Everest Base Camp permits: park entry, Khumbu Trek Card and TIMS

Which permits apply to the standard Lukla route?

For the normal Lukla–Namche–Everest Base Camp trek, distinguish Sagarmatha National Park entry from the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality entry registration, often called the Trek Card. They serve different authorities. A Nepal tourist visa is separate from both.

TIMS is a third question, not another name for the park permit or local card. Nepal Tourism Board’s current published national provision explicitly includes Everest Base Camp in its licensed-guide and agency-issued TIMS list. Local operators describe a different Khumbu practice. Do not rely on a blanket claim that either “TIMS is abolished” or “one permit covers everything”. The distinction below explains what is verified and what remains disputed.

Sagarmatha National Park entry: verified published fees

Nepal Tourism Board’s protected-area table lists Sagarmatha National Park entry at NPR 3,000 per person per entry for foreign visitors, NPR 1,500 for SAARC nationals and NPR 100 for Nepali citizens. It lists children below 10 as free. These are the published park categories, not an all-in Everest permit budget.

The park administration controls protected-area entry. NTB says park entry fees can be paid at the Tourist Service Center in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, or at the entry points. On this trail, the park entrance is in the Monjo/Jorsale area before the climb to Namche. Keep the issued ticket or receipt. The NTB table does not resolve every tax or processing-cost question: have any extra charge itemised rather than assuming a package’s permit line equals the table amount.

Khumbu local registration: a different issuer

The Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality runs the local entry registration. Discovery World Trekking’s permit guide, updated 16 October 2026, describes obtaining it in Lukla after a flight arrival and at Monjo for trekkers approaching from Jiri or Salleri. It says the local permit is not issued by an alternative Kathmandu office. Treat those collection details as the operator’s account of local practice, not as a current municipal service guarantee.

We could not retrieve the municipality’s Trek Card service page during this check. This guide therefore does not certify its current fee, nationality concessions or an online application channel. Do not send passport details or payment to a website merely because it uses the words “Trek Card”. The local registration is separate from a park ticket purchased in Kathmandu.

TIMS and guide rules: policy versus Khumbu practice

NTB’s revised provision, effective 31 March 2023, says trekkers on its listed routes need a licensed trekking guide and an agency-issued TIMS card. The list names Everest Basecamp, Gokyo and several Everest passes. Its agency process collects trekker, guide and route details, takes payment and generates a QR e-card. Published TIMS charges are NPR 1,000 for SAARC applicants and NPR 2,000 for others.

Discovery World Trekking, by contrast, says TIMS is not required on its Everest Base Camp route and describes the two regional permits. Explore Vision Nepal also distinguishes the national rule from Khumbu’s local registration practice. Those operator accounts explain the conflicting advice; they do not establish that NTB has withdrawn its published EBC requirement. A local card is not proof of a national guide exemption.

For a foreign visitor making arrangements now, plan around NTB’s published guide requirement. Before paying for a purported exemption or a separate TIMS service, get a written route-specific explanation from the registered agency and, where necessary, NTB and the municipality. If you intend to trek independently, resolve that conflict before departure rather than treating reports of checkpoint practice as legal clearance.

Documents and checkpoint sequence

Carry your original passport and a copy of its identity page. Discovery World Trekking identifies passport details as the basis for permit issue. Keep the park ticket, local registration receipt and any agency-issued TIMS QR e-card accessible, with offline copies in case your phone has no signal. Carry Nepali rupees for local payments rather than relying on a card terminal. These are practical preparations, not a claim that every counter uses an identical application checklist.

For a flight arrival, arrange the local registration in Lukla, then continue through Phakding to the park entrance around Monjo/Jorsale. NTB’s route guide identifies Jorsale as a permit checkpoint before Namche. If you bought park entry in Kathmandu, show the existing ticket rather than assuming it also covers the municipal registration. If an agency handles the paperwork, ask for the actual permits and receipts before the relevant checks.

For TIMS, NTB describes an agency application, not a tourist self-service card bought at each checkpoint. Give the agency the trekker and itinerary details it needs and obtain the resulting e-card if TIMS is being issued. Keep insurance and emergency contact details with your travel documents, without confusing them with proof of permit payment.

What to put in your permit budget

Start with the verified park amount for your nationality. Keep a separate line for the municipal registration, a separate TIMS line if it is being issued, and any disclosed agency service charge. Guide wages, tourist visa fees and rescue insurance are not included in those permit figures. Ask whether each permit is included in a package and request the authority’s receipt for each amount paid.

This page does not publish a single guaranteed total: the municipal rate was not independently verified from the issuing authority, and the TIMS applicability conflict remains. Do not add every quoted fee blindly or assume that paying a guide removes all registration charges. A useful quotation names the product, issuer, nationality category and service charge separately.

Different approach routes can add another protected area

The normal Lukla approach should not be confused with an extended walk through a different protected area. If your itinerary enters Gaurishankar Conservation Area, its entry is a separate product; NTB’s table lists NPR 3,000 for foreign visitors and NPR 1,000 for SAARC nationals. The traditional Jiri approach is described by Explore Vision Nepal as such a route. Identify the actual trail before adding or omitting that permit; a generic “road start” does not establish which protected areas you cross.

These are trekking-entry arrangements, not permission to climb Everest or another mountaineering peak. Adding a summit objective changes the permit question.