Nepal pauses restricted-area trekking permits for three days after heavy Himalayan snow

Nepal's Department of Immigration announced in the closing days of October that it would not issue trekking permits for the country's designated restricted areas in the high hills and Himalayan regions for three days, from 29 to 31 October 2026. The decision tracked the severe-weather forecast for the same window: heavy snow at altitude, and with it the avalanche and landslide risk that Nepal's disaster-response agency had already flagged to travellers and operators.

What the pause covers, and what it does not

The suspension is about the paperwork, not a blanket closure of every trail in the country. Restricted zones - the trans-Himalayan and high-mountain areas that can only be entered with a registered agency and a licensed guide - were the permits held. The routes that most first-time readers come to Nepal for, including the walk up the Khumbu to Everest Base Camp and the Annapurna Sanctuary, sit under a different permit regime and were not withdrawn. But weather does not respect that line: the same snowfall that emptied the permit desk also shut visibility over the high passes, and the short-field flights into Lukla and Jomsom were the first thing to slip.

If you are trekking this week

Treat 29-31 October as three days on which you cannot buy a permit, rather than three days on which you cannot walk. If your route needs restricted-area clearance, schedule so the permit is already in your hand before the window and your first high day falls after it. If you are on the trail now, staying put in a lower village is a better call than pushing a pass in fresh snow; tell your agency where you are each day, and keep their number and your insurer's saved offline, because mobile coverage thins quickly above 3,000 m. Build in one buffer day in Kathmandu or Pokhara for every leg that depends on a mountain flight - a spare night is far cheaper than a missed international connection, and it is the only reliable defence against a two-day weather hold.

We will update this notice if the department extends the suspension or publishes a fresh permit calendar for the winter season.

Source: notice of the Nepal Department of Immigration, 27-28 October 2026, as reported by The Himalayan Times.