Among
South Asian nations, only Bangladesh and Pakistan would require a trip to the
embassy if you are planning to get a tourist visa. What most people do is
include an obligatory stop in Calcutta, through which Philippine passport
holders could enter India with visa-on-arrival, then stay a few
days while waiting for their passports to be released by the Embassy of
Bangladesh there. The process is well-documented online, but not
everyone has that luxury of a Calcutta stopover.
I
searched for feedback regarding the visa application process at the
Embassy of Bangladesh in Manila, but it appears as though this country is not really a
popular part of most Filipino backpackers' itineraries for the Indian subcontinent. And so I had
to do the inevitable, which is rely on their website. You could also call them,
but the guy at the reception is a bit unreliable. In fact, twice I went to the
embassy and twice I saw him get scolded by one of the big bosses there. Poor guy.
The
fee for a tourist visa is 2,900 pesos. Your passport would be released
after five working days. If you want the process expedited, you double the
price and receive your visa after two days. 5,800 pesos! Really? Even a
Schengen Visa would not cost that much. And so I waited for five days. My passport released a day before the Chinese New Year holiday. They gave me
single entry with seven days as duration of stay. I do not know if you could
request for a longer period of sojourn.
What
are the requirements? You could download the application form from their
website, but I was asked to fill out a new one longhand anyway when I got there. You need to attach a passport sized photo. You need to include a
bank certificate. You also have to give them a copy of your Certificate of
Employment. I did not have that so I just gave them my admission letter from
the University of Vienna. It was in German but the course dates were
highlighted in bold anyway.
The
website says that you also need NBI or Police Clearance. Rumor
has it that you could also just surrender your Baranggay Clearance as a substitute. The guy at the
reception did not tell me that until I asked him, after which he said he would
just note on my application that the said document would just follow. I applied at
Robinsons Otis and had a hit, so they asked me to come back a day after the
scheduled release of my passport. I claimed the passport as scheduled anyway, but there was no mention of the effing clearance.
So,
there! The website says that you need to pay the fee in some bank. I paid mine
at the embassy. They do not give change, by the way. The embassy is located at
Herco Center, along that street next to Pasay Road, to the left if you are facing EDSA.
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