Government of Bangladesh has decided to provide Visa on Arrival (VoA) to Nepali nationals visiting Bangladesh as tourists. 

Embassy of Nepal in Dhaka, Bangladesh said the decision came on reciprocity basis. Since many years now, Nepal has been issuing on-arrival gratis visas to Bangladeshi nationals for a period of 30 days on their first visit to Nepal. Now, Bangladesh will do the same to Nepali nationals as per the reciprocity arrangement, said embassy sources.

“This arrangement of Visa on Arrival to boost tourism would be free of charge for a period not exceeding 30 days,” the embassy said in a statement.

Meanwhile, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Ministry said Nepal needs to review its policy of providing VoA to tourists after Afghanistan’s entry into SAARC bloc. 

Afghanistan is the only SAARC country excluded from the VoA arrangement. 

In the meantime, Afghanistan has approached Nepal for “mutual visa exemption” regime for each-other’s diplomatic and official passport holders, which the government is considering positively, according to the official.

Published on: 10 January 2012 | The Himalayan Times