New Delhi has lifted its pandemic-era freeze on tourist visas for Bangladeshi citizens, with applications reopening on 28 June 2026 at all five Indian Visa Application Centres across Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Khulna). The High Commission of India confirmed that quotas will initially be capped at 1,000 appointments per day, expandable once biometric-capture backlogs clear. Business, medical and student visa categories have remained open throughout the suspension, but leisure travel—constituting 40 percent of pre-2024 cross-border traffic—was halted in 2024 amid Covid-19 and security concerns in India’s northeastern states.
![India Restarts Tourist Visa Issuance for Bangladeshi Nationals After Two-Year Suspension]()
For Bangladeshi travelers now weighing whether to apply immediately or wait for the next e-Tourist visa phase, VisaHQ can simplify the decision: its India page (https://www.visahq.com/india/) provides up-to-date eligibility alerts, document checklists and appointment-booking tools, helping applicants avoid repeat trips to visa centers and navigate the reopening smoothly.
Tour operators on both sides of the border welcomed the move. The India-Bangladesh tourism corridor had recovered to only 18 percent of 2019 levels by May 2026, according to UNWTO data. Analysts expect a surge in short-haul medical tourism to Kolkata and Bengaluru, as well as heritage circuits linking Dhaka with West Bengal’s Shantiniketan and Murshidabad. Corporates with plants in the border districts of West Bengal and Tripura anticipate smoother rotational staffing. However, mobility managers should monitor the still-unresolved rail visa issue: Maitree Express passengers must hold a paper visa stamped “Rail Entry—Gede/Darsana”, which cannot yet be issued online. The restart also dovetails with India’s e-Visa expansion plan; officials hinted that Bangladeshi tourists could receive e-Tourist visa eligibility in the next phase, subject to system audits due in November.
For Bangladeshi travelers now weighing whether to apply immediately or wait for the next e-Tourist visa phase, VisaHQ can simplify the decision: its India page (https://www.visahq.com/india/) provides up-to-date eligibility alerts, document checklists and appointment-booking tools, helping applicants avoid repeat trips to visa centers and navigate the reopening smoothly.
Tour operators on both sides of the border welcomed the move. The India-Bangladesh tourism corridor had recovered to only 18 percent of 2019 levels by May 2026, according to UNWTO data. Analysts expect a surge in short-haul medical tourism to Kolkata and Bengaluru, as well as heritage circuits linking Dhaka with West Bengal’s Shantiniketan and Murshidabad. Corporates with plants in the border districts of West Bengal and Tripura anticipate smoother rotational staffing. However, mobility managers should monitor the still-unresolved rail visa issue: Maitree Express passengers must hold a paper visa stamped “Rail Entry—Gede/Darsana”, which cannot yet be issued online. The restart also dovetails with India’s e-Visa expansion plan; officials hinted that Bangladeshi tourists could receive e-Tourist visa eligibility in the next phase, subject to system audits due in November.
