Indian visa services to go bigger, better at new venue for Bangladeshis

India is set to open a state-of-the-art visa application centre in Dhaka to provide comfortable and integrated visa services to applicants reducing waiting time.

The home ministers of India and Bangladesh will jointly inaugurate the centre on 18,500 square feet commercial space at Jamuna Future Park.

In a statement, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said Home Minister Rajnath Singh would arrive in Dhaka on Friday on a three-day official visit. Singh and his Bangladesh counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan will open the new Indian visa application centre or IVAC on Saturday.

Talking to bdnews24.com, two officials in Dhaka and New Delhi, with knowledge of the issue, said the IVACs in Motijheel and Uttara would be integrated into the new centre on July 15.

The remaining two centres in Gulshan and Mirpur will also be shifted to the new IVAC by Aug 31.

Another major announcement will come on July 15 during Singh’s visit: India will scrap e-tokens for visa appointment.

The Jamuna Future Park centre will have services, such as computer-generated token vending machines which will indicate waiting time, comfortable seating in an air-conditioned waiting area, coffee and soft drinks via vending machines, food kiosks and as many as 48 counters for visa applications.

There will be separate counters for senior citizens, women, freedom fighters and business applicants. A special counter will provide printing and photocopying services for a fee.

Bangladeshis constitute one of the largest numbers of visitors from a single country to India. There are 12 visa centres in Bangladesh, which is the highest India has anywhere in the world.

India issues five-year multiple entry visas for freedom fighters, senior citizens and businessmen.