial use: Same multi-ministry route (CAAN, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Tourism, plus park/conservation authority where relevant) applies to commercial and production work, typically at higher fees; foreign operators cannot apply directly and in practice work through a registered Nepali trekking or production agency.

Registration & classes

Registration	Yes (all drones) Must be completed in person at CAAN's FSSD office in Kathmandu (Sinamangal Road) with the drone present, passport, drone photos showing the serial number, manufacturer specifications, and a customs clearance certificate obtained on arrival. The online portal exists but is reported to go offline for days or weeks at a time, so plan to register in person if needed.
Pilot test	No No remote pilot licence required for hobbyist/tourist drone flying. Not required for hobbyist, tourist or (per most sources) commercial operation; CAAN's process is registration- and permit-based rather than pilot-certification-based.
Remote ID	No No electronic Remote ID broadcast requirement was found. Instead, CAAN issues a Unique Identification Number (UIN) on registration that must be physically marked on the drone's chassis.
Insurance	No Not legally required for any category found, but recommended, especially for commercial or higher-value operations.
Foreign registration accepted	No Foreigners cannot apply for flight authorisation independently in most reported cases — the practical route is through a registered Nepali trekking or production agency, which coordinates the Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Tourism, CAAN and any park-authority approvals. Budget a minimum of 2-4 weeks for the multi-ministry flight authorisation alone; sources recommend starting 6-8 weeks ahead of a trek, and Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park permits specifically are reported to take 60-90 days. Basic CAAN registration by itself (before any flight authorisation) has been reported as taking anywhere from about 3 business days to 7-15 working days depending on the source and drone category — treat this as an additional, not alternative, step to the ministry authorisation. Expect total costs for the full process (registration, ministry clearance, agency fees, and any park permit) to run from roughly USD 500 up to several thousand dollars for a national-park shoot such as Sagarmatha.

Weight classes

Class	Weight	Rules
Under 2 kg, private property, low altitude	< 2 kg, on own property, roughly under 60-120 m	Still requires CAAN registration (as of the 2025-2026 update), but no separate multi-ministry flight authorisation needed if kept on private property at low altitude.
2 kg and over, or public space, or higher altitude	≥ 2 kg, or any public-space/higher-altitude flight	Requires registration plus prior authorisation from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Department of Tourism in addition to CAAN. National park/conservation area flights need a further separate permit from the park authority.

Import & export

ImportPermit needed

Customs dutyVaries

VAT / sales tax13 %

Radio certificationYes

No blanket personal-use exemption was found. A drone must be declared at the Customs Red Channel at Tribhuvan International Airport, and CAAN will not register a drone without a customs clearance certificate issued on arrival — in practice this means an undeclared or unapproved drone is commonly flagged, held, or requires extra processing at the airport rather than simply passing through with checked luggage.
Drones are expected to carry CE marking. A customs clearance certificate is a prerequisite for CAAN registration, effectively linking import clearance to the ability to fly legally at all.
Batteries: No Nepal-specific rule was found; assume standard international air-travel lithium-battery limits apply (carry-on only, spare batteries under the usual 100/160 Wh airline limits) — relevant given many popular flying areas are at high altitude, which also reduces battery performance.
Declare the drone at the Customs Red Channel on arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport; do not use the Green Channel.
CAAN registration — required for every drone regardless of weight — cannot be completed without the customs clearance certificate obtained at this step, so an undeclared drone cannot be legally registered or flown afterward.
Carrying a printed copy of any pre-arranged permit approval is reported to speed up customs clearance; travelling without any pre-approval increases the chance of the drone being held pending further paperwork.

Export

No drone-specific export control information was found; general Nepali customs rules for personal electronics would apply to taking a registered drone back out of the country.

Costs

Operator registration	10 USD (≈ €9) · Reported as roughly USD 10-50 plus 13% VAT depending on drone category. One other source instead cites NPR 10,000-15,000 (roughly USD 75-115), which may bundle in agency/service fees rather than reflecting the CAAN fee alone — treat the exact figure as unconfirmed. Validity: Flight permits (as opposed to the base registration) are reported as valid about 3 months; a separate validity period for the registration/UIN itself was not confirmed.
No remote pilot licence required for hobbyist/tourist drone flying	Not needed
Import taxes	? % duty + 13 % VAT Usually only for drones you buy abroad and bring in to keep.

Guides

Flying a drone in Nepal as a tourist Visitors

Declare the drone at customs on arrival
Go through the Customs Red Channel at Tribhuvan International Airport and declare the drone to get the customs clearance certificate — CAAN will not register a drone without it.
Register the drone with CAAN
Every drone now needs registration regardless of weight. Do this in person at the FSSD office in Kathmandu (Sinamangal Road) with your passport, the drone, and the customs clearance certificate — the online portal is unreliable. Open
Work with a registered Nepali trekking or production agency for flight authorisation
Unless you'll only fly a sub-2 kg drone low over your own private property, you need Ministry of Home Affairs and Department of Tourism clearance in addition to CAAN — foreigners generally cannot apply for this directly. Start at least 6-8 weeks before you need to fly.
Get a separate park permit for Everest/Khumbu or any national park
Sagarmatha National Park and other conservation areas require their own permit from the park/conservation authority on top of the above — for Sagarmatha this is reported around USD 1,500 plus surcharge, and can take 60-90 days. Stay outside the roughly 5 km no-fly buffer around Lukla airport.
Fly conservatively even with permits in hand
Stay within the altitude/distance limits, avoid crowds and sensitive sites, and expect that noise complaints from other trekkers or local police can still lead to confiscation even when your paperwork is valid.

Sources

Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal — Unmanned Aircraft System Requirements (UASR), Flight Safety Standards Department · accessed 24 Sept 2026
drone-laws.com — Nepal Drone Laws 2026 · accessed 24 Sept 2026
The Longest Way Home — Flying Drones in Nepal 2026: Complete Permit & Registration Guide (CAAN Requirements) · accessed 24 Sept 2026
Adventure Bound Nepal — Nepal Drone Regulations 2026: Permits, Rules & Cost · accessed 24 Sept 2026

How the score is built

Fly score 39

Operator registration−15
Night flight banned−8
Visitors need a flight permit−20
Visitors must register locally−10
Long lead time (42 days)−8

Import score 37

Import permit−40
Duty + VAT ≈ 18 %−11
Radio / type certification−12

Every score starts at 100 and loses points for each requirement. How scoring works