Bangladesh to facilitate long-term visas for Maldivian students

Bangladesh has decided to grant long-term visas to Maldivian students studying in the country.

From now on the country will issue visas to Maldivian students for the entire duration of their respective courses or internship programmes.

Welcoming the move, the Maldivian foreign ministry made an announcement and sent out a thank you note to Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen earlier this week.

In the letter issued on Thursday (30 March), Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid said – "This decision of the Bangladesh government will help in solving the existing concerns regarding visas of Maldivian students studying in Bangladesh. "It will also act as a catalyst for Maldivian students to pursue higher education in Bangladesh in the future."

He also tweeted about the development on Friday (31 March) thanking his Bangladeshi counterpart Dr AK Abdul Momen for facilitating long-term visas for Maldivian students. 

Bangladesh is home to a large number of Maldivian students studying medicine.

Earlier in December, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih met with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and requested her to provide long-term student visas to Maldivian students and on-arrival visas to Maldivians travelling to Bangladesh.

However, no official in this regard was made back then.