Visa policy of Bangladesh explained

Bangladesh requires all foreigners to obtain permission, specifically a visa, to enter its territory unless exempted. Visas are issued by Bangladesh diplomatic missions located throughout the world or, if applicable, on arrival in Bangladesh.

Visa extensions are available at the Department of Immigration and Passports located in Shere-E-Bangla Nagar, West Agargaon, Dhaka City.^[1]

• an eligible passport which is valid for at least 6 months after arrival in Bangladesh;
• printout of a return/onward air ticket or international train ticket or international bus ticket;
• printout of a booking, with a hotel or a tour company in Bangladesh, valid for the entire duration of the intended stay in Bangladesh; or an invitation letter from a business or a company operating in Bangladesh; or the contact details of Bangladeshi close relatives, residing in Bangladesh, who are expecting and will vouch for the visa seeker;
• and entering Bangladesh by air, sea or road but not on a train.

The Visa On Arrival fee must be paid only in cash in US dollars or Euros when entering Bangladesh and the cost per person is 51 USD or €51, with all taxes included. The maximum duration of this single-entry Visa On Arrival is 30 days and it can be extended for an additional 30 days. Applicants can apply for the extension of the Visa On Arrival up to a week before visa expiry but not sooner. Visa extensions are available at the Department of Immigration and Passports located in Shere-E-Bangla Nagar, West Agargaon, Dhaka City.

It is just adjacent to the main Dhaka Passport Office building in Agargaon. Most diplomats can get a Visa On Arrival in Bangladesh if travelling with a diplomatic passport.

The issuance of a Visa On Arrival in Bangladesh is at the sole discretion of the immigration official at the port of entry in Bangladesh.

Travellers who wish to enter Bangladesh for any purpose other than tourism, investment or business, and all foreigners who are not visa exempt, need a valid Bangladeshi visa beforehand to enter Bangladesh.

Regular visas are available at all Consulates, Embassies and High Commissions of Bangladesh worldwide. A regular visa is usually a multiple-entry visa valid up to 60 months, unlike a Visa On Arrival, which is just a single-entry visa valid up to 30 days. All these visas can be extended or renewed at the Department of Immigration and Passports in Dhaka City.

Visa exemption

Ordinary passports

Holders of ordinary passports of the following countries may enter Bangladesh without a visa for up to 90 days:

Barbados Bhutan Botswana Burkina Faso Fiji Gabon Gambia Ghana

Grenada Guinea Guinea-Bissau Jamaica Lesotho Malawi Maldives Papua New Guinea

Saint Kitts and Nevis Samoa Seychelles Sierra Leone Tonga Zambia

Non-ordinary passports

In addition to countries whose citizens are visa-exempt, holders of diplomatic, official or service passports of the following countries may enter Bangladesh without a visa for 30 days (unless otherwise noted):

ASEAN member states (except Thailand) Belarus China Estonia^D India^D 2 Japan^D 1 Oman Serbia Sri Lanka Thailand^D Turkey^D Ukraine

_{D - Diplomatic only.
1 - 90 days
2 - 45 days}

Diplomatic, Official & Service Passport Holders of Jordan may be eligible for visa on arrival at any port of entry that is listed.

Visa on arrival

According to Timatic, the following countries are specifically listed as countries whose citizens may obtain visa on arrival for the purpose of official duty, business, investment and tourism regardless of the Bangladeshi mission status:^[2]

All European Union member states Australia Bahrain Canada China Egypt Iceland Indonesia Japan Kuwait Liechtenstein Malaysia New Zealand Norway Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Switzerland Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States

In addition, according to Henry & Partners and the Passport Index, citizens of the following countries are known to require a visa:^[3]

Algeria^1 Belize Brazil^1 Egypt^1 Hong Kong^1 India ^1 Iraq^1 Jordan^1 Kenya^1

Lebanon^1 Libya^1 Macao Mauritius^1 Mexico^1 Morocco^1 Myanmar Nigeria Pakistan Paraguay

Philippines^1 South Africa^1 Sri Lanka ^1 Thailand^1 Tunisia Uzbekistan^1 ^1 Yemen

_{1 - unless they are residing in a country without a Bangladeshi representation.}

Israel

Entry and transit is refused to Israeli citizens.^[4]

No Visa Required seal / vignette

Bangladesh missions provide a No Visa Required (NVR) seal or vignette (sticker) for citizens of Bangladesh who have a foreign passport and dual nationality, as well as to non-Bangladeshis who are the legally married spouses or children of citizens of Bangladesh.^[5]

The NVR is placed on a blank page in the applicant's foreign passport. It is either in the form of a seal or a vignette (sticker), although the seal version is being phased out and replaced by the vignette.

This NVR allows the passport holder to travel to Bangladesh an unlimited number of times without any restrictions on duration, or limits on entry, throughout the validity of the passport containing the NVR.^[6]

The guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs do not explicitly indicate whether the spousal NVR entitlement only applies to opposite-sex couples.^[7]

The NVR is valid until the expiry of the non-Bangladeshi passport the NVR is in. Once this passport expires, a new NVR can be placed in a new passport of the same person by showing the previous expired passport containing the expired NVR.

See also

• Visa requirements for Bangladeshi citizens
• Diplomatic Missions of Bangladesh
• Foreign relations of Bangladesh
• Foreign policy of Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Visa Portal

Notes and References

1. Web site: Visa Information . Embassy of Bangladesh, Washington, D.C. . 16 February 2015.
2. Web site: Visa Policy of Bangladesh: Visa on Arrival . Bangladesh Embassy in the United States . 30 July 2024 .
3. Web site: Compare Destinations.
4. Web site: Aeronautical Information Publication . 2 December 2021 . Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
5. Web site: No Visa Required (NVR) for NRBs . Embassy of Bangladesh, Germany . 21 April 2019.
6. Web site: Instructions and Requirements for NVR (No Visa Required) . Embassy of Bangladesh, Washington DC . https://web.archive.org/web/20190427112751/www.bdembassyusa.org/index.php?page=instruction-nvr . 27 April 2019 . en.
7. Web site: bn:পাসপোর্টে “No Visa Required for Travel of Bangladesh” সীল প্রদান প্রসংগে . http://www.bangladeshembassy.dk/media/1324/nvr_policy.pdf . The Ministry of Home Affairs, Bangladesh Government . bn . 21 April 2019 . Embassy of Bangladesh, Denmark.