Red Tape, Visas, Work Permits, India Visas
Posted on 29. Dec, 2009 by Mikey Leung in 2. Practical Information
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Visas and entry requirements
All foreign visitors to Bangladesh require a visa. To be frank, getting a Bangladesh visa can be a pain in the backside, so let this process be your first lesson in the patience you will inevitably cultivate during your stay in Bangladesh. Because of a lack of information on visa regulations, procedures and the simple fact that not that many tourists or visitors come to Bangladesh (streamlined application processes are an innovation yet to be discovered in the country), you should apply for your visa as early as possible. Also note that each Bangladesh consular office applies the rules and regulations slightly differently, so if you’re ever in doubt, call the relevant office and ask for directions or check the relevant websites (none of which is particularly well organised or even functional) to get yourself as informed as possible. Now that your expectations are set appropriately low, here are some directions to help ease the process.
Tourist visas are the easiest to obtain. Depending on the office you’re dealing with, they can be issued for periods of up to two months, and whatever the length of your stay it is suggested that you apply for the maximum amount of time permitted, or at least specify a date that is a few days earlier than your expected arrival and at least a few days later than your expected departure. Most consular offices will request a letter of invitation along with the visa; this could be a letter from the tour operator or the contact that you may be visiting. Otherwise any manufactured letter that explains the purpose of your visit should satisfy the Bangladeshi bureaucratic urge for paper consumption. Other consular offices might request a hotel booking, air ticket confirmation or a signed invitation letter from Bangladesh. If such a letter is required, asking around on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree forum will usually help you locate someone who can prepare such a letter on your behalf. Generally, building a ‘paperwork’ case for your visit to Bangladesh is what you should do, and the more paper you have to support the application, the more impressive it appears. The higher up the status of the letterhead (diplomatic or aid agencies rate very high), the better. A few travel advisories also specify that you should have an onward ticket to present on arrival, but immigration staff rarely request to see such paperwork.
Business visas are a slightly different story. They can be issued for periods up to six months, and require a letter introducing your company along with a letter from your proposed business partner clearly stating the purpose of your visit.
Visa fees vary from nationality to nationality as Bangladesh practises a reciprocal fee system. Whatever visa fee is charged to Bangladesh nationals when they apply is same rate charged to foreign visa applications. You can check the fee schedule on the immigration website (www.dip.gov.bd). Some common visa fees are: £40/52/75 for single-/double-/multiple-entry visas for UK nationals; US$131 for US nationals, regardless of length or number of entries; CAD$80/158 for single- /multiple-entry visas for Canadian nationals; and AUD$150 for single-/double- /multiple-entry visas for Australian nationals (in the case of Australia, all visa types are the same price so it may be best to apply for a multiple entry visa for the longest period permissible by the high commission).
Applying in India
Applying for a tourist visa in India before your visit to Bangladesh is possible, but your best bet is again to get it before even setting foot in the subcontinent. The Kolkata visa office has an especially nasty reputation, and so if you need to apply for your tourist visa here make sure you also bring your patience, good humour and at least two or three extra days for interviews/ questions/problems. Also, applying for anything other than a tourist visa can cause difficulties and elicit many questions, most of which you should take in a friendly manner but also be firm about your needs. The Delhi office is also prone to application difficulties, although the travellers who are patient and aware of the bureaucracy seem to get through here with fewer problems. Should you be all the way out in Agartala, it is also possible to get tourist visas here for 15 days without difficulties; should you require a longer period you’ll need to lock down an interview with officials to explain your cause. Also, keep in mind that holidays in Bangladesh differ from those in India, so if you’re planning to apply anytime around Eid-ul Fitr (August–October), be prepared for extra delays. Come prepared with at least three passport-sized photographs and photocopies of your passport and onward flight arrangements, if any.
Long-term visa issues
Employment and NGO visas are where things begin to get a bit more complicated, but your employer in Bangladesh should help you with obtaining the necessary paperwork. Most of the advice that follows is for those who have to do the applications themselves, such as consultants, freelancers or long term volunteers.
Applying for the first visa is best done from your home country, as there tend to be more restrictions on visa applications for nationals from elsewhere (ie: when a Canadian national tries to apply for an NGO visa in China, it can cause a fair amount of confusion among consular officials). Americans tend to get better visas than other nationalities. In Australia, you are unlikely to get more than a six-month visa, unless you are associated with an Australian government aid programme.
If you obtain a visa that expires during your stay, begin the process for visa extension as soon as you are settled in Bangladesh. Security clearances and work permits are required for most visa extensions and these can take months and many painful hours wasted at various government offices. Bangladesh’s visa office makes snails seem speedy, although believe it or not, things improved under the 2007–08 caretaker administration. Your host organisation should also assist with the visa extension process, but do be wary as they can sometimes be as clueless as you (reassurances of ‘no problem, no problem’ are often a warning sign in this regard). If your visa does expire you will have to pay a fine, a rate variable depending on your work and host organisation. You will also require an exit visa to leave Bangladesh and this can likewise take months to obtain.
If you find yourself in a real bind with visa issues (ie: lacking the correct paperwork and with less than a month to go until your visa expires), the least stressful but definitely most expensive option is to leave Bangladesh and apply for a new visa from outside. The bureaucratic chaos of Bangladesh apparently can’t be escaped within the subcontinent, so consider heading to Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore for such a visa run as these offices tend to be far more generous with their visas. Also, this process can be complicated by a few other factors, such as whether you still have a valid Bangladeshi visa in your passport, which in some cases should have expired first. Finally, it is apparently impossible to change the visa type after your arrival, so do try to apply for the correct visa before your first arrival in the country, which will hopefully save you time and energy as you try to navigate Bangladesh’s extraordinary bureaucracy.
Once you do have the correct paperwork in place, the immigration office will be able to extend your visa for the period of your work permit. Bribing at any consular or immigration office is not recommended – it may work, according to some of those who have tried otherwise, but it may also jeopardise your chances and does little for the global stance against corruption. It helps to carry around extra photocopies of your passport and passport-sized photos when dealing with these issues.
Landing permit
As of 22 March 2008, the majority of nationals from Western countries (US, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia) could obtain a ‘Landing Permit on Arrival’ if you arrive in Dhaka with no visa, and while it may not be checked, you should also carry printed proof of your onward travel arrangements. With US$50, you can simply buy this landing permit when you arrive at Zia International Airport, and you should be granted a 15-day stay, which you can overstay for a few days, or even a couple of weeks and pay the Tk200 per day overstay fee. The permit would normally be issued to visitors hailing from most Western countries, especially when they arrive from a country with no resident Bangladeshi mission.
However, please note that this could change at any time and without warning – such are the vagaries of the Bangladesh immigration system. The rules surrounding this landing permit are not published anywhere and there is a general sense that officials do not want this system to be too widely known by visiting guests. Although for short-term tourist arrivals coming from a country that is not their home country, this is the best choice. The airport immigration telephone number at Zia International Airport is tel: +880 2 891 4226, and if you speak Bangla or know a Bangla speaker you will be able to get up-to-the-minute details. Whether or not you use the Landing Permit on Arrival system depends on whether or not you are the traveller who is willing to accept some degree of risk while you travel. Naturally, the safest option is to obtain a visa in your home country first, but if, for some circumstance of time and/or money you don’t get the visa, and you don’t need to stay in Bangladesh for longer than 15 days, a landing permit would certainly be easier than other potential bureaucratic speed bumps you could encounter at a Bangladeshi high commission or embassy abroad. Finally, the Landing Permit on Arrival system should only be used if you also plan to depart from Zia International Airport, and not overland to India. Indian immigration officials will not recognise the landing permit and may refuse to issue a visa in Dhaka. Even if you already have an Indian visa, border officials may not permit you to cross with only a landing permit. Given the multitude of complexities surrounding the landing permit, it is naturally best to obtain the necessary visa before your arrival in Bangladesh.
Visa extensions
Visa processing is handled at the Department of Immigration and Passports (Passport Bhaban, E7 Agargaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, www.dip.gov.bd; visa drop-off time: 10.00-13.00 and pickup time: 14.00-16.00). While affairs have become slightly more orderly at this aging office, do bring a sense of patience along with your necessary paperwork. If you have any friends at all in the government, having them place a phone call to the department will help speed up your visit immensely as you can be ushered in the ‘back door’ using your connections. Nonetheless, such connections will not help you if you don’t have the right paperwork ready. Landing permits and transit visas are non-extendable. Tourist visas can be extended for up to 30 days. A starting point of reference should be the department’s website, where you will find a link at the bottom left under ‘Visa Policy’ where all the requirements for each visa are listed. Also, there is a link provided for the necessary ‘Visa Fees’ on the left sidebar and the ‘Visa Form’ on the right. Here’s a checklist that you should prepare first:
- Passport photocopy
- Visa page photocopy
- Photocopy of the page containing your entry stamp
- One passport photo
- Visa fee (depends on nationality: UK US$65 for single entry, US$168 for
multiple; US US$131 for single/multiple; Canada Tk3,300 for single or
Tk6,600 for multiple) - While it depends on the visa required, most require a letter from your employer and security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs. NGO visas require a work permit from the NGO bureau. Keep your original paperwork and make photocopies for processing – paperwork being ‘lost’ is an infrequent but not unheard of occurrence.
Indian Visa
It is possible to get an Indian visa in Dhaka and Chittagong, although the High Commission of India website advises foreign applicants, other than those residing in Bangladesh, to normally obtain a visa from the Indian mission located in their country of origin or residence. Thus, it is prudent to bring a covering letter indicating that you are a resident of Bangladesh or are employed with a local organisation (regardless of what your actual status is). Using the normal process, the Dhaka office (Indian Visa Application Centre, Hse 12, Rd 137, Gulshan 1, tel: 02 989 3006; fax: 02 986 3229; e-mail: info@ivacbd.com; www.ivacbd.com; time: 11.00–12.00 for application/pickup) will grant six-month multiple-entry visas (Tk3,575 for most nationals, Tk3,300 for US nationals) to India although the length of visa does depend on the mood of the consular officials on the day of application. In addition, they sometimes request an extra Tk230 fee to send a clearance letter to Delhi. The whole process normally takes four working days. The Dhaka visa office is less unfriendly than the Chittagong visa office, and sometimes they have been known to give female applicants more trouble than men. You will need to take the following paperwork and be prepared to fetch more at the consular officer’s whim:
- Completed visa application form – available at the Indian high commission or online
- Your passport
- A photocopy of the headshot page of your passport as well as a photocopy of your Bangladesh visa
- Two passport photos
- Letter from your employer stating your reason for being in Bangladesh, your job, and your reason for travel to India
- Visa fee – check the website for the latest fees
