A Bangladesh Visa Information Centre was inaugurated at the Kolkata Railway Station recently to provide updated information and process visa applications.

Kolkata Railway Station is an international station handling two inter-dominion trains connecting Kolkata to Dhaka and Khulna. To facilitate such overseas passengers availing Visa services for Bangladesh-bound trains, the Visa Information and Application Centre has started operating at the Kolkata Railway Station, read a press statement released by the Eastern Railway of India on 15 March.

The project was conceived under the New Innovative Ideas scheme. The visa information centre will provide information and other assistance to passengers boarding the Maitree and Bandhan Express trains.

The centre will also guide visitors from Bangladesh on ways to go about processing their visas.

The Bangladesh Visa Information Centre was inaugurated by the deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh, Andalib Elias, on 13 March.

The centre in Kolkata will provide updated information and facilitate and expedite the visa application process. Now, visa applications can be filed without seeking prior appointments through walk-ins at application centres in Salt Lake, Kolkata, and Siliguri, the statement informed further.

The centres will also provide a wide range of services, including visa application form filling, photograph taking, passport collection and delivery, and more.

The centre will also help passengers get visas at their doorsteps and provide all necessary information regarding the application procedure, which could be quite cumbersome otherwise. International passengers can easily get all visa-related information from the Kolkata station while also reserving seats for the two inter-dominion trains. This is also a significant step towards strengthening the ties between India and Bangladesh, the statement read.

Apart from providing visa facilities to Bangladesh-bound passengers, the visa centre shall also fetch handsome revenue to Railway Exchequer, the statement read further.