Overhauling Bangladesh’s Visa Policy

Reading Time: 6 minutes As a state situated at a geopolitical crossroads, Bangladesh can no longer afford to view immigration and visa issuance as routine administrative processes divorced from national security imperatives. In the current threat landscape characterised by transnational organised crime, cyber infiltration, radical ideological exportation, and intelligence penetration the time has come to overhaul our visa policy with strategic intent. Specifically, visa access for nationals from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and selected African countries requires immediate tightening based on credible threat assessments and operational vulnerabilities. The Strategic Risk Environment Bangladesh has long operated an open and accommodative visa regime, a legacy of its regional diplomacy and South-South solidarity. However, this liberal posture has increasingly been weaponised by foreign actors state and non-state alike who exploit procedural gaps for hostile or criminal purposes. Indian intelligence services have historically viewed Bangladesh as a critical theatre for influence and reconnaissance. There