Nepal's Department of Immigration is deporting 88 Chinese nationals who entered on business visas issued for activities associated with other companies but were found working at a Chinese-funded buffalo-meat processing project in Sindhuli district. Their visas were cancelled and fines imposed under Nepal's immigration laws, and they have been barred from entering Nepal for three years. The deportation process was initiated on September 23.
Immigration officials also identified a further 329 Chinese nationals who had entered on tourist visas and were working at the same project. Department of Immigration Director General Ram Chandra Tiwari said on Saturday (October 17) that those on tourist visas can obtain labour permits or complete the required procedures and leave within the stipulated period of 20 days to one month.
"During our inspection, we found that these people were not here to engage in wrongdoing or theft; they were genuinely working," Tiwari said. Officials said the Chinese Embassy made an informal request for flexibility, citing the scale of the investment. Officials described the approach as a middle path — deportation where visa fraud was established, and time to regularise for the others.
The project — a heat-processed buffalo meat export venture at Sahan in Marin Rural Municipality, Sindhuli, in financial partnership with a Chengdu-based food company — carries a promised investment of NPR 20 billion, among the largest Chinese investments in Nepal.
Under Nepal's Immigration Rules, 1994, business-visa holders must remain in Nepal for the purposes for which their visas were issued; such visas cannot be used for employment.
88 Chinese nationals being deported, barred for 3 years • 329 others on tourist visas given 20 days to a month to regularise or leave • Sindhuli buffalo-meat export project, promised NPR 20 billion investment • Process initiated September 23
Sources: IANS; Online Khabar reporting via HamroBichar.