ACAP costs foreigners NPR 3,000 and TIMS costs NPR 2,000, a combined NPR 5,000 (about USD 38) for any Annapurna region trek in 2026. Checkpoint officers still ask for both cards at posts like Birethanti and Chhomrong, but by mid-2026 the document that gets checked most consistently is ACAP, alongside your guide's licence. TIMS enforcement has grown patchy since the rule tightened in April 2023, and this guide explains exactly what that means for your paperwork, plus where to buy each permit, the checkpoints you'll pass, and the penalties for skipping either one.
ACAP, the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit, is an entry authorisation issued by the National Trust for Nature Conservation that grants a named trekker access to the 7,629-square-kilometre Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal's largest protected region. TIMS, the Trekkers' Information Management System card, is a separate safety-registration document that logs a trekker's route and emergency contact details, built to work alongside ACAP rather than replace it. Both permits are still officially required for Annapurna trekking. Only one of them is checked at every gate now.
How do ACAP and TIMS work together on an Annapurna trek?
ACAP and TIMS were designed as a paired system: one permit funds and controls entry to the conservation area, and the other tracks who is walking inside it. On the ground in 2026, that pairing has become lopsided. Checkpoint staff at Birethanti, Ghorepani, Chhomrong, Besisahar, Chame, and Manang treat the ACAP card as non-negotiable, while TIMS gets asked for far less consistently than it did when the rule was new in 2023.
The safety logic behind TIMS has not disappeared; it has shifted onto the guide requirement instead. Since April 2023, every foreign trekker in the Annapurna Conservation Area must hire a licensed guide, and it is the guide's licence number that checkpoint officers now log against your name at each post. Our guides report that TIMS gets asked for at some gates and skipped at others depending on the season and the officer on duty, while the ACAP card is checked without exception every time. Carrying TIMS is still worth doing, since enforcement can tighten without notice, and it costs nothing extra when a registered agency arranges it alongside ACAP.
ACAP: NPR 3,000 and what it covers
ACAP costs foreigners NPR 3,000 (about USD 23) and SAARC nationals NPR 1,000, with children under ten exempt. That fee already includes VAT, so there is no separate 13% add-on at the counter, a common error on older permit guides. The charge funds the conservation area's trail repairs, micro-hydro electricity, drinking-water stations, and community lodges. The same NPR 3,000 card covers every trail inside the conservation area: the Annapurna Circuit, Annapurna Base Camp, Poon Hill, Mardi Himal, and Tilicho Lake.
The conservation area boundary runs from Besisahar in the east to Beni in the south, so the same NPR 3,000 ACAP serves whether you start the circuit at Besisahar or the base camp trek at Nayapul. The permit is valid for a single entry only, so a second trip into the conservation area later in the year means buying it again. Keep the physical card accessible, because checkpoint officers stamp it at each post and a stamped card moves faster through every gate that follows.
TIMS: NPR 2,000, and why 2026 checkpoints check it less often
TIMS costs foreigners NPR 2,000, a rate that rose from NPR 1,000 when the Nepal Tourism Board tightened trekking rules in April 2023. The green card records your nationality, route, trek duration, agency, and guide name, information that feeds the same rescue database search-and-rescue teams use when a trekker goes missing. Since that 2023 reform, TIMS has been issued only through a registered agency, so an independent walk-in applicant can no longer buy one at the counter without a guide attached to the application.
Checkpoint enforcement of TIMS has softened since the card's fee doubled. Officers along the main Annapurna corridor increasingly wave trekkers through on ACAP and a valid guide licence alone, treating TIMS as a formality rather than a hard gate. That gap matters most for trekkers weighing whether to skip the card to save a few dollars: don't. A missing TIMS card is still a rule violation even where it isn't checked every time, and any agency-booked trek issues the card as part of the package regardless.
Where and how to buy both permits
Kathmandu and Pokhara each hold one Nepal Tourism Board counter that issues ACAP and TIMS together. In Kathmandu the office sits in Bhrikutimandap near the Tourist Service Centre, and in Pokhara it is on the road toward the airport at Damside, both open Sunday to Friday. Bring your passport, two passport-sized photographs per permit, your travel-insurance policy number, and the fees in Nepali rupees, since neither counter accepts cards.
Online pre-application has become an option since the NTNC opened its e-permit portal, letting trekkers submit ACAP paperwork before arrival. Most trekkers still collect the physical card in person, because checkpoints along the trail want to see a printed original rather than a phone screenshot. Birethanti and Chhomrong staff in particular ask for the paper copy, so print your permit before you leave the city even if you applied online.
| Permit | Foreigner fee | SAARC fee | Issued at |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACAP | NPR 3,000 | NPR 1,000 | NTB Kathmandu / Pokhara, or online via NTNC e-permit |
| TIMS | NPR 2,000 | NPR 1,000 | Registered agency / NTB |
Processing usually takes under an hour if your documents are complete, though a queue during the spring and autumn peaks can stretch that wait. The same NTB office handles both Annapurna permits, and the wider permit picture across other regions sits in our Nepal trekking permits guide.
Pokhara suits trekkers starting the base camp or Poon Hill routes, since it is the closer gateway, while Kathmandu suits those flying in and starting the circuit from Besisahar. The agency that issues your TIMS card typically collects your ACAP at the same desk when you book a guided package, so the counter visit disappears entirely. Independent trekkers can still handle the paperwork themselves, but the April 2023 rule means a licensed guide must accompany the trek regardless of who buys the permits.
Validity, re-entry, and trek duration
ACAP is a single-entry permit valid for one continuous trek, with no fixed expiry beyond the trip itself, so a 12-day circuit and an 18-day circuit both cost the same NPR 3,000. The card cannot be reused on a later trip; a trekker returning to the Annapurna region after exiting buys a fresh permit each time. There is no per-day surcharge inside the conservation area, a structure that keeps Annapurna permits far cheaper than the daily-rate restricted zones like Upper Mustang, where trekkers now pay USD 50 per person per day.
TIMS follows the same single-trek logic and records your planned exit date, so the database can flag overdue trekkers. Because neither card charges by the day, a slower itinerary with extra acclimatisation rest stops adds no permit cost, removing any financial pressure to rush the ascent. That fixed-fee structure is one reason the Annapurna region remains the most accessible high-altitude trekking area in Nepal for first-timers.
Checkpoints along the trail
Checkpoints staffed by ACAP and police officers sit at every gateway to the conservation area. On the Annapurna Circuit you meet posts at Besisahar, Chame, and Manang, while the base camp route is checked at Birethanti and Chhomrong. Officers log your name against the permit database at each stop. That log is what triggers a missing-trekker search if you fail to check out at the far gate.
The Poon Hill area adds a checkpoint at Ghorepani, 2,860 metres up, and the Poon Hill sunrise viewpoint at 3,210 metres sits inside the same ACAP boundary as the rest of the region. Printed permits matter here: Birethanti and Chhomrong staff generally want the paper original rather than a photo on your phone, and a missing hard copy can mean a wait while a duplicate gets sorted out. Because checkpoints record both entry and exit, always check out properly at the trail's end so the database doesn't flag you as overdue.
Penalties for trekking without permits
Trekking without a valid ACAP triggers a fine of double the permit fee, so a missing NPR 3,000 card becomes a NPR 6,000 penalty at the checkpoint, and officers can turn a trekker back on the spot. Walking without TIMS or without a licensed guide breaches the April 2023 rule and carries its own fine: trekkers caught without both a guide and a TIMS card face a nationwide penalty of up to NPR 12,000, and a trekking company that sends clients out without proper paperwork pays a separate NPR 10,000 fine before the card is issued after the fact.
The NPR 6,000 and NPR 12,000 figures make the small upfront cost of doing paperwork properly look cheap by comparison, and a guided package removes the risk entirely. Knowing the rules before you leave the city pairs well with planning your departure month, covered in our guide to the best time to trek the Annapurna Circuit.
Officers rarely accept an excuse of ignorance, since the permit counters sit in plain view in both Kathmandu and Pokhara, so a missing card is treated as avoidance rather than oversight. The double-fee penalty applies on the spot and must be paid in cash before the trek continues, and repeat offences can end a trek altogether. For a guided group the risk simply does not arise, because the guide carries every document already stamped and current.
ACAP versus TIMS at a glance
ACAP and TIMS serve different purposes despite being bought together, and confusing them is the most common first-timer error. ACAP is a conservation entry fee that funds the protected area and grants access; TIMS is a safety registration that tracks a trekker's movements and feeds the rescue database. Both are required on every Annapurna trail, though only one of them gets checked at every single gate in 2026.
- ACAP, NPR 3,000: conservation entry, funds trail and community projects, checked at every area gate without exception.
- TIMS, NPR 2,000: safety registration, records route and guide, checked inconsistently since the 2023 fee rise.
- Both are single-trip permits, issued via a registered agency under the 2023 guide rule.
- Only ACAP and a guide's licence are treated as hard requirements at most 2026 checkpoints.
Seeing the two permits side by side explains the combined NPR 5,000 bill on any Annapurna route, from a three-day Poon Hill loop to the full circuit over Thorong La. The Everest region, by contrast, drops TIMS entirely: its national park fee covers conservation, and its municipality fee funds local services instead.
Common mistakes that cost trekkers time
First-time trekkers lose a day to three avoidable permit errors more than any other single cause. Arriving without passport photographs forces a detour to a photo shop in Thamel, applying without an insurance policy number stalls the TIMS form, and trying to buy a card on a Saturday finds the NTB counter closed. Each mistake alone costs an hour or two, but stacked together they can push a trail start back by a full day and disrupt a tight flight schedule.
A fourth mistake has grown more common since checkpoints stopped enforcing TIMS uniformly: a trekker assumes the card is optional and skips it, then gets stopped at one of the gates that still checks it. Preparation avoids all four errors, and a guided booking removes them by default because the agency handles the photographs, the form, and the timing. Trekkers who book through an operator typically have both permits ready before they land, which frees the city day for gear shopping and rest.
What a guided trek includes
An all-inclusive Annapurna package from Annapurna Trekking bundles the ACAP, the TIMS card, and a TAAN-certified guide into one price, so a trekker never queues at the NTB counter or carries the penalty risk described above. Our guides carry printed permit copies through every Besisahar, Chame, Birethanti, and Chhomrong checkpoint and keep groups to a maximum of twelve trekkers. Pairing solid paperwork with sound acclimatisation matters just as much as the permits themselves, a point covered in our altitude sickness prevention guide. To lock in permits and dates for an Annapurna Circuit or Base Camp trek, message our team on WhatsApp at +977 984 159 5962 or use our contact page.
