Last Updated on February 22, 2026 1:38 am by INDIAN AWAAZ
Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Bangladesh High Commission has begun receiving tourist visa applications from Indian nationals, two months after suspending the service, even as India is expected to resume all categories of visa services for Bangladeshis, including tourist visas, after the West Bengal Assembly elections likely to be held in April.
A senior official at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka told this correspondent, on condition of anonymity, that visa services are expected to return to normal following the elections across all 294 constituencies. Earlier, on February 18, Aniruddha Roy, senior consular officer at the Indian mission in Sylhet, said the process to fully restore visa services had already begun. Speaking at the Sylhet District Press Club, Roy said medical and double-entry visas are currently being issued and steps are underway to reopen other categories, including tourist visas. “We are making every effort to simplify visa services,” he said.
Visa services from Bangladesh to India were largely suspended after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. While emergency medical visas continued, there were complaints that many patients could not access them. Bangladesh later imposed visa restrictions on Indian nationals amid rising bilateral tensions.
In New Delhi, a senior official at the Bangladesh High Commission’s visa section said tourist visa applications from Indians resumed on Saturday, with the suspension notice at the Chanakyapuri Diplomatic Zone visa counter removed. The official clarified that only tourist visas had been fully halted, while business and work visas continued under restrictions, as services operate on a reciprocal basis. Emergency cases and special events, including Bangladesh’s recent parliamentary elections, were handled as exceptions.
The move follows a statement by Aniruddha Das, India’s assistant high commissioner in Sylhet, who said steps were being taken to fully resume visa services for Bangladeshis. Consular operations between the two neighbours were largely suspended in December as diplomatic relations deteriorated over multiple issues.