Volunteering in Nepal: what the law says, what to avoid, how to help

A tourist visa forbids volunteering

• Nepal's immigration rules (Immigration Rules 2051, rule 20) forbid tourist visa holders from working “with or without remuneration” in any business or organisation. Volunteering for an NGO, a school, a children's home, a farm or a guesthouse falls under this rule, including work in exchange for food and lodging.
• There is no volunteer visa. The only legal route is a non-tourist “Working” visa, requested by an organisation that has an agreement with the Nepali state (Social Welfare Council or the relevant ministry), together with a work permit. A traveller cannot obtain it alone, nor on arrival: every visa issued at the border is a tourist visa. Non-tourist visas are covered on Visa Nepal.
• This visa costs about 30 to 75 USD (≈ €27 to €67) per month depending on the type of organisation; the Department of Immigration's pages do not all give the same figure (October 2026). It is granted for one year at most, renewable.
• Teaching in a school also requires a recommendation from the Ministry of Education.

Orphanages and children's homes: stay away

• “Paper orphans”: recruiters promise schooling to poor families in remote districts, then place the children in homes in tourist areas, where they are presented as orphans to attract donations and volunteers. The US State Department describes this pattern in its 2025 and 2026 Trafficking in Persons reports.
• Volunteering keeps the system going: every paying visitor makes the institution profitable, and the constant departures of volunteers make children relive abandonment. Child protection organisations (Better Care Network, Save the Children, ChildSafe) advise against any volunteering in residential care; the Australian government officially discourages it.
• Public oversight is weakening: Nepali law makes residential care a last resort, but the budget passed in 2026 plans to dissolve the body that inspects children's homes (National Child Rights Council), with no successor named so far.

What is on offer and what it costs

Prices checked in October 2026 on the platforms' and agencies' websites, often undated. Some agencies still offer work with children in 2026, including to minors: see the previous section.

Volunteering on a farm

Skilled and long-term volunteering

• Doctors: the Himalayan Rescue Association recruits doctors each season, preferably in emergency or general medicine, for its aid posts in Pheriche (4,250 m) and Manang (3,550 m), for at least three months. Every foreign doctor needs temporary permission from the Nepal Medical Council, tied to a facility.
• National long-term schemes: one- to two-year placements through programmes such as the US Peace Corps (97 volunteers in Nepal in June 2026) or the French international solidarity volunteering scheme (VSI), where the sending organisation handles the visa. Check whether your own country has an equivalent.
• Large NGOs: international NGOs working in Nepal (Humanity & Inclusion, Action Against Hunger, Karuna-Shechen…) employ professionals, Nepali or expatriate; they do not offer short-term volunteering.
• English teaching and building work: these are the most criticised short placements. Reconstruction after the 2015 earthquake is largely complete, and an unskilled volunteer often takes the place of a local worker or teacher.

Judging an organisation: seven criteria

• No placements in orphanages or children's homes.
• Required skills and a minimum duration: several weeks, ideally several months, with selection before sign-up.
• Published accounts and a figure-by-figure breakdown of what your fees pay for.
• A written child protection policy, and a criminal record check before any contact with minors.
• A locally designed and led project that does not replace a local job.
• Verifiable registration: a District Administration Office certificate and current affiliation with the Social Welfare Council for a Nepali NGO (renewed every year), a general agreement with the Social Welfare Council for a foreign NGO. Many volunteering agencies are registered as commercial companies and escape this oversight.
• A clear answer on the visa, rather than “a tourist visa is fine”.

Other ways to help while travelling

Food and lodging paid by the agency on top. This scale was still the reference at the end of 2025; no revision has been published since. The “20 to 40 USD (≈ €18 to €36) per day” some agencies display is the price charged to the client, not the wage. Customary tips, with no official rule: ≈ 15 to 20 USD (≈ €13 to €18) per day for the guide and 8 to 10 USD (≈ €7 to €9) per day per porter, for the whole group, in cash at the end of the trek and handed to each person directly.

Donating to an organisation

• Nepali NGO: ask for its District Administration Office registration certificate, its current Social Welfare Council affiliation and its latest audit report.
• Children: support family reunification and family-based care programmes rather than children's homes.
• International NGOs: Humanity & Inclusion, Action Against Hunger and Karuna-Shechen run projects in Nepal in 2025-2026; several organisations launched appeals after the glacial flood of 26 August 2026 in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts.
• Tax relief: check whether your donation is tax-deductible in your country, and verify charity labels in their official directories rather than on the charity's own page.