Indian HC organises visa camp for Bangladesh armed forces family members

The High Commission of India has organised a special visa camp for family members of serving and retired Armed Forces personnel at Sena Malancha in Dhaka Cantonment.

It was organised jointly by the Armed Forces Division which is under the Prime Minister’s Office, the High Commission said in a statement on Saturday.

High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division Lt Gen Mahfuzur Rahman inaugurated the camp.

The Indian High Commission has taken some initiatives in recent months to streamline, liberalise and ease the process of securing Indian visas.

A visa camp was organised ahead of the Eid vacations in the month of June last year in Dhaka, during which more than 55,000 tourist visas were issued.

A similar camp was organised for students in October last year with the participation of over 2000 students.

To simplify the visa process, anyone with a confirmed journey ticket by air, road or rail can submit their visa application at all Indian Visa Application Centres (IVACs) without an appointment date under the walk-in Tourist Visa Scheme.

The requirement of appointment date for senior citizens and minors has been waived while all personnel over 65 years of age have been made eligible for a five-year visa.

Women are given priority access as IVAC Mirpur is kept open exclusively on Saturdays for women applicants and their immediate family members.

Dependent family members of diplomats and officials can submit their Tourist visa application forms at IVAC Uttara on a walk-in basis.

“These measures are aimed at strengthening people-to-people contacts between India and Bangladesh,” the High Commission said.