China offers on arrival visa to Bangladeshis

China has decided to provide ‘visa on arrival’ to Bangladeshi nationals travelling to that country on business, tourism and medical purposes. The decision has come 27 days after such a proposal was made at a ministerial-level meeting between the two countries in Dhaka. The Chinese embassy spokesperson in Bangladesh, Chen Wei, yesterday said: “China has introduced a port visa system, known as ‘visa on arrival’, for foreigners including Bangladeshi citizens. According to the exit and entry administration law of China, China's port visa system does not impose restrictions on specific countries, but only makes requirements for entry purposes.”

Chen Wei said this through a statement issued on the port visa system. “The law stipulates that foreigners who need to enter China urgently for humanitarian reasons, or who are invited to enter China for urgent business or rush repair work, or have other urgent needs, or who are organised to visit China as tourists through Chinese travel agencies, may apply for port visas with the visa-issuing authorities entrusted by the Ministry of Public Security at the ports approved to issue port visas by the state council,” the statement says. “The duration of stay for port visas shall not exceed 30 days. Bangladeshi citizens who are qualified and able to provide relevant supporting documents can apply for port visas at relevant Chinese ports,” according to the statement.

On October 26, at a home-minister-level meeting between the two countries, Bangladesh had proposed the introduction of visa on arrival for businessmen and those travelling for medical treatment and tourism with a view to strengthening bilateral relations. At that time, China had agreed to introduce the visa on arrival soon.

Bangladesh now provides on-arrival visa to Chinese citizens, though the Chinese government provides such visa to only Bangladeshi diplomats and officials. During Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to Bangladesh in October 2016, Dhaka raised the issue of signing a ‘visa-on-arrival’ agreement with China for Bangladeshi businesspersons to strengthen the relation between the two countries. So far, the government has signed agreements with 29 countries for on-arrival visa for officials and the diplomats only.