The economic impact of labour migration on Nepal as well as the migrant workers and their families is well known. However, labour migration for Nepali migrant workers has come with high economic cost. In particular, securing employment abroad involves several costs primarily for migrant workers. It was within this context that the study was conducted to understand the trends in migration costs, use of loans for migration and loan repayment rate among migrant households in Nepal. The study is based on a sub-set of data from a larger survey (4,830 households) titled ‘Media and Democracy Survey V’ carried out by Sharecast Initiatives in Nepal in January and February of 2020. The study finds that Nepali migrants spend a significant amount of money for migration and most households borrow loans from formal channels and informal networks to pay for the migration of their members. Nepal’s policy and Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements with some destination countries requires the employer to pay for recruitment fees and other related costs. But, in practice, they have not been effective in ensuring fair and ethical recruitment of Nepalis for foreign employment at a low cost. A significant proportion of migrant households struggle to pay back the staggering amount of loans even several years after the migration of their member/s. In the costs of high migration cost and use of loans with high interest to finance migration, remittance sent by migrant workers are being used mostly in loan repayment and meeting daily household needs. Unless the costs of migration can be reduced, investment in any economic activities that generate capital will continue to remain constrained. Further, the study on debt stress and debt bondage among migrant workers and challenges that migrants and returnees face including psychosocial health implication in paying off the debt incurred during the process of seeking employment abroad is needed.