The International Affairs Officer accomplishes many tasks for the OIA. Among them, extending visas and arranging exit visas for the international students is of utmost importance.
Visa Extension Procedure
It is crucial that the international students residing in Bangladesh maintain valid visas. Therefore, they need to extend their visas on time. How to extend their visas is described below.
| Step-1. | A month before the visa expiration date, the international student has to contact the International Affairs Officer in person. |
| Step-2. | The international student is asked to deposit BDT 100 only to an NSU authorized bank (Bashundhara Branch) and give the International Affairs Officer the deposit slip. This payment is necessary in order to receive recommendation letters. |
| Step-3. | After receiving the payment slip, the International Affairs Office provides a form to fill out for the visa extension. The international student has to fill out the form and submit it to the International Affairs Officer. The International Affairs Officer also receives photocopies of the following documents from the international student.
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| Step-4. | After receiving the documents, the International Affairs Officer asks the international student to come after two working days to receive recommendation letters for visa extension, sponsorship certificate, and non-employment letter. |
| Step-5. | After receiving the recommendation letters, the international student has to go to the Passport and Immigration Office (at Agargaon) to submit the following documents.
· The three recommendation letters received from the International Affairs Officer · Original and photocopy of passport and visa · Original and photocopy of the last date of entry into Bangladesh stamped in the passport |
| Step-6. | The international student has to go to Counter #2 (of the Passport and Immigration Office) to collect and fill out the visa extension form. |
| Step-7. | The international student has to submit all of the documents (along with the visa extension form received from Counter #2) to Counter #1 of the Passport and Immigration Office. |
| Step-8. | Deposit the required processing fee (varies from country to country) to the bank (Shonali bank, Counter #4) located at the Passport and Immigration Office. |
| Step-9. | After the deposit, attach all the documents along with the money receipt and submit altogether to Counter #3. |
| Step-10. | The international student receives a passport delivery slip. |
| Step-11. | The international student and the International Affairs Officer are contacted by an appointed SBP Officer (for verification of the student) for the visa extension. To avoid miscommunication, both student and the International Affairs Officer are instructed to send the international student with the following documents. Collect the documents from their respective departments.
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| Step-12. | Before going to the SBP Office (Malibagh), the international student has to make an appointment with the SBP Officer appointed to him/her. This can be done in two ways:
1) The international student can come and ask the International Affairs Officer to make an appointment with his/her appointed SBP Officer. Due to the language barrier, it is prudent that they seek help from the International Affairs Officer. 2) The international student can directly contact the SBP Officer and make an appointment with him/her. The student meets the SBP Officer during his/her appointment and submits the previously mentioned documents. |
| Step-13. | The SBP Officer provides a basic information form for the international student to fill out. |
| Step-14. | After filling it out, the international student is allowed to leave the police office. The student has to wait for a certain period of time (usually two to three weeks) to get the extended visa. |
| Step-15. | After two to three weeks, the international student contacts (by phone) his/her appointed SBP Officer to check on the progress. Once the visa extension is ready, the student is instructed to go to the Passport and Immigration Office. |
| Step-16. | At the Passport and Immigration Office, the international student has to submit the passport delivery slip to Counter #2 and finally receive the extended visa. |
Exit Visa Procedure
Before the visa extension, if the international student is required to leave the country for emergency purposes, then the student has to receive an exit visa. In the following, the exit visa procedure is given.
| Step-1. | Follow steps 1 to 3 from the ‘Visa Extension Procedure’ section. |
| Step-2. | After receiving the documents, the International Affairs Officer asks the international student to come after two working days to receive recommendation letter for an exit visa. |
| Step-3. | After receiving the recommendation letter, the international student has to go to the Passport and Immigration Office (at Agargaon) to submit the following documents.
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| Step-4. | The international student has to go to Counter #2 (of the Passport and Immigration Office) to collect and fill out the exit visa form. |
| Step-5. | The international student has to submit all the documents (along with the exit visa form received from Counter #2) to Counter #1 of the Passport and Immigration Office. |
| Step-6. | Follow steps 8 to 10 of the ‘Visa Extension Procedure’. |
| Step-7. | Preserve the original copy and submit the photocopy of the passport delivery slip along with the passport to Counter #2. |
| Step-8. | After submitting, the international student receives the exit visa. |