How remittance to Nepal actually works

The formal channel means sending money through an entity NRB has licensed to handle remittance: a commercial bank, a licensed remittance company (like IME, Prabhu Money Transfer or City Express, among others), or an international operator such as Western Union or MoneyGram working through a licensed local partner. These transfers get reported to NRB, count toward Nepal's official remittance inflow figures, and come with a traceable transaction reference.

Hundi is the informal alternative: you hand cash to a local agent abroad, and a counterpart in Nepal pays your family in local currency, settling the books between themselves outside any bank. It is illegal under Nepal's Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, and NRB actively discourages it, not just as a technicality. Hundi bypasses the banking system entirely, so the exchange rate is whatever the agent decides, there is no receipt if the money never arrives, and no regulator to complain to. Workers have lost entire months of wages to hundi agents who simply disappeared. It can feel faster or slightly cheaper in the moment, but you are trusting a stranger with no license and no oversight.

The actual sending process is fairly similar whether you are in the Gulf, Malaysia, South Korea or elsewhere: you go through a bank branch, an exchange house, or a remittance company's app or agent counter in your host country.

On the Nepal side there are two basic ways the money reaches your family, and which one applies depends on how you sent it.

If you sent it as a direct bank transfer, it lands in the receiver's bank account, usually the same day or within a day or two, once it clears through the correspondent bank and NRB's settlement system. If you sent it through a remittance company for cash pickup, your family takes the transaction code and their citizenship certificate to any branch or agent counter of that company anywhere in Nepal, not just near their home, and collects the cash on the spot after the clerk verifies the code and their ID.

Processing time in practice: bank-to-bank transfers commonly settle within a few hours to two business days depending on the corridor and the receiving bank; cash pickup through remittance company counters is often available within minutes of the sender completing the transaction, since the Nepal-side agent releases cash against the code rather than waiting for underlying fund settlement. Confirm current processing times with your specific bank or remittance company, since they vary by country pair and by which intermediary bank is involved.

NRB also runs a facility called the Foreign Employment Savings Bond (Bideshi Rojgar Bachat Patra), aimed specifically at Nepalis working abroad who want a safe, interest-bearing place to park savings rather than spending everything sent home immediately. It is issued periodically and sold through commercial banks, with proceeds meant to support returnee migrant workers and their families.

The bond's interest rate, minimum purchase amount, and issue windows change from one issuance to the next, so if this interests you, ask a commercial bank branch or check NRB's website for the current issue rather than relying on a rate you heard secondhand.

NRB also regulates the reverse flow, Nepalis inside the country sending foreign currency abroad for study, medical treatment or business purposes, through its foreign exchange facility rules. Students going abroad for approved courses can remit tuition and living costs through their bank against admission documents; patients travelling for treatment not available in Nepal can remit funds against a referral from a recognized hospital; and businesses can remit for approved imports, services or investment within NRB's current account and capital account rules. Each category has its own documentation requirements and a ceiling on how much foreign currency a bank can release without additional NRB approval. Those ceilings are exactly the kind of figure NRB revises in its annual monetary policy and periodic directives, so confirm the current limit and the paperwork needed with your bank before assuming last year's number still applies.