Nepal–India and Nepal–China Border Crossings: Full Directory

Nepal shares an open border of roughly 1,800 kilometres with India on the east, south and west, and a high-Himalayan border of about 1,400 kilometres with China's Tibet Autonomous Region in the north. Citizens of Nepal and India cross the southern border freely under the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1950 (2007 BS), but all goods must clear designated customs points, and third-country nationals may enter or exit only through immigration checkpoints designated under the Immigration Act, 2049 (1992 AD); crossing anywhere else is an offence.

The Department of Immigration (DoI) runs immigration offices at Tribhuvan International Airport and at land entry/exit points on both borders, while the newer international airports at Bhairahawa and Pokhara also process arrivals. Each land crossing pairs a Nepali border town with a counterpart town in India or China and ties into the national highway network of the Department of Roads — which is why searches such as 'Kakarbhitta border' or 'Birgunj border to Kathmandu road' are as much about highways as about immigration.

Kakarbhitta (also written Kakarvitta) in Jhapa district is Nepal's easternmost road gateway and the eastern terminus of the East–West (Mahendra) Highway. The Mechi bridge crosses the Mechi River to Panitanki in West Bengal, from where roads continue to Siliguri, roughly 35 kilometres away, and on to Darjeeling, Sikkim and Kolkata. A DoI immigration office issues visas on arrival, the bazaar is a hub for buses to Kathmandu, and Bhadrapur airport lies nearby.

Birgunj in Parsa district, facing Raxaul in Bihar, is Nepal's most important trade artery, handling the largest share of the country's commerce with India and with third countries via Kolkata port. It operates through an Integrated Check Post (ICP) inaugurated in April 2018 (Chaitra 2074 BS) and is served by the rail-linked Sirsiya dry port, operational since 2004. An immigration office processes foreign travellers, and traffic runs north to Pathlaiya on the East–West Highway, continuing to Kathmandu via Hetauda along the Tribhuvan Highway corridor.

Belhiya (Belahiya) is the DoI's name for the crossing at Bhairahawa (officially Siddharthanagar) in Rupandehi district, opposite Sunauli in Uttar Pradesh — so 'Sunauli border', 'Bhairahawa border' and 'Belhiya' all refer to the same point. It is the busiest tourist land route between India and Nepal, on the classic Gorakhpur–Sunauli–Bhairahawa axis, close to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and to Gautam Buddha International Airport. The Siddhartha Highway runs north through Butwal to Pokhara, and ground was broken for a Bhairahawa ICP in June 2023 (Jestha 2080 BS).

The Jamunaha immigration post serves Nepalgunj in Banke district, opposite Rupaidiha in Uttar Pradesh, and is the principal gateway for the mid-west and the Karnali region. Its Integrated Check Post, jointly inaugurated by prime ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Narendra Modi on 1 June 2023, came into operation in May 2024 (2081 BS). From the border, the Ratna Highway runs north to Kohalpur on the East–West Highway and on to Surkhet, while Nepalgunj airport is the hub for Karnali flights, including Simikot for the Hilsa route.

The Mohana post at Dhangadhi in Kailali district faces Gauriphanta in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district. It is the most convenient crossing for the Sudurpaschim capital region, connecting through Attariya junction to the East–West Highway, with Dhangadhi airport providing the far west's main air link and a DoI office stamping foreigners in and out.

Gaddachowki (Gaddachauki) at Mahendranagar — Bhimdatta municipality in Kanchanpur district — is Nepal's westernmost road crossing, opposite Banbasa in Uttarakhand near the Mahakali barrage. It marks the western terminus of the East–West Highway and is the natural entry for travellers from Delhi and Uttarakhand, including visitors to Shuklaphanta National Park; its immigration office issues visas on arrival, though facilities are more basic than at Belhiya or Birgunj.

One caveat: the busy Rani–Jogbani crossing at Biratnagar in Morang, an ICP since January 2020, is primarily a trade crossing and has not customarily featured on the DoI's list of visa-issuing entry points, so foreigners in the eastern Tarai should cross at Kakarbhitta or Birgunj instead.

Rasuwagadhi in Rasuwa district, facing China's Kerung (Gyirong) port, opened for bilateral trade in December 2014 and to third-country travellers in 2017, making it the only Nepal–China crossing regularly usable by international tourists. It lies roughly 150 kilometres from Kathmandu via the Pasang Lhamu Highway through Trishuli, Dhunche and Syaphrubesi. On 8 July 2025 (Asar 2082 BS) a flash flood on the Lhende stream swept away the Nepal–China Miteri bridge; a 91-metre Bailey bridge built with Chinese support restored movement from 28 December 2025, and the port formally resumed from 1 January 2026 under initial restrictions.

Tatopani in Sindhupalchok district is Nepal's oldest road link with China: the Friendship Bridge at Kodari, over the Bhotekoshi River, connects to Zhangmu (Khasa) and has been in use since the late 1960s, after the Araniko Highway (Kathmandu–Kodari, about 113 kilometres) was completed. Devastated by the earthquake of 25 April 2015 (Baisakh 12, 2072 BS), it saw limited imports resume in 2019, two-way trade restart on 1 May 2023 and passenger movement for Nepali and Chinese citizens follow in September 2023. It remains disruption-prone: a wildfire on the Chinese side closed it in January 2026, and part of the highway collapsed into the Bhotekoshi in May 2026.

Both northern ports are trade gateways first. Operating windows are short — the Chinese side works on Beijing time, 2 hours 15 minutes ahead of Nepal, and closes on Chinese public holidays — and monsoon landslides can shut either route for months, so travellers should verify current status with the DoI, the Department of Customs or recent news before setting out.

Korala, north of Lo Manthang in Upper Mustang at about 4,600 metres, is Nepal's newest and highest functioning trade point with China, facing Tibet's Zhongba county. Reopened in November 2023 for Upper Mustang residents, it began international trade in September 2025 (Bhadra 2082 BS) while floods had closed Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani; official data recorded over Rs 5.27 billion in trade in the first three months of fiscal year 2082/83, led by electric vehicles, garments and fruit. It is reached by the Kaligandaki Corridor road via Beni, Jomsom and Lo Manthang, but it is not a tourist entry into China, and foreigners need an Upper Mustang restricted-area permit even to approach it.

Hilsa in Humla district, at about 3,640 metres on the Karnali River opposite Purang (Taklakot), is administered by the Yari Customs Office and is best known as the staging point for the Kailash–Mansarovar pilgrimage: pilgrims fly from Nepalgunj to Simikot and shuttle to Hilsa by helicopter before driving into Tibet. Pilgrimage traffic, suspended for about five years from 2020, is resuming, with China announcing in 2026 an annual cap of 24,000 Indian pilgrims via Nepal. Humla workers also cross seasonally to Taklakot, while the Karnali (Simikot–Hilsa) road corridor remains under construction, leaving Hilsa without a finished highway link.

Nepal and China also recognise traditional local trade points across the high Himalaya — Olangchung Gola (Tiptala pass) in Taplejung, Kimathanka in Sankhuwasabha and Lamabagar in Dolakha among them — used seasonally by border communities. None is open to third-country nationals, though road corridors under construction, such as the Koshi corridor towards Kimathanka, may raise their importance.

Third-country nationals can obtain a Nepali visa on arrival at all designated land immigration offices on the India border and at Rasuwagadhi, at the same tourist-visa fees as at the airport — as of 2026, US$30 for 15 days, US$50 for 30 days and US$125 for 90 days, payable in cash. Nationals of a small DoI-specified list of countries must obtain a visa in advance from a Nepali mission. Land posts may lack card payment, so carry cash, and make sure you receive both an exit stamp and a Nepali entry stamp.

The DoI describes its checkpoints as functioning round the clock, and the border never closes for Nepali and Indian citizens; in practice, visa counters for foreigners keep daytime hours — commonly reported as roughly 6:00 am to 7:00 pm at busy posts such as Kakarbhitta and Belhiya — and vehicle gates at some points close at night. Cross in daylight and reconfirm hours with the DoI or the relevant border office. On the Chinese side, Kerung and Zhangmu operate fixed daytime hours and shut on Chinese public holidays.

Indian citizens need no passport or visa under the 1950 treaty, though adults should carry government ID, and photo identification is compulsory for flights between the two countries; Indian private vehicles enter after paying a customs (bhansar) permit fee at the border. Crossing into China is different: individual travel is not permitted, and foreign tourists may enter Tibet from Nepal only via Rasuwagadhi–Kerung on an organised tour holding a Tibet Travel Permit and a Chinese group visa.

Every India-border crossing plugs into the East–West (Mahendra) Highway, the spine of the national network, which runs about 1,027 kilometres between two of these crossings — Kakarbhitta in the east and Gaddachowki in the west. Birgunj reaches the spine at Pathlaiya, Belhiya feeds through Butwal, Nepalgunj connects via the Ratna Highway at Kohalpur, and Dhangadhi joins at Attariya, so the southern crossings double as trailheads for long-distance bus routes to Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Each northern crossing depends on a single mountain corridor: the Araniko Highway for Tatopani, the Pasang Lhamu Highway and Syaphrubesi–Rasuwagadhi road for Kerung, the Kaligandaki Corridor for Korala and the incomplete Karnali corridor towards Hilsa. Because each has only one access road through steep, landslide-prone terrain, a single washout can close an entire international trade route — the pattern seen at Rasuwagadhi in 2025 and at Tatopani repeatedly since 2015. Planned corridor upgrades and new ICPs on the southern border aim to spread traffic across more resilient gateways.