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Health Alert – U.S. Embassy, Kathmandu, Nepal
By
10 MINUTE READ
April 4, 2020

Location:  Nepal Countrywide

Event:  COVID-19 Response

Good morning to all.  This message will largely focus on the repatriation flight tomorrow as we finalize Embassy preparations and as travelers finalize their personal preparation.  The flight is scheduled to depart at 12:15 pm tomorrow, Sunday, April 5.  It is a charter flight procured by the U.S. government and operated by Qatar Airways.  The flight will transit Doha, Qatar then proceed to Dulles International Airport (IAD) in the Washington, DC, metro area.  Arrival time to IAD is scheduled for 11:25 pm Eastern Standard Time, Sunday, April 5.

The first thing we want to verify is that prospective travelers have received an email from the Embassy asking them to confirm their participation in the flight.  Our priority is U.S. citizens; we sent an invitation email yesterday to all U.S. citizens with whom we have been in contact, offering a seat on tomorrow’s flight.  We understand from a few travelers that the email was sent to their spam/junk folder, so if you have not seen an email from us in your primary inbox, please check the spam folder.  If you still do not see the invitation, please contact us immediately at consktm@state.gov or call us at 01 423 4000.  Invitation emails for U.S. legal permanent residents (LPRs – green card holders) are beginning to go out today and will continue throughout the day as invitation email responses from other travelers are confirmed or declined.

For those confirmed on the flight tomorrow, there are a few items to note:

1)      Please double-check your luggage.  There is a strict limit of no more than two checked bags per person, up to 23kg of weight each.  If you arrive at our staging venue with more that two checked bags per person, we will ask you to dispose of the extra luggage before entering the staging location.

2)      Please complete U.S. government form DS-5528, Evacuee Manifest and Promissory Note (promissory note).  Submitting this form is a requirement to board the flight, and it commits you to reimbursing the U.S. government for the flight after arrival in the U.S.  You will not pay anything today or tomorrow.

3)      Please check your Nepali visa.  If your Nepali visa is expired, please fill out a visa extension form to submit to Nepali immigration at the airport.  This form can be located at:  visa extension form.  Our understanding is that any traveler with a visa that expired after March 21 will be charged a $45 extension fee, payable in U.S. dollars or the equivalent in Nepali rupees.  Please ensure that you have sufficient cash with you before you arrive at the staging location to cover any visa extension and/or penalty fees.  Any traveler with a visa expired March 21 or before will be charged $45 plus $5 per day from the expiration date until the date of travel, April 5.

To the extent possible, please come to the staging venue with the two forms completely filled out.  This will greatly facilitate processing tomorrow.  If no printer is available to you, we will have blank copies available at the staging location.

Approximate pricing information for tomorrow’s flight, though subject to change, is as follows:

Adults:  $1,375 per person; children:  $1,100; infants:  $130

(Please note:  It is our understanding that “children” includes ages 2-11, and “infant” includes babies less than two years old.)

Just a reminder that the flight is a charter flight, which just happens to be operated by Qatar Airways.  It is not a regularly scheduled Qatar Airways flight, so frequent flyer club members with Qatar Airways will not be eligible for miles or any status benefits on this flight.

All U.S. citizens who have not expressed interest in this flight must plan to be here in Nepal, sheltering in place, at least until such time as commercial flight service to and from Nepal resumes.

Actions to Take:

  • Consult the Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population website for the latest updates on the health situation in Nepal.
  • Consult the Government of Nepal’s Immigration Department website for the latest updates about immigration restrictions in Nepal.
  • Consult the U.S. Embassy website for updates on Nepal-specific COVID-19 information, entry to and exit from Nepal, quarantine information, and for other local resource contact information. 

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