May 12, 2006

Non-Emergency Embassy Staff, Families
Permitted to Return to Nepal

The State Department is permitting all non-emergency U.S. Mission personnel and families to return to Nepal.  The decision, made at the recommendation of the Embassy, is effective from today, May 12.

Out of concern for their safety, the Department on April 24 had ordered all non-emergency Mission personnel and families to leave Nepal.  The U.S. Mission includes the Embassy, the Consular Section and American Center at the Yak & Yeti complex (west wing), and USAID.

The Consular Section, which resumed certain services May 1, also will return to full operations on Monday, May 15, with non-immigrant visa interviews scheduled to start then.  The Consular Section is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.  The American Center Library, which also reopened May 1, is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.

The Embassy Travel Warning for Nepal has been updated and is available on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_927.html and/or on the Embassy website as http://nepal.usembassy.gov