No, Nepal does not allow dual citizenship. The Constitution of Nepal establishes a single-citizenship system, and any Nepali citizen who voluntarily takes on the citizenship of another country loses their Nepali citizenship automatically.1Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. The Constitution of Nepal – Part 2 Citizenship Nepal offers a separate Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) status that gives people of Nepali origin certain economic and property rights without restoring citizenship itself.
What Happens the Moment You Naturalize Abroad
Article 10(2) of the Constitution provides that Nepal follows a single federal citizenship system.1Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. The Constitution of Nepal – Part 2 Citizenship The Nepal Citizenship Act, 2006 (Act 2063) carries this through: a Nepali citizen who voluntarily acquires foreign citizenship loses Nepali citizenship by operation of law.2Ministry of Home Affairs. Citizenship Act 2063
There is no grace period. No transitional dual-status window. No exception for people who naturalized without realizing what it would cost them. The loss is automatic on the day you take the other citizenship.
Age is not a shield either. It doesn’t matter whether you naturalized as an adult in the United States or Canada, or whether you were a child included on a parent’s application. The result is the same.
Children Born Abroad to a Nepali Parent
Article 11(2) makes citizenship by descent available to a person whose father or mother was a Nepali citizen at the time of birth.1Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. The Constitution of Nepal – Part 2 Citizenship For a child born outside Nepal, that route is open as long as one parent held Nepali citizenship when the child was born.
The single-citizenship rule still applies. Anyone claiming Nepali citizenship by descent who also holds a foreign citizenship must give up the foreign one first. The Citizenship Act requires a person born with both to choose, and if that choice isn’t made within the required timeframe, the Nepali claim lapses automatically.2Ministry of Home Affairs. Citizenship Act 2063 This is where many second-generation Nepalis abroad quietly lose the option: they never affirmatively claim Nepali citizenship before the deadline, and the door closes.
NRN Status: The Practical Workaround
Because dual citizenship is off the table, Nepal created Non-Resident Nepali status as a middle path for the diaspora. It is not citizenship, and it doesn’t restore any political rights, but for people who have already naturalized elsewhere it is usually the most important legal status to secure.
The Non-Resident Nepali Act, 2007 (Act 2064) covers two groups:
- Foreign citizens of Nepali origin whose parents or grandparents were Nepali citizens, provided they now hold citizenship of a country outside the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
- Nepali citizens who have lived outside SAARC member states for at least two years for work or business, excluding diplomats and students.3Nepal Law Commission. Nepal Non-Resident Nepali Act 2064
An NRN card lets you invest in Nepali industries and businesses using convertible foreign currency, open and operate foreign-currency bank accounts at commercial banks licensed by Nepal Rastra Bank, and repatriate both your investment and profits back out of Nepal in foreign currency. You can also purchase land and property in Nepal for personal residential use, subject to prescribed conditions.3Nepal Law Commission. Nepal Non-Resident Nepali Act 2064 NRN cardholders receive gratis tourist visas on arrival, which makes travel simple.
What NRN status does not do: it does not let you vote in national elections, hold positions that require Nepali citizenship, or join political parties. It’s an economic and cultural bridge, not a route back to full citizenship.
Getting Nepali Citizenship Back
Reinstatement is possible. Section 11 of the Citizenship Act provides a path for a former Nepali citizen who has acquired foreign citizenship and wants their Nepali citizenship restored. You must return to Nepal, renounce your foreign citizenship, and submit proof of that renunciation to the designated authority, along with evidence that you previously held Nepali citizenship. Once the evidence is registered, your Nepali citizenship is reinstated from the date of registration.
The procedure is straightforward on paper, but the decision is not. You have to give up your foreign citizenship first, before Nepal restores yours. There is no way to test the process while holding onto the foreign passport. Before you begin, check the renunciation rules of your current country of citizenship, because some countries make giving up citizenship slow, expensive, or difficult to reverse.
Property and Inheritance if You’ve Already Lost Nepali Citizenship
Losing Nepali citizenship has real consequences for property you own in Nepal or expect to inherit. Section 433 of the Muluki Civil Code (2017) generally prevents a foreigner who acquires a share of property through inheritance or family partition in Nepal from having that property transferred or registered in their name, and from benefiting from its income.
The Code carves out an exception for people who hold NRN status. If you have lost your Nepali citizenship but obtained an NRN card, you can retain inherited property and own residential property within the prescribed limits.3Nepal Law Commission. Nepal Non-Resident Nepali Act 2064 Without an NRN card, your property rights in Nepal are severely restricted. Anyone who has naturalized abroad and has family property in Nepal should treat obtaining an NRN card as a priority.