My experience of obtaining 'No Objection Letter' (NOC) from MOE, Nepal.

By Santosh Subedi, Shuklagandaki.

Update:-NOC can be now applied online, please refer to the letter below.

                                               

For the User Manual on how to apply NOC Online. Click Here

I went to get my  No Objection Letter on 4th July 2019, so some information might change in future. But, this post should give you a general idea. Also write your experiences, more specifically, the problems you faced and how you resolved them, in the comment box below which will definitely help other students.

If you are planning on going abroad for study, and you need to transfer money to your foreign college or university, or you're taking traveller's cheque from Nepal to a foreign country to deposit money in a foreign bank upon you reach there, you will need a No Objection Letter issued by Ministry of Education, Nepal. It is a time-consuming and sometimes painstaking process to get an NOC issued. When you have all the documents in order, and duly filled-out application form, you need not worry much. But, even if there is a slight mistake in the application form, or you lack one or more of the necessary documents, you can get in trouble and may not have NOC issued on the same day, despite having waited in the queue for hours. Here is my personal experience of and guidelines for getting a No Objection Letter. I hope it helps you. Also, if you have any doubts or questions, please write them in the comment box below, I will try to answer them when I can.

LOCATION

This is the main entrance of Kaiser Mahal or Kaiser Library, also this is the entrance to the office where NOCs are issued. Photo Credit:-Wikimedia commons

Location of Kaiser Mahal or MOE is not so difficult to find as it is centrally located. Precisely speaking, it is located just in front of the west gate of the Narayanhiti Palace Museum, formerly Narayanhiti Royal Palace,  the gate from where passports are issued. There is a white entrance and you can see some vendors selling application forms for NOC, water, juice and snacks just at the entrance and you can ask if you need basic information about NOC with them as well. As you get in, you will notice a red, single-storey facility, just in front of the earthquake-ravaged multi-storey, historic Kaiser Mahal, from where NOCs are issued. It has got many windows, each for checking documents, accepting application forms, another serving as the payment counter of Rastriya Banijya Bank and final one for distributing prepared NOCs in the end.


Now let us discuss the things to do on the day when you go for making NOC.

First of all you should fill out the application form, which you can find on the official website of MOE. If you want the direct link CLICK HERE.

In my case I had printed the application form from a nearby printing service provider a day before I went for NOC, downloading it from the official website, so I could take enough time to fill it out properly. Some students buy it from the vendors at the entrance, they charge almost 20 rupees for it, and fill it out while they wait in the line.

You need to fill it out based on the information on the offer letter and of course on your citizenship card. In my case, I had filled out 'Service Business Management' in the 'adhyan garna swikriti mageko bisaye' section. But, the degree program I will be awarded is Business Administration, hence, officials there, in the end, instead of issuing NOC, had asked me to clarify my subject. They later asked me to change it to Business Administration. When you have to correct that, the process might take a lot of time- as there are other students waiting to correct theirs-, you need to again wait in the queue and go to the window you are asked to go to correct it. It did not make much difference in my case, but strange course title can baffle the officials there and that can result in your NOC issuance being delayed. Hence, try to make it as clear as possible and if something is likely to appear alien to the staff there, be prepared explain it to them. In addition, make sure the duration of your course is clearly stated in your offer letter. This is the crucial information that the officials there want to see. In my case, it was not clear, so I had to come home and print the page, from my university's official website, where the duration of course was mentioned and go back again. If you are required to show extra documents you will have to produce those documents by 1 p.m., they stop accepting documents after 1 p.m., thankfully I had motorcycle that day and I could bring the document officials there demanded on time i.e. before 1 p.m. .

Note that you will be given the NOC on the same day, if you have submitted your application form before 1 p.m., provided that all your documents are in order. Furthermore, if you are lacking some documents you will have to bring them by 1 p.m. otherwise you need to go there again the next day.

You can check the website of MOE for the documents required for NOC HERE. Do not let the instruction that you need NOTARIZED COPIES of the required documents confuse you. NOTARIZED copies of the documents must be produced ONLY when you do not have the original documents with you. When you have the original documents with you, you do not necessarily need to notarise the copies of the documents.

Also, remember that if you unable to be physically present at MOE for NOC, you can send your parents or friends on your behalf with the notarised copies of your documents if you can't send with them the original documents OR with  your original documents and their copies.

And, another thing that was worrying me was, whether or not they would accept the offer letter printed from the email. Actually, they do accept that. You do not need to worry about not having the original copy of your offer letter.

BE EARLY

People start queuing from as early as early as 6 a.m. I had been there at around 7 a.m., but there were some students queuing already inside the main gate. The office however opens at 10 a.m. only, so you will have to wait for 3 or 4 hours there. Also being there early gives you enough time to correct if there's  there's some mistake in your form and also bring documents if you are lacking any, so that you get the document on the same day.

You can sit on the not-so-clean, and rather dusty small wall like thing, which will be on your right as you enter the main gate of Kaiser Mahal, as standing for that many hours is very difficult. In the event that you feel nature's call while sitting there, you can go just inside the inner gate and there's a toilet made of zinc sheets, you can ask at the reception of the cafe that's inside, they can show you the way.

Also, make sure that you have prepared the photocopies of all the required documents the day before. If you forgot something there's one photocopy place just outside the main entrance of Kaiser Mahal, across the road. However they do not print documents directly from email or from your cellphone. I had one document to be printed so I had to travel all around the area to find the place where I could print that out. It's always a good idea to have a friend accompany you so one can wait in the line while other go for photocopying the documents or arranging the missing ones.

At exact 10 a.m. the office opens and students start running towards the inner gate, of course taking their turns, to have their application forms stamped and checked. You can just follow other students, so it won't be hard to figure things out. After your application is stamped and checked by the officials you have to pay the charges that is Rs 2000 for one NOC, at the Rastriya Banijya Bank's counter located there. There is a filled-out sample form on the wall just outside the window of Bank's counter so you can just see the sample on how to fill out the form. Put in the necessary information  on the RBB's form according to the sample on the wall when paying money for NOC.

After the application form has been stamped, checked and the fees paid, you then submit your document at the window they tell you to, and they tell you to come for NOC at 1p.m. or 2 p.m .depending on the amount of applications that's ahead of you. They give you a sticker with your application number. Meanwhile, you can get out have something, and freshen yourself up. Be there on time, when you are asked to be there. They call the number when they hand over the NOC and if there is some mistake in your form you will get incorrect NOC without stamp and signature, also they ask you to visit a specific window to have it corrected. This takes some time, but wait patiently, you'll get your NOC after correction. It requires a lot of patience to get the No Objection Letter.

At the end you'll be given two copies of NOCs, on one it's written 'Bank Prati', maybe that is the one Banks keep with them when transferring money to your university abroad. Once you get your NOC, please check carefully if all the spellings are correct, otherwise you should visit  window 4 to have it corrected. If you did not correct it on the same day, you will have to pay to correct the next day. Making correction on the same day is free of cost.

In my next post I will write about the process of sending money abroad. Please keep checking this blog. Also, share your experiences after you have got your NOC.