With the support of its partner Saimon Overseas Limited, the United States embassy has opened visa collection centres in Sylhet and Chittagong earlier this month.
A US embassy release on Sunday said that at these centres, applicants can submit and collect their passports and other documents in conjunction with an application for a US visa. Qualified visa applicants who have been issued visas after 2008 can submit their passports for the Interview Waiver Programme (Drop Box), a service that allows them to renew their visas without an interview.
On September 14, 2014 US embassy in Dhaka instituted several changes to make it easier for visa applicants to pay their visa processing fees, schedule visa interview appointments, and drop off and pick up their passports and other documents. Information about these new procedures can be found at www.USTravelDocs.com/BD or http://dhaka.usembassy.gov/, said the release.
All other applicants will still need to appear for a visa interview in Dhaka. However, applicants who are issued visas can now pick up their passports (with visas) at the regional centres in Sylhet and Chittagong, saving them an additional trip to Dhaka.
The Visa Collection Centres are located in Dhaka at House 4A, Road 22, Gulshan 1; in Sylhet at 1/A Ananda Tower (Ground floor), Jail Road; and in Chittagong at Ayub Trade Centre (5th floor), 1269/B Sheikh Mujib Road, Agrabad. All three centres are open from Sunday to Thursday 9:00am to 3:00pm, and Saturday 9:00am to 1:00pm.
Further information can be found by emailing support-bangladesh@ustraveldocs.com or calling 09610 202040.