Nearly 1,500 Indian VISAs being issued daily, priority on medical and emergency VISA
India is issuing VISA to 1,500 Bangladeshis daily on average. The country is prioritising medical and other emergency VISAs. However, India has totally shut down issuing tourist VISAs to Bangladeshi citizens.
Currently, the Indian authorities are issuing VISAs from five centres and have closed relevant operations in the remaining 11 other centres considering security issues. An Indian diplomatic source disclosed this to four media outlets Monday afternoon.
The diplomatic source further said that Indian VISAs are being issued from Indian VISA application centres (IVAC) in Dhaka, Sylhet, Chattogram, Khulna and Rajshahi. However, VISA application centres in Barishal, Jashore, Satkhira, Noakhali, Brahmanbaria, Cumilla, Bogura, Thakurgaon, Kushtia, Rangpur and Mymensingh are closed now.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, a relevant diplomat said four Indian VISA application centres were vandalised following the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August last year. Apart from that, protests were held in front of the VISA application centre in Dhaka and the Indian Cultural Centre in the capital’s Dhanmondi was vandalised which created a security concern.
The diplomatic source further said around 1.6 million Bangladeshis visited India in 2023, which means some 6,000 Bangladeshis were issued Indian VISA daily on average that year. However, there are also instances where some 8,000 or more VISAs were issued, in particular during the Eid holidays. Now the Indian authorities are issuing all sorts of VISA except the tourist VISA. Indian VISAs are also available for businesspersons or any other person.
After 5 August, India postponed all VISA operations for four to five days. At that time, many people’s passports were lodged at various visa centres and embassies.
Diplomats stated that visa services were quickly resumed to ensure the passports were returned to their owners without delay.
However, several journalists have reported that it is still quite difficult to submit medical VISA applications online.
Speaking regarding this, the Indian diplomat said this was happening because some Bangladesh agents and brokers are creating an orchestrated clog in the portal for VISA application. They are making it difficult for the actual applicants to get the appointment.
He further said the Indian authority had learnt that four such people have already been arrested by the Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies in connection with this.
The diplomat further said some technical measures have been taken to identify these agents at Indian VISA application centres. There are arrangements at the VISA application centres to ensure that people with emergencies get the VISA easily.
Although the Indian High Commission issues the VISA, the outsourcing process, including verification of documents and other scrutiny processes, are done by other agencies.
These agencies are yet to resume operations in full swing, mounting extra pressure on the five VISA application centres currently in operation, the diplomat said, adding that remaining centres could resume operations by the next three or four months.
Another diplomat said the VISA agents submit fake documents in the VISA applications. Therefore, the VISA officials check the application and verify the attached documents by contacting concerned hospitals or other Indian organisations to identify fake documents.
According to a record from seven to eight months ago, almost 30-35 per cent of the VISA applications for double entries had wrong or fake documents. However, there is no such account on medical VISAs.