Visa harassment: Will somebody answer?

By Towfique Hassan, Gulshan-1, Dhaka
15 September 2004, 18:00 PM
My son, an honours graduate of Oxford Brookes University of London, is at the moment working in a project funded by USAID. He was selected for a training programme of CBI of the Netherlands Foreign Ministry. Necessary papers were issued by the CBI accepting his nomination and the CBI issued a request letter to the Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka to issue visa to him. When my son approached the Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka, they informed him that he needed a new passport as the existing one had the photograph of his student years. Although the existing passport had the validity till 2008. Therefore, I had to pay urgent fees and applied for a new passport. The passport authority issued a new passport with the latest photograph cancelling the old one.

With the new passport when my son approached the embassy they asked him to provide documentary evidence for his accommodation in Rotterdam, although CBI was to provide accommodation. On urgent basis we requested CBI to provide documentary evidence concerning accommodation, although a document to this effect was provided earlier at the time of the application of visa. The embassy officials refused him to provide visa. The matter was informed to the CBI in Netherlands and the Netherlands authority took up the issue with Dhaka Embassy. My son was again asked to appear for another interview with fresh application and second time payment of visa fee .When he appeared for the second time, he was asked to submit documentary evidence as to his accommodation in Amsterdam. The Bangladesh Ambassador in Netherlands is a personal friend of mine. I talked to him over phone and he readily agreed to host him in Amsterdam. In this regard he sent an e-mail as well as a fax message to the Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka and to me also. However, the authorities in Dhaka refused to provide him visa.

My point is that if they are not to provide visa then why have they asked him to have a new passport, accommodation proof, re-submission of application, second time payment of visa fee, letter from Bangladesh Ambassador. We do not have enough money to spend unnecessarily. Are we to pay for the incidental expenses of the foreign embassies here in Bangladesh? Will somebody give me an honest answer?