How to transfer money back home from Nepal?

It is difficult to send money from Nepal. Was the money earned in Nepal? If so, probably very difficult, but if not, just provide documentation-and wait-and wait.

I believe you can open a Standard Chartered Bank account in US dollars. Then you should be able to transfer it to another of your own bank accounts from there. I was told it takes 30 days to transfer money or have a check clear. What if you sent a check? 30 days is better than never.

If you find a way to do it, can you please remember to post the answer for us here?

i think it is not possible to send through bank like other countries you need to have letter from government body.if you have job or business in nepal than it is quite easy but here are some people   whom i know very well who can do this if you do not have government lettter

Very good question. Let me try to do my best to answer it. Lots of ifs and do's and dont's!
1. IF you are a visitor to Nepal - a foreigner - and only there for a limited period of time (presumably here on a Tourist Visa) the golden rule is to bring with you only as much foreign currency as you think you will require while in Nepal - and no more - so you won't be faced with the problem of having to "transfer money back home" !- And if you have spent more while in Nepal than you had originally planned for, use your foreign credit/debit card (Visa/MC/Amex etc) if you have one, and simply go to the ATM and withdraw whatever additional sum you may require from there. 
Why this advice?  Because if you are here on a Tourist Visa, banks in Nepal will not:

a. accept any rupees and exchange them for you at the counter, back into any foreign currency, be it dollars or Euros or whatever. This is against present regulations.

b. and neither will they take any dollars or euro bills you may present them with at the counter, nor agree to "transfer back home" those monies by wire, to your home country.
Why? because the first thing the banker is likely to ask you is:  "How did this money originally come into Nepal?  through OUR banking channels - bank to bank -....? and more importantly, the banker is likely to say "We can ONLY accept your instructions  to wire-transfer foreign currency out of country, if you are a client of ours and you have the dollars or euros still  sitting there physically IN the euro or dollar account balance, IN YOUR ACCOUNT already opened with us..."  Otherwise, no!
                                                                  -------
Before going further, I wish to make it  absolutely clear that the remarks that follow ONLY pertain to foreigners, visitors and for their benefit, but NOT to Nepalese citizens (regulations for whom in this field of foreign exchange are surely totally different and about which, I must admit - I have NO knowledge) -
                                                                 -------
So then, two possibilities, and here I am talking about foreign people:
A. Say, you are fortunate in already having in your name or  bank account you control - dollars or euros - and those stand to your credit, at your nepalese bank. In that case, I think you will find it's fairly straightforward. To draw down funds, either write out a check on said USD or Euro account or if you prefer more simply give wire-payment instructions to your banker, at the counter, to transfer the funds to Paris, London, or NY.
Remark 1:  Only reservation about that. Some years ago, I recall I transferred 1000 dollars from my foreign currency account in Kathmandu to a french national in Paris, totally above board.  Problem is that the nepalese bank I was working with at the time charged me 90 euros total or equivalent in Nrs.  Between you and me, it was the first time, and the only/last time I ever did that! So my suggestion is ....ask about BANK charges before you give transfer instructions of dollars/euros.
Remark 2:  With a USD or Euro account of this type, the account can only be credited with incoming officially recorded transfers/remittances from abroad in that same currency. But, please note, there can be NO QUESTION for you to credit local Nepalese currency to that same type of foreign currency account, without the full and complete authorization of the NRB.  Take notice: NO derrogations possible.
B. IF you are a foreigner-resident, and here on a more permanent basis - with business visa or other - let's be honest, the situation is much more complex, particularly for say any investment funds or earnings or dividends  the foreign investor wants to repatriate to his home country.
In the old days, banks were perhaps more lenient, but nowadays with ever closer supervision of the Central Bank - NRB - of the whole banking system - and other Government supervision, suffice it to say that OFFICIAL authorization is required before one can "transfer money back home" . Everything has to be done legally, to say the least.  Therefore, an application must be filed, with full details as to the origin of the funds, amount you want to remit back home, etc. You would be well advised to take a lawyer and pay him to fill out all the paperwork, file all the data, justifications, forms etc. they now require.  Please be prepared for the long haul in the knowledge that starting on or about early 2106, the bank alone can no longer say "yeah" or "nay"....Because they, too, have to get PRIOR NRB approval before they can do any possible/legal wire transfer abroad, and repatriate your funds. To be honest, the process can take months. I heard of one case which took more than one year.

Do it the legal way - only - is my best advice. Essential to keep your non convertible rupees in Nepal - That is a must.

Wow! TheoauNepal, Thanks so much. Lots of great info. It all sounds counter-intuitive, but so true. I was so surprised that I wasn't able to bring my debit card into the bank to have them help me when the machine seemed to be empty.

Dollars in-Rupees also stay in. It's the 'Good Tourist' law.

Me too! Fully agree with all the good information provided here. For most tourists, this information  should amply suffice.
On the other hand, there may be selected foreigners who want to head home and who for one reason or another find themselves in the uncomfortable situation of having too many non-convertible nepalese rupees on their hands...so what to do then?
1. First, I concur that the best advice is to stay legal
2. On the other hand, if the foreigner decides to seek official authorization from NRB (central bank ok) to "repatriate" the funds back home in dollars through bank channels, he is likely to find that this process will simply drag on too long, get involved in a process which may last months and months, not to speak of the need to get a lawyer's help, incur legal costs, face administrative delays, you name it. Forget it!
3. If nepalis suggest that foreigners use the illegal "Hundi" system to achieve the same goal,  I cannot possibly disagree more. Quite apart from the fact that the Hundi is completely illegal,
a. prospective users will find that these totally unreliable people take several rupees benefit on each dollar, which is tantamount to a hefty profit margin of 7% to 10% - a lot of money on each transaction (which they allege will go through Singapore or similar)
b. one cannot be careful enough of these totally unreliable hundi characters one will meet in Kathmandu. Forget that....! or run the risk of all the money you've turned over to them disappearing into thin air.
So, here is the one and only possible other plausible alternative foreigners may wish to explore:
a. find another foreigner who is likely to be permanently based/or regularly working/living in Nepal and who will have a real need of nepalese currency here - and work out a COMPENSATION to pay  DOLLARS to him abroad.   
b. in short, give that person you know and can fully TRUST, your unwanted NRS here, and pay the corresponding sum of foreign currency into the foreign currency bank account he maintains in his HOME COUNTRY.
c. in acknowledgement of his assistance to you, you give him a reasonable percentage of say 3-5 rupees over the daily currency conversion $ rate prevailing that day, as posted by the big banks.

In short, in this case scenario, it's a totally private deal, done outside of Nepal,  strictly between two willing foreigners, with no dollars entering NP, and therefore outside of nepalese jurisdiction or foreign exchange control. Friends of mine have done this, so I know it can be done. You help him. He helps you, in a win-win situation.

Repeat, avoid the illegal hundi.

A couple other suggestions: Many people purchase gifts for Christmas or other celebrations throughout the year. Why not take some Nepali art/handcrafts home with you? I like to suggest that since Nepal isn't a dress-up country a person can leave a lot of their clothing for people who need it, particularly the warm items, and load up on the bargains that can be had in Nepal.

You can go to Bishal Bazzar in New Road area and go to the Sanjay Tailor shop where the king had his suits made and spend less than $200 on an Armani suit, or tailored jeans from little tailor shops found anywhere around the valley. The jeans even come with the designer labels for about $10 each. You could do some redecorating on a shoe-string by getting a Tibetan carpet from the refugees in the camp. Thangka paintings are surprisingly easy to sell in the west and don't take up much room, at all. I knew a couple of tourists who bought 5 backpacks that zip up into a small pouch for about 350 NRs. and sold them for 35 euro. I think they sold them before they left Nepal.

I know tourists who buy someone a bicycle with the carrier so the person can earn a living. Don't buy the shoe shine box (scam). Imagine spending $200 to change a life. If you don't know who to give it to just look at the brick factory fields.

I think guesthouse owners can help transfer some too, but a person can also get someone to do a trade via Paypal, no? I really cannot see any reason to have a lot of rupees at any one time. Just remember that the ATM machines are fairly reliable.

Totally agree. Take home a few souvenirs from Nepal, and maybe a suit or two, or as much as you can pack into your suitcase without exceeding your 20kg or30kg limit, why not? As much as you can carry!
But in keeping with the title of this thread, my recipe was really focusing on providing a practical answer to the question:How to transfer money back home, not goods. On the subject of taking  thangkas and/or anything valuable out of country, like small bronze/metal statues, etc., a word of caution for foreigners who may not be familiar with export regulations. Upon leaving the country, it is strictly forbidden to take out any object which is 100 years old or more, and deemed by the authorities to be an "antique or antiquity" without authorization of the Archaeology Department of Nepal, a Government organization. Having been in the export business for many years, I know. Getting that official approval is almost impossible, takes goon's age, and requires costly under the table payoffs. So my best advice is stay out of potential trouble, don't get into a muddle at the airport, get fined or worse over an  "old" statue, thangka or whatever (especially if it's made to look old, and really isn't!) . Just keep in mind that the nepali customs man who's inspecting your goods at TIA may not know the difference between a 50 year old item and a 100+ year old item. No reason why he should really. So don't take any chances and avoid possible confiscation and/or fines on such objects, etc. is my best advice. New is ok, but no "antiques". Better safe than sorry!

@TheoauNepal

Hi

This is good info for anyone. I am in 2023.

I am a US Citizen. But due to high interest rate I invested in Nepal Bank FD for 2 years transferred from US to Nepal in USD. I am retired.

I have both USD account in Nepal and NPR account in Nepal.

After meturity of FD say $200k worth planning to take back to US.

I opened account when I had visa tourish, now edu visa. I am not Nepal person and do not have NRN status.

Can i move it back to US from USD account?

Can I move from NPR account also?

Regards

Ralf

@RalfGoud hello,

Please note that this is an old thread. Most of the participants above are no longer active.

I would recommend that you open a new topic on the Nepal forum so that active members may guide you.

All the best

Bhavna