How to Build a US-Nepal Policy Tracker From Primary Sources

If you follow US policy from Nepal, the hard part isn't finding opinions. It's finding the version of a rule that was actually published, the date it took effect, and the agency that owns it. A US-Nepal policy tracker is useful only if every row can survive that test. You don't need a custom dashboard to start one. A spreadsheet and a short list of official sources will do.

Start with the agency that issues the rule

For H-1B questions, go to USCIS first. The fee schedule and form instructions are the pages that matter, because they reflect what a petitioner actually pays on the filing date. Check the Federal Register for rule changes and notices. If a fee is being challenged in court, don't trust a summary from a consultancy. Put 'under litigation' in your notes and link to the notice or docket you actually read.

For tariffs, the paperwork is split. USTR publishes notices and press releases. The Federal Register carries the formal text. The USITC's Harmonized Tariff Schedule helps you identify the product line. If you're checking a shipment, use the tariff line and the effective date, not a news headline.

MCC and aid need different habits

The Millennium Challenge Corporation's Nepal country page is the starting point for compact documents, board decisions and implementation reports. Read the date on each document. A compact page can stay online for years while the implementation status moves on.

US aid is messier. ForeignAssistance.gov and USAspending.gov are the main public databases, but each has a lag. A project page from the implementing agency may be more current for a specific activity. Record the award date and the agency, then note that the figure is an obligation, a disbursement or a budget request. Those are not the same thing.

Nepal's position belongs in its own column

For Nepal's official view, use the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press releases and statements. The Embassy of Nepal in Washington also publishes notices. Keep the original wording in a quote field. A paraphrase is fine for your own reading, but a tracker entry should let someone else check the sentence you relied on.

Make every row show its work

A simple row can have six fields: topic, issuing authority, document title, date issued, link, and a short note on what the document actually says. Add a 'last checked' date. If a number changes, the old row stays visible with its date rather than being overwritten. That sounds fussy, but it's the difference between a record and a rumour.

When a figure isn't available, write that down. 'MCC has not published the updated disbursement figure for this quarter' is more useful than a number copied from an old blog post. The same goes for aid totals. If two agencies report different numbers, show both and explain the difference in one line.

What to check before you share an entry

Open the link yourself. Confirm the date. Confirm that the page is on the issuing agency's domain, not a mirror site. Check whether the document is a proposal, a final rule, or a press release. Those three things are not interchangeable. Then write the entry in plain language: what changed, who it affects, and when it applies.

That's the whole method. It won't give you a single official feed, because no such feed covers every US-Nepal policy issue. But it will give you a tracker you can defend, one source at a time.