Sending Money from Nepal: NRB Forex Rules for Students

Every rupee that leaves Nepal for your studies in Germany passes through a Nepali bank, and the bank follows one document: Nepal Rastra Bank's foreign exchange circular No. 8/2082 on exchange for higher study abroad, part of NRB's Unified Circular 2082 issued in early April 2026 (NRB Unified Circular 2082, PDF). The circular is in Nepali. What follows is our English summary of the parts that matter for Germany; when your bank and this page disagree, the circular wins.

Step zero: the No Objection Letter

Your first study-abroad exchange cannot happen without a No Objection Letter (NOL) issued by the education ministry (MoEST). The bank needs the original, marked Any Bank and stamped as the bank copy for first-time exchange. The ministry takes applications online through its NOC portal (noc.moest.gov.np).

The details must line up. The circular requires the institution's name and address, your subject and your level on the NOL to match the payment documents. A typo in the university name is enough to stall a transfer, so check the letter before you leave the ministry's system.

What the bank will ask for

• A written application
• A copy of your passport
• The No Objection Letter
• A letter from the university stating the visa conditions, or a certified copy of the visa authority's letter
• Supporting documents that confirm the amount, such as the admission letter, a brochure or an invoice
• If you are exchanging money before the visa is granted, a signed self-declaration that you will return it if the visa is refused

Funding a blocked account

For many students heading to Germany, this is the big transfer. The circular has a clause written for exactly this case: where the destination country or institution requires the student to show a fixed amount in their own account, as Germany does with the blocked account, the bank may exchange that required amount, for the student only and not for family members.

For 2026 the amount is EUR 11,904. Priced at NRB's euro selling rate for 9 October 2026 (NPR 173.50), that works out to about NPR 20.65 lakh, before the provider's fees and your own bank's margin. The provider's confirmation stating the amount is the supporting document; if you ask for more than your documents show, the bank must see proof for the extra.

Before you move that money, confirm you need a blocked account at all: the Kathmandu Embassy lets you apply without one and asks only if it wants one. Our blocked account guide covers when it is needed and how providers differ.

Tuition, if your university charges any

Tuition is rare at German public universities. The exceptions are Baden-Wuerttemberg, at EUR 1,500 a semester for non-EU students, and TUM with its own fee scale (see our free tuition guide). Tuition may be sent only through banking channels, straight to the institution's account abroad, never in cash to you.

When a bank exchanges money for tuition abroad, it also collects an education service fee for the government. If you then cannot go, for example because the visa is refused, the Inland Revenue Department's 2078 procedure lets you claim that fee back through the same bank within three years of the foreign currency returning to your account.

Money for living costs after you arrive

From the second remittance onwards, you, your parents or a relative can request the transfer by showing an identity document. It goes through the same bank that made the first exchange, which uses its record of your NOL plus proof that you are still enrolled, such as a current enrolment certificate or student ID. Plan to keep that bank for your whole degree.

How much can be sent depends on your documents:

• If an institution or embassy letter states the amounts for tuition, living and other costs, the bank may exchange the full stated amount in your name.
• If your documents name no living-cost figure, the yearly ceiling for Europe is USD 8,000, about EUR 7,150 at the same day's rates. That is well below Germany's EUR 11,904, which is one more reason to keep official documents that state the amount.
• If tuition has been paid only in part, living expenses are capped at 50 percent of the yearly amount in your supporting documents, for up to six months, in one or several payments.

Switching banks is allowed. On your written request, the old bank must certify your records and every exchange it has made, so the new bank can continue.

There is also a small emergency route. A parent or relative can send up to USD 500, once per student, to a Nepali student already studying abroad without the NOL, with a document showing the student is enrolled and a self-declaration that no other bank has made such a payment.

For the full monthly budget these transfers have to cover, see our cost breakdown in NPR.

If the visa is refused, or plans change

A draft, TT or SWIFT made out to a university can be cancelled by the bank itself if the visa is refused, if tuition was paid from another source, or if you have switched to another institution. Paying a new institution needs the ministry's approval of the change.

One rule is written with Germany in mind. For tuition-free countries such as Germany, cancelling a draft, TT or SWIFT that was made on the basis of an embassy letter after the visa has been granted needs approval from NRB's Foreign Exchange Management Department. Do not move money you are unsure about once the visa is in your passport.

Smaller rules worth knowing

• Exam fees: when a bank exchanges money for language or standardised test fees, it must collect advance income tax on that amount. German exams at Goethe-Zentrum Kathmandu are paid in NPR (Goethe-Zentrum Kathmandu), so no exchange is involved.
• June 2026 amendment: banks must accept digitally signed documents issued under the Electronic Transactions Act, which can help with emailed blocked-account confirmations. The same amendment lets banks add up to 5 percent in USD where an amount is stated in a currency not on NRB's list; euros are on the list, so this rarely matters for Germany (NRB amendment 12/2082-83).
• Insurance premiums for cover bought abroad are paid through the foreign insurer's registered agent in Nepal or to the institution; if the insurer has no agent in Nepal, the student may pay it directly.

Health insurance itself is covered in our health insurance guide, and the visa process in the student visa guide.