The use of fake non-machine readable Nepali passports has been increasing more than 100 percent every year. According to data obtained by Republica from the Department of Immigration (DoI), the number of fake non-machine readable passports and visas (which have to be filled in by hand) that were recorded in 2013 was 873 while the figure was just 485 in 2012. 

 

Most of those arrested with the fake passports were returning to Nepal after their employment in foreign countries, mostly in the Gulf.  “People get arrested while returning to Nepal at the end of their employment in foreign countries,” said Sarad Chandra Poudel, director general at DoI. 

 

He said that the technological resources available at Tribhuwan International Airport can easily identify the fake passports. The DoI has established that the original photographs in the passports are tampered with by both Nepali and Indian nationals.

 

“Tampering with photos is one of the major things seen in preliminary investigations in most cases,” Paudel said, adding, “Apart from photos in the passports, people also change the date of birth and profession, for purposes of foreign employment.” 

 

The authorities say that Nepalis are found either understating or overstating their age in a bid to secure employment in foreign countries. They argue that altering the date of birth raises the chances of foreign employment. 

 

The highest number of such fake passports, 154, was recorded in the month of September in 2013 while only 37 cases were recorded in December of the same year. “The highest number was recorded in September as many Nepalis were coming home for Dashain,” a DoI staffer at the legal section told Republica.

 

Apart from Nepali and Indian nationals, 8 of those arrested with fake travel documents the same year were Iranian, 4 were Nigerian and 4 Bangladeshi, with 1 from Guinea. Likewise, the DoI investigated 1,514 cases involving fake passports and visas, including cases in which the foreign nationals were subsequently deported or refused entry to Nepal. 

 

The DoI had seized 138 fake Nepali non-machine readable passports from Nepali and Indian nationals in 2011 whereas the number seized in 2010 was just 48. DoI officials argue that the porous Nepal-India border is another major reason behind the proliferation of such fake passports.

 

“There is no chance of people travelling with fake passports from Nepal, so they go overseas via Delhi, India, and get arrested while returning to Nepal” said Rameshwor Khanal, an officer at the legal department at DoI. However, Khanal claimed that the trend of using fake non-machine readable passports will decline once machine readable passports (MRP) replace the non-machine readables. 

 

“Once the MRPs replace the hand-written passports, the use of fakes will go down remarkably,” he concluded. “However, there are possibilities of duplicate MRPs also,” he cautioned.