Using your Nepali BS date for visa applications abroad — a practical guide
Embassies and visa agencies need your date of birth in AD. Learn exactly how to convert your BS DOB, what format different embassies require, and how to avoid rejection.
March 5, 2026 · 5 min read
The core problem
Your Nepali citizenship certificate and most official Nepali documents record dates in Bikram Sambat. Foreign embassies — US, UK, Schengen, Australia, Canada — accept only Gregorian (AD) dates. Even a single-day mismatch between your visa application and your passport DOB can trigger additional scrutiny or outright rejection.
Step 1: find your BS date of birth
Your BS DOB appears on your citizenship certificate, your school-leaving (SLC/SEE) certificate, or your birth certificate. If these documents disagree, use the citizenship certificate — it is the primary civil identity document in Nepal.
Step 2: convert precisely
Use the BS to AD converter to get the exact AD date. Do not use year arithmetic (subtracting 56 or 57) — this fails for dates in January through mid-April.
Step 3: match the format required
Different visa application systems use different date formats:
- US (DS-160): MM/DD/YYYY — e.g. 04/14/1990
- UK (UKVI): DD/MM/YYYY — e.g. 14/04/1990
- Schengen (VFS): DD.MM.YYYY — e.g. 14.04.1990
- Canada (IRCC): YYYY-MM-DD — e.g. 1990-04-14
Step 4: cross-check against your Nepali passport
Your Nepali passport already contains your AD date of birth in the Machine-Readable Zone. Cross-check your conversion result against the passport. If they differ, use the passport's AD date on the visa form (it is the internationally recognised document), and report the discrepancy in your citizenship certificate to the Passport Office.
Keep a permanent record
Once you have confirmed your AD DOB, write it down and keep it with your important documents. Many Nepali families discover a DOB inconsistency only when applying for their first visa abroad — far better to resolve it before you urgently need a visa.