Trekking permit paperwork checklist, passport and photos

For most Nepal treks the paperwork is a passport, a few passport photos, your visa and your insurance details, plus an itinerary for restricted areas. For a Restricted Area Permit your agency needs copies of your passport and visa, photos and your planned route and dates, because the permit lists them, and our region pages advise allowing at least a few working days for processing. For national park and conservation area permits, bring the passport and photos and expect to fill in a form. The Khumbu trek card needs a passport and a photo, according to the municipality.

This checklist covers what to bring for each permit, how long things take, how to copy and carry the documents, and how groups share the paperwork. It uses our permit data as of October 2026 and the route and region pages on this site. For the permits themselves, see Nepal trekking permits explained, and for what happens at checkpoints, see permit checkpoints and what to expect.

The core documents

Every permit application starts from the same few items:

1. Passport. Bring the original to the permit office or give your agency a clear copy of the photo page. Permits are issued against your passport number, so the name and number on every permit must match.
2. Passport-sized photos. Bring several. Our Manaslu region page advises several photos, and the Khumbu trek card needs one. Some agencies accept digital photos instead, so ask which they want and in what format.
3. Visa details. Your agency needs the visa number, validity and entry stamp for a restricted-area application. If your visa is short for the trek, extend it first; our visa guide explains how.
4. Travel insurance details. Keep the policy number and emergency phone number with you. Our route pages list helicopter evacuation as a requirement: to about 6,000 m for Everest Base Camp, above 5,000 m for the Manaslu Circuit and above 4,000 m for Langtang. Check that your policy covers the altitude you will reach.
5. Itinerary. A rough day-by-day plan with dates. For restricted areas the permit lists your route and dates, so a changed route may need a new application.
6. Cash. Some fees, such as the Khumbu trek card, are paid in rupees on the trail.

Which permit needs what

The Langtang region page says the park permit can be bought at the Nepal Tourism Board in Kathmandu or at the entrance in Dhunche, and the Dolpo and Rara pages describe buying at a checkpost or park office. Check where your route's permit is sold before you travel.

How long it takes

For open-area treks, allow a working day in Kathmandu or Pokhara: buy the permits, check every line, and keep the receipts. Offices are closed on public holidays and Saturdays, so do not plan to buy permits on the day before a flight. For a Restricted Area Permit, our Manaslu region page says to allow at least a few working days for processing, and our permit guides say the agency usually processes it in Kathmandu once your documents are ready. Send the documents as early as you can; a late visa extension or a missing photo is the usual cause of delay.

The permit fee is separate from the paperwork. As of October 2026 the Manaslu restricted-area permit is USD 100 for the first week plus USD 15 a day beyond it from September to November, and USD 75 plus USD 10 a day from December to August; Upper Mustang is USD 50 a day. See the Manaslu and Upper Mustang permit guides for the steps.

Checking the permit before you leave

A permit with a mistake is easier to fix in the office than at a checkpoint. Check each line against your passport:

• Your full name, spelled as in the passport.
• The passport number and nationality.
• The route and the entry and exit dates, for restricted areas.
• The number of people, if you are in a group.
• Any stamp or signature that the issuing office should have added.

Photograph the permit on the spot. If anything is wrong, ask the office or your agency to correct it before you leave town.

Copying and carrying

Treat the documents as the most important item in your day pack:

• Originals in a zip bag, in the day pack you carry yourself, not in a duffel a porter takes a day ahead. Checkposts at places such as Jagat, Philim, Namrung and Samagaun on the Manaslu Circuit, and at Monjo in Sagarmatha National Park, inspect them.
• Paper copies of each permit and of your passport photo page and visa page. A staff member may keep a photocopy.
• Photos on your phone, backed up offline and to cloud storage, so you can show details if a paper is lost.
• A copy at home. Send a scan of the passport, visa, insurance and permits to a trusted person.

Keep the paper permits until you leave the park or conservation area. If you lose one, photograph what remains, tell your agency or guide, and ask the issuing office what to do. Our guide on what happens without a permit covers the consequences.

Paperwork for groups

When you share a trek, everyone's permits should be for the same route and dates. Agree who holds the group paperwork and who pays for what. For a restricted area the agency has to list every trekker, so a late joiner costs time. Give each person a folder with photos of everyone's permits, and agree what happens if one person drops out. Our guide on what to agree with trekking partners covers the conversation, and the guide rule explainer covers the guide, which is part of the paperwork in restricted areas and which 2026 operator reports say checkpoints enforce in Annapurna and Langtang but not in Khumbu (checked 19 October 2026).

What to keep on your phone

A good phone folder is the cheapest insurance against lost paper. Keep clear photos of the passport photo page, the visa page and the entry stamp, each permit with its number visible, the TIMS card, your insurance policy with the emergency phone number and policy number, your flight tickets and the agency's contact details. Save them offline, not only in cloud storage, because coverage on the trail is patchy, and back them up to cloud storage before you leave so that a lost phone does not lose the lot. Name the files clearly, for example "ACAP permit" rather than "IMG_2041", so that you or a guide can find one quickly at a checkpoint.

A short timeline

1. Weeks before. Check your visa length and your insurance; contact the agency for a restricted-area trek.
2. A week or more before a restricted-area trek. Send passport and visa copies, photos and the itinerary to the agency.
3. In Kathmandu or Pokhara. Buy the open-area permits, check every line, photograph them.
4. At the trailhead. Keep the originals in your day pack and carry cash for fees paid on the trail.
5. On the trail. Show the permits at each checkpoint and keep them until you leave the protected area.

For specific routes see the Annapurna Circuit, Everest Base Camp and Manaslu Circuit pages, the Annapurna, Everest and Langtang regions, and the permits page for the current fee table. More rules guides are in the permits and rules hub.