Two-Year Wait Ends as India Resumes Tourist Visas
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Monday marked the first day of the resumption of Indian tourist visa services for Bangladeshis after a two-year suspension. A large crowd of visa applicants gathered at the Indian Visa Application Center (IVAC) at Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka.
The long-awaited reopening of tourist visas brought both relief and excitement among applicants, many of whom were eager to complete the process on the very first day.
Visa applications began being accepted from Monday at five major IVAC centers across the country. A visit to the Jamuna Future Park center showed long queues of applicants from the morning.
Under the new system, applicants must book an online appointment at least one day before submitting their documents in person at an IVAC center. Five major IVAC centers across the country began accepting visa applications on Monday.
Maruf Sheikh arrived in Dhaka from Chuadanga on a train that departed at midnight on Sunday. Standing at the IVAC center, he said enthusiastically, “We love traveling. We have visited many places in Bangladesh and travel to India every year. We had planned to visit Goa in 2025, but after the political changes in 2024, visa services were suspended and we could not make the trip.”
Suggesting that there may have been a temporary misunderstanding between the two countries, he added, “I hope this service will not be suspended again. When visas remain available, tourists like us can travel, and the destination country's government also benefits economically.”
Businessman Raja Ahmed, who came from Dohar, shared similar enthusiasm. He arrived around noon and received a token after standing in line for about 40 minutes.
“For low-income travel enthusiasts like us, India is the only affordable option,” he said. “There was a previous announcement about visa services resuming, but nothing happened. Naturally when I heard the news this time, I left home early in the morning. I hope the two neighboring countries maintain good relations and that this visa service is never suspended again.”
The crowd of applicants remained steady throughout the afternoon. Md. Kawser, who arrived at 2 pm, said he received a token quickly but was assigned serial number 931. Around 3:30 pm, while the center was processing applicants in the 600 range, he was still waiting in the waiting room.
Kawser said the large number of people inside had made the environment quite warm, prompting him to step outside occasionally. Explaining why he came on the first day, he said, “The service resumed after such a long time. What if it gets suspended again for some reason? I didn't want to take any chances, so I came on the first day.”
Visa applicant Dipti Roy also expressed relief. “I have relatives in India and haven't been able to see them for a long time. As soon as I heard the news that visas had resumed, I came here. Now I'll be able to visit my relatives and travel as well,” she said.
An IVAC official said the center had been under tremendous pressure from visa applicants since the morning following the reopening of tourist visa services. The rush continued until noon. By the afternoon, the official said new applications would be accepted until 4 pm, although around 400 people were still waiting in the waiting room at that time.
The official assured applicants that everyone who had entered the center within the designated hours would have their applications processed before operations concluded on Monday.
Tourist visa applications are currently being accepted at five IVAC centers in Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Khulna. According to sources familiar with the matter, the service has initially resumed in these major cities and will gradually be expanded to IVAC centers in other parts of the country.
Last Thursday, during a visit to the IVAC center at Jamuna Future Park, newly appointed Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi formally announced the resumption of tourist visa services for Bangladeshis.
India suspended regular visa issuance after the political changes in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, citing security concerns. Although medical, business, and student visas continued to be issued on a limited scale for urgent cases, tourist visas remained completely suspended.
