Indian visa application centres in Bangladesh’s major cities including Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Khulna, have begun offering limited appointment slots for Bangladeshi nationals. These visa appointments are for individuals who require urgent medical or student visas.
Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Bangladesh said that these five centres have also opened limited appointment slots for “urgent cases where Bangladesh students and workers need to travel to third countries and for which they already have visa appointments with foreign embassies in India”.
These visa services will remain limited till IVAC resumes its normal operations at a later date.
This comes after IVAC shut its centres last week after hundreds of applicants protested, demanding quicker visa processing. IVAC acknowledged delays due to 'limited operations' and announced that passports would be returned for reprocessing once operations resumed. Applicants will be notified via SMS for resubmission.
Videos on social media showed long queues at the Indian Visa Centre in Jamuna Mall, with users blaming staff shortages for the delays. Protests erupted as people demanded their passports back. An Indian High Commission official confirmed that while passports were being returned, applications would remain active for future processing.
Bangladesh was rocked by massive protests after the Sheikh Hasina government implemented a controversial quota system. The protests eventually led to the ouster of the Hasina-led Awami League government in August.