India moves to cut visa middlemen

In an attempt to remove sufferings of Indian tourist visa seekers, the High Commission of India (HCI) in Bangladesh is introducing SMS-based appointment and One Time Password (OTP) for the Bangladeshi Tourist Visa applicants, said an HCI press release.

Currently, the tourist visa seekers need to pay at least Tk 4,000 to the "unscrupulous agents" for getting appointment dates, mentioned the press release.

With the introduction of the OTP system, the applicants will no longer need to pay money to anyone or wait for long time to get the appointment date as they will get the appointment date outright.

Under the new system, beginning from today, appointment date for Tourist Visa applicants including One-Time Password will be sent to the applicants' cell phones through SMS.

It will be mandatory for the applicants to show the SMS at the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) to enter and deposit the applications.

This will, however, not apply to the Tourist Visa applicants who have already received appointment dates up to June 5, 2016.

EID VISA CAMP

The high commission is also organising an "Eid Visa Camp" from June 4-16 for Bangladeshi nationals wishing to travel to India during the upcoming Eid holidays, said another press release.

Visa applicants can submit their tourist visa applications on a walk-in basis without a prior appointment date/e-token at the Eid Visa Camp to be held at the new Chancery Complex of HCI in the capital's Baridhara, which will be open from 8:00am to 2:00pm from June 4-16, except Friday.  The applicants with appointment dates can submit their visa applications at any of the IVACs in Dhaka, Barisal, Mymensingh and Khulna.