Allowing people who are working abroad, away from their homes and family, the opportunity to travel back home with ease should be a requirement but can be quite challenging. Working toward this goal, the High Commission passed the recent order allowing people with origins to Bangladesh to apply for and receive a No Visa Required NVR Seal on their foreign passports so they could return home without any issues. However, people from countries that are a part of the SAARC group cannot apply for the NVR criteria.
Bangladesh has a giant chunk of their population in other countries around the world including distant ones like the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, while having their largest migrant population in India and the Middle East. Most of these people are working odd jobs and struggling to make their ends meet, but they still send small amounts home. In 2015, the annual remittances received in Bangladesh was 15.4 billion dollars.
How do you go through the process of applying for an NVR seal?
Passport authorities in Bangladesh or the High Commission through their offices around the world, add the seal to foreign passports. They also created a website to facilitate the faster processing of details and to save applicants multiple trips to their offices. There are several documents needed to prove their connection and origins to Bangladesh. Here are some documents and certificates used to process the NRV visa and seal.
- Application form download through the website
- Receipt of the paid fees
- Original passport with minimum six months validity.
- Proof of Bangladesh origin:
- Certified copy of Bangladesh passport
- National identity card (even fathers or mothers should work)
- Birth certificate
- Copy of the old passport with the endorsement page, if it had expired.
- Two recent photographs
If these documents were sent through the mail, the applicant should send a self-addressed, pre-paid registered return envelope (requiring a signature on delivery) or arrange for a pre-paid return courier. The NVR visa and seal serve the same purpose and since the passport is
machine-readable, it works faster to facilitate the scanning and authentication process at airports
What are some pointers to keep in mind when dealing with the NVR Seal process?
- All the above documentation might not be needed, but keeping it ready id asked is a better option than scrambling later.
- The Consulate General of Bangladesh has the right to request for any additional document at any stage of the authentication process
- the Consulate General of Bangladesh can withhold any application for a more detailed examination.
- On occasion, applicants are called in for an interview
- Basic information like name, date of birth, place of birth of an individual must be the same in all the submitted documents
- The High Commission is not responsible for documents lost or delayed in mail / Courier.
- For submitting applications in person, the High Commission only works between 9.30 am to 12.30 pm on the working days.
If all the information provided is accurate and checks out, the passport will be returned between five to ten days from the time that it was submitted. There might be instances where there was a slight delay, but those are subject to the details provided. The entire process can also be handled through the MRP Passport website which handles all details and documentation relating to travelling to Bangladesh.
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