No Indian visa sans MRP

FE Report

The Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Bangladesh will only receive machine readable passports (MRPs) from Bangladeshi applicants seeking to get Indian visas with effect from September 01, 2015.

The IVAC won't accept any handwritten passports from Bangladeshi applicants, seeking Indian visas, from next month, according to a press release issued by the IVAC.   

Run by the State Bank of India, the IVAC will accept MRPs to be issued by the government of Bangladesh, the release added.   

"In accordance with International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines regarding discontinuation of handwritten passports, applicants for Indian visas are advised that with effect from September 01, 2015 Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) being run by the State Bank of India will accept only valid machine readable passports issued by the government of Bangladesh," said the press release.

Earlier, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has set November 24, 2015 as a deadline that handwritten passports won't be accepted for visiting abroad.

Following the ICAO directives, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism in a circular issued recently made it mandatory for all Bangladeshis to take MRPs for visit to any foreign country.    

The number of Bangladeshi applicants seeking Indian visas is gradually increasing. On an average, three thousand people from Bangladesh go to India every day after obtaining visas.

talhabinhabib@yahoo.com