India opens its largest visa centre in Bangladesh

Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who was present at the inauguration, told journalists that it was the largest Indian visa centre in the world and possibly the largest anywhere.

India inaugurated its largest visa centre in the world in the Bangladeshi capital on Saturday to reduce the waiting time for applicants.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) at Dhaka on July 14. (Rajnath Singh/Twitter)

Bangladeshis constitute one of the largest number of visitors from a single country to India. Last year, India the country issued 1.4 million visas to Bangladeshi nationals, BD News reported.

Visiting home minister Rajanth Singh, who is Dhaka on a three-day visit inaugurated the centre along with his Bangladeshi counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan.

The new integrated state-of-the-art Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) spread in an 18,500 square feet commercial area at Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka will replace all the existing centres (Motijheel, Uttara, Gulshan and Mirpur Road) in Dhaka in two phases.

Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who was present at the inauguration, told journalists that it was the largest Indian visa centre in the world and possibly the largest anywhere.

To mark the inauguration, Singh presented a five-year multiple-entry tourist visa to a Bangladeshi national.

Singh also announced the withdrawal of the existing e-token (appointment) system for submission of visa applications.