The Consulate General at the High Commission recently issues a, No Visa Required for Travel to Bangladesh (NVR) seal to Bangladesh-origin citizens and foreign nationals of some countries and their family members, including their spouses and children. Unfortunately, their grandchildren do not directly get this privilege. This endorsement allows them multiple entries into Bangladesh, without restriction on the duration of their stay within the validity of the passport. However, if their passport does expire, they can always renew it and get it stamped with the seal on their updated passport. Unfortunately, people from SAARC countries cannot apply under this rule.
The history of Bangladesh has a lot of migration, with its annual turnover depending strongly on it as well. The country sees approximately 500,000 Bangladeshi citizens leaving to work abroad, annually, with its economy depending on migrant remittances. The largest population of first-generation migrants move abroad from Bangladesh for better living conditions, to escape poverty, find better financial conditions or earn and send money back to families in Bangladesh. The annual remittances received in Bangladesh is about 15.4 billion dollars as of a poll conducted in 2015.
According to UN data from an older survey conducted in 2013, more than 7.8 million people of Bangladeshi origin were living in 89 countries around the world. The primary host countries are India, which had about 3.2 million Bangladeshi migrants, Saudi Arabia with 1.3 million, the United Arab Emirates, with 1.1 million, Malaysia had 350,000, Kuwait had about 279,000, and the United Kingdom with 240,000 migrants.
With such a large diaspora overseas, the Bangladeshi Government had to work on a better system to allow these people to travel back home whenever they wanted to meet their family or friends. They recently came up with the No Visa Required, NVR seal that allowed foreign nationals to travel back home as many times as they wanted, without having to apply for a visa. The NVR visa is machine-readable and works well on machine-readable passports allowing for simple travel through international and Bangladeshi airports. The NVR seals work as regular visas, the only difference being that they don’t have an expiration date and last for as long as the passport.
What is the process of applying for an NVR Seal?
The process is quite simple and can be taken care of from most countries around the world. The High Commission allows people to fill out the forms and submit their documents at the office nearest to them, making the process easier. Additionally, they even have a website where interested candidates can fill out the application forms and download digital copies to make the process easier. Further, the High Commission website offers information about the documents and certificates needed for the application process, making it easier for a lot of the applicants.
All of these changes can be worked on through the MRP Passport website that provides all this information. Furthermore, it allows Bangladeshi citizens to apply for a passport, work on regular visas as well, and assist with all documentation that could be needed when travelling to Bangladesh.
