Business visa document checklist

The six months are counted from the day you submit, not the day you travel. Working from the travel date is where people most often come up short. The two blank pages must be genuinely blank; pages carrying stamps do not count.

It is easy to leave an expired passport at home once the new one arrives, but the official list makes it mandatory. Dig it out and bring it. The document does not say what to do if an old passport is lost or unavailable, so you will need to ask at the centre.

2×2 inch means 51×51 mm (square). Many blogs quote 45×35 mm, but that is the specification for the reverse case: Indians applying for Bangladeshi visas. On the number of copies, both the High Commission document and IVAC’s documents page say one. The photo is uploaded with the online application, and IVAC’s page gives its size as 2×2 (350×350 pixels). IVAC’s page also says the photo must be “not less than 3 months old”. Read literally, that means at least 3 months old, which is probably not the intent. We do not settle it by guessing; a recently taken photo is the safe choice.

The spelling of your name must match the passport exactly. A mismatch between the ID and the passport is one of the biggest reasons applications come back. Put the two side by side and compare before you apply.

Mobile phone bills are not on the list, only landline. And the bracketed condition is ambiguous: “not less than 6 months old” literally means the bill must be at least six months old, whereas conditions like this usually ask for something recent. The official document says nothing further, so we are not going to guess at which reading is intended. If you can, carry both a recent bill and one from six months ago.

Read this requirement carefully. The 2024 document numbers the bank statement separately as (i), which can be read as requiring both the statement and the endorsement. The High Commission's earlier version (2021) listed all three as alternatives joined by “OR”. The document does not settle which reading now applies. The safe course is to bring the bank statement, since it satisfies either reading.

You need the one document that matches your profession. The list offers no option for homemakers, the unemployed or freelancers, so ask at the centre in those cases. The student visa list additionally accepts a salary slip in place of the employer's certificate for private-sector employees.

The letter must cover four things: who you are, your designation, why you are going, and the firm's contact details. Leaving out any one of them makes the letter incomplete.

Both letters are required: one from the firm sending you, one from the organisation receiving you. Neither substitutes for the other.

The membership must be current; expired membership papers will not do. Renewals take time, so check well before you apply.

The licence must be valid (that is, unexpired) and must carry the TIN. A licence without the TIN does not meet this requirement.

This is separate from your personal bank statement: the common requirement asks for yours, this one asks for the company's. A business visa needs both.

There is a choice on the transaction papers: either your last three transactions or the impending one you are travelling for. For a new business, papers for the impending transaction suffice.

All three details must be visible in the contract: period, designation, salary. An appointment letter that omits the salary does not meet this requirement.

The invitation alone is not enough; you must also state in writing what form your participation takes: exhibitor, visitor or speaker.

These are two distinct documents: one is the company's constitution, the other proof of its registration. Both must be submitted.

This is mandatory for representatives of a foreign company's Bangladesh branch or liaison office. An ordinary trade licence is not a substitute.

An application from a travel agency will not proceed without both, and the membership must be current.

It does not apply when you apply together, only when applying separately, which means the principal applicant's visa must already be in hand.