'Double legalisation' strands hundreds of Bangladeshi students aiming for Lithuania

Hundreds of Bangladeshi students with dreams of studying in Lithuania are facing a bureaucratic nightmare due to a complex "double legalisation" process for their documents.

Since November 2023, around 450 students have received acceptance letters from Lithuanian universities. Their studies are set to begin this September.

While they secured approval for police clearance certificates from Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a second approval from Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now required. This "double legalisation" presents a significant challenge.

Mizbah Uddin, who was accepted to Vilnius University in Lithuania, told The Business Standard that since there is no Lithuanian embassy in Bangladesh, they were directed to the embassy in Delhi for document legalisation. 

They applied for appointments at the Delhi embassy multiple times without success. Some students even travelled to Delhi but were turned away due to discrepancies in the notarised signatures from the Bangladesh foreign ministry. 

They also felt they were not given the same priority as Indian students. Mizbah noted that this process would be unnecessary if Bangladesh were part of the Apostille Convention.

According to email instructions sent to students with offer letters from Lithuanian universities, if a country does not use Apostille certificates, documents must be legalised both by the home country's relevant institution and the Lithuanian foreign ministry. 

Additionally, since the Lithuanian ministry does not accept documents by courier, they must be physically presented at a scheduled appointment. The Lithuanian Embassy in India handles documents from Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

The Apostille Convention is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It aims to simplify the legalisation process by replacing it with a single Apostille certificate issued by a competent authority where the document originates. 

Currently, over 126 countries are part of the convention, with millions of apostilles issued annually.

To help students and travellers, the Bangladeshi cabinet has approved joining the Apostille Convention. However, it will take about six months to finalise this process in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, on 25 April, an application titled "Request for Special Permission for Legalisation of Police Clearance Certificate Documents" was submitted to the East Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) division of the Bangladesh foreign ministry but remains unresolved. 

The application said that approximately 450 Bangladeshi students with offer letters from Lithuanian universities are facing significant challenges in legalising their police clearance certificates as required by both Bangladeshi and Lithuanian regulations.

Ferdous Ahmed, a student accepted to Vilnius University in Lithuania, told The Business Standard that since January, they have been contacting the foreign ministry and other offices to double-legalise their police clearance certificates. Unable to secure an appointment at the Lithuanian embassy in Delhi, they applied for special permission.

"Students from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan are also undergoing the same process, making it highly competitive, with Indians being given priority," he added.

Another student, Maftab Ahmed, said he received his offer letter in January and applied for an appointment at the Lithuanian embassy in Delhi until May but was repeatedly unsuccessful. 

"We have now been asked to send our documents to Golam Rabby, the Bangladeshi student ambassador at Vilnius University, as a temporary solution. The university authorities will then coordinate with the Lithuanian foreign ministry to complete the next steps," he added.

The honorary consul of Lithuania in Bangladesh told The Business Standard that until a few months ago, there was no need to legalise police clearance certificates from Lithuanian foreign ministry. 

However, due to the recent surge in Bangladeshi students, double legalisation is now mandatory. 

Additionally, Lithuanian authorities have tightened visa requirements to deter unscrupulous groups from using online propaganda to route people to other European countries. 

This has led to the Lithuanian foreign ministry making the process more complex, discouraging Bangladeshi students from studying there.

Shah Ahmed Shafi, director general of the East Europe and CIS division, told The Business Standard that they have sent multiple letters to the Lithuanian embassy in Delhi and the Bangladeshi embassy in Poland to address the matter. 

However, the Lithuanian foreign ministry has indicated its limitation in legalising more than three police clearance certificates per day.

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud recently said that not all countries have embassies in Bangladesh, but there are embassies of 90 countries in Delhi. Verification from there requires an Indian visa. 

Joining the Apostille Convention will save money, time, and effort by eliminating these expenses. However, it will take about six months to come into effect, as 126 member states of the Apostille Convention must be notified before Bangladesh can join.