The Union Home Ministry has reportedly reviewed more than 400 visa applications from Bangladesh in certain categories in August. It should be noted that on August 5, Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister and moved to India. Then Bangladesh witnessed massive political changes. For the past two months, Indian visa application centers in Bangladesh have been issuing a limited number of visas for students and for emergency medical purposes.
Officials said that most foreigners come to India from Bangladesh. An official said that visas were issued to around 16 lakh Bangladeshi citizens last year.
According to a report by The Hindu, a Home Ministry official said 434 Prior Referral Check (PRC) cases of Bangladeshi nationals were 'cleared' in August. There were 878 such incidents in Pakistan during that month. Incidentally, PRC refers to background checks of applicants by intelligence and security agencies before issuing visas in certain cases. However, it is not known how many people have been given visas during this period.
Note that India gives 15 categories of visas to Bangladesh. This includes 'emergency services'. Officials said the revised travel regime was signed in 2013 to issue visas to Bangladeshi nationals. Now visas are issued according to that policy. Holders of diplomatic and official passports can stay up to 45 days without any visa.
Countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Sudan are placed under the PRC. However, there are specific visas for certain countries like China and Bangladesh. They have to go through an extra layer of protection.
