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Indian Visa Application Facilitation Centre inaugurated

  • Diplomatic Correspondent
  • 26th January, 2023 10:00:10 PM
  • Print news

On the auspicious occasion of the 74th Republic Day of India, Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Bangladesh announced the inauguration of a Visa Application Facilitation Centre (VAFC) at the IVAC Centre at Jamuna Future Park, Dhaka.

The centre will provide an online visa application form filling-up facility. At a function held on Thursday, High Commissioner of India in Dhaka Pranay Verma, inaugurated the Visa Application Facilitation Centre.

Ever since online visa applications became mandatory, there have been requests for such a Visa Application Facilitation Centre, where applicants, who do not possess a computer or an internet connection, can come to the VAFC with their passports/documents and avail of the online visa application form filling-up facility and get their visa applications printed.

Hitherto, members of the public who we unable to fill forms online on their own had to resort to using the services of agents for generating visa application forms at great cost.

The form filling-up facility at VAFC will be provided for a nominal service fee of BDT 200/- per application. This will be an optional value added service provided by IVAC. This facility will be rolled out in other IVACs in Bangladesh depending on demand.

 

As the VAFC is located adjacent to the IVAC in JFP, visa applicants can easily generate visa applications at VAFC  and thereafter submit the completed visa applications and documents at IVAC saving both time and effort. The inauguration of the VAFC is an effort to digitally hand hold that segment of the population which faces challenges in filling the online form.

Fifteen Indian Visa Application Centres (IVACs) located across Bangladesh are managed by State Bank of India in Bangladesh since December 2005.  IVAC Dhaka at Jamuna Future Park, which started its operations from July 2018, is the world’s biggest Indian Visa Application Centre.

 State Bank of India is an Indian Public Sector Bank, with more than 25,000 branches spread across 35 countries. SBI has a total customer base of more than 46 crores and its Balance sheet size is 905 billion USD. SBI is a fortune 500 company and it is among top 50 Banks of the world by asset size. Beside managing IVACs in Bangladesh, SBI is also serving the people of Bangladesh through its 3 branches at Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna.