A visa centre for Bangladeshis to file their Schengen visa applications would be much appreciated in Dhaka, the capital of the Asian country, the Home Affairs adviser has noted.
During a meeting held at the Foreign Ministry in Dhaka, the Home Affairs Adviser, Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, asked the EU Ambassador to Bangladesh for a visa centre where applicants can file their visa requests for countries that currently do not issue visas to Bangladeshis, Schengen.News reports.
By establishing such a visa centre, nationals of Bangladesh would no longer have to spend too much time and money to travel to other countries for visa applications.
EU Ambassador Ensures Support to Combat Challenges of Bangladeshis
The Ambassador has reinstated the EU support for Bangladesh, also pointing out that many challenges await the country.
The EU will continue to support reforms, capacity building, training and technical expertise in Bangladesh, but some issues remain. For example, the issue of law and order has been stable and gradually improving, but there could be more improvements.
The Ambassador highlighted that Bangladesh’s security and economic development are important and should be increased, while pointing out that misinformation is an issue that Bangladesh deals with, along with transparency and lack of access to accurate data.
In addition, Miller expressed that the EU is willing to work closely with Bangladesh to prevent human trafficking and smuggling. Many Bangladeshis head to Europe through Libya and the Mediterranean every year. Italy has a large number of Bangladeshis, who end up not just working and living but also calling the EU country home.
Bangladeshis Forced to Travel Long Hours to File Schengen Visa Applications
Nationals of Bangladesh have to travel to the neighbouring countries to file their visa applications for countries that do not issue visas to Bangladeshi nationals.
One of the cities where most Bangladeshis travel to is New Delhi, India’s capital, which is approximately 1,7000 kilometres away, and Google searches show that it takes 31 hours to travel from Bangladesh to New Delhi.
This results in millions spent by Bangladeshis every year only to reach the destination for visa application, which also has other expenses. According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfo43.3 per cent of visa applications filed by Bangladeshis in 2023 were rejected.
That means that out of 39,729, 17,015 were rejected. Taking into consideration that filing a visa application costs €90, Bangladeshis spent a total of €1.5 million on visa applications that ended up rejected.