By Sandeep Chaudhary
How Long Can You Stay in Macao on a Nepali Passport?
For Nepali citizens, travel to Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) requires obtaining a pre-approved visabefore departure, as visa-on-arrival facilities are not available for holders of Nepali passports. Whether the purpose of visit is tourism, business, study, work, or family reunion, the duration of stay in Macao is strictly regulated and depends on the visa type and validity granted by Macao immigration authorities.
According to the official guidelines from the Chinese Visa Application Service Center (CVASC) in Kathmandu, the maximum period a Nepali citizen can stay in Macao on any standard short-term visa is 14 days per entry. This rule applies uniformly across all categories — including tourist visas, family visit visas, business visas, and transit visas. Even if the visa validity covers several months, the actual stay duration per entry remains limited to 14 days, unless a special authorization or residence permit has been issued (for example, for employment or study).
Visas for Nepali citizens are generally issued under three main validity options:
Single-Entry Visa – valid for 3 months, allowing a 14-day stay within that period.
Double-Entry Visa – valid for 3 months, permitting two entries, each of up to 14 days.
Multiple-Entry Visa – valid for 6 months, allowing repeated entries, each limited to 14 days of stay.
If a Nepali visitor wishes to remain in Macao for a longer period — for instance, for work, higher education, or to stay with family — they must apply for a Special Authorization to Stay or a Non-Resident Worker Permit before traveling or through a sponsoring organization in Macao. Without such authorization, extending a tourist or short-term visa beyond 14 days is not permitted. Overstaying a visa can result in fines, entry bans, or future visa refusal by the Macao immigration authorities.
Another crucial point for Nepali travellers is that visa validity and duration of stay are separate concepts. A visa valid for three or six months allows travel to Macao within that window but does not automatically permit staying for the entire period. Each entry must comply with the 14-day maximum stay regulation. After leaving Macao, travellers with a double or multiple-entry visa may re-enter within the visa’s validity period but must again respect the 14-day limit.
To ensure compliance, visitors should maintain clear records of their arrival and departure stamps and avoid overstaying even by a single day. Immigration officers at the entry point have full authority to determine the exact duration of stay granted upon arrival, which will be marked on the passport. In some cases, they may shorten or deny entry if documents are incomplete or travel intent is unclear.
Overall, Nepali citizens planning to visit or transit through Macao should carefully structure their travel plans around the 14-day per entry rule, ensure their visa validity period is sufficient, and avoid any activity that could violate immigration conditions. For longer-term plans like work or study, applying under the appropriate visa category with supporting permits is essential to ensure lawful and uninterrupted stay in Macao.
