Verified as of August 2026. Missions relocate, outsourcing contracts change hands, and representation arrangements are added and withdrawn. Confirm on the mission’s own website before you travel to any address on this page.
Short answer. If you are a Bangladeshi applying for a visa, you are dealing with one of three different things, and knowing which decides where your passport goes. One: a resident mission in Dhaka that takes the application itself. Two: an outsourced visa application center that collects your documents and biometrics but decides nothing. Three: a country with no visa route in Bangladesh at all, handled from another capital, most often New Delhi. Dhaka hosts several dozen resident missions, and the authoritative index is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh list of foreign missions at mofa.gov.bd.
Most directory pages give you addresses. None of them tell you which of the three layers you are standing in, which is why people queue at an embassy that has not taken applications over its own counter for years.
Layer 1: missions that take your application directly
Some embassies in Dhaka still receive applications themselves. Verified examples for this article, from each mission’s own published pages:
- German Embassy Dhaka. Publishes that Bangladeshi nationals traveling to Germany and Estonia for tourist or business purposes may apply for a Schengen visa there, using the Videx online form. It also states plainly that it does not work with brokers or agencies and that they cannot secure appointments with it.
- Royal Danish Embassy Dhaka. Publishes that it also represents Norway in visa matters, and that it issues visas for the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Worth noting: those two are outside the Schengen area, which is exactly why they are listed separately.
- Embassy of Switzerland in Dhaka. The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs publishes a Bangladesh Schengen document page for applicants here.
- Embassy of Egypt in Dhaka, published as being in Gulshan 2, where applications are made in person.
The pattern to notice: a mission can cover more than one country. “Represented by” is a real and formal category, not a shortcut, and it is why the answer to “is there a Norwegian visa office in Dhaka” is more useful than a yes or a no.
Layer 2: visa application centers, and what they cannot do
For most large destinations, the mission has outsourced the counter. In Bangladesh the operators most Bangladeshi applicants meet are VFS Global, the Canada visa application center, and IVAC, the Indian visa application centers operated for the High Commission of India.
Verified application-center arrangements for this article:
| Destination | Where applications are collected in Bangladesh |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | VFS Global UK visa application center, published at Nafi Tower, 53 Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan 1, Dhaka, with a second location in Sylhet |
| France | VFS Global, published as the exclusive service provider for the Embassy of France in Dhaka, at Rangs Z Square, Level 7, 118 Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan 2 |
| Italy and Malta | A joint VFS Global center in Dhaka serving both |
| Netherlands and Poland | The Dutch government publishes that applications go to the VFS Global center in Dhaka, and that Poland can also be applied for at the Netherlands’ visa application location in Bangladesh |
| Canada | The Canada visa application center in Dhaka, attended after IRCC issues a Biometric Instruction Letter |
| India | IVAC, operated for the High Commission of India |
| Türkiye | The authorized center named by the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Dhaka, changed effective 1 February 2026 |
Here is the thing to understand about all of them. A visa application center is a contractor. It takes your form, your documents, your fee and your biometrics, and it passes them to the mission. It does not assess your application, it cannot approve one, and it did not refuse you. If you are refused, the decision was made by the mission or the immigration authority, and the reasons live in their notice, not with the staff at the counter.
Two governments say something else about these centers that is worth repeating together, because they agree. The German Embassy in Dhaka states it does not work with brokers or agencies and that they cannot secure appointments. The Dutch government tells applicants to avoid unnecessary costs, to book their own appointment, and not to book through an intermediary. Whatever anyone in Dhaka tells you about a paid shortcut, the two governments involved have already answered.
Layer 3: when there is no route in Bangladesh
Plenty of countries have no visa-issuing presence here at all. The EU Delegation to Bangladesh publishes the position for Europe directly: “In Bangladesh, seven EU Member States have a resident Embassy.” For Schengen applicants it says to check with the embassy of the EU country that will be your main destination, and then gives the instruction for everyone else, verbatim: “If your country has no Embassy in Dhaka please consult your own national Embassy in Delhi first to find out which Embassy in Dhaka you should contact.”
That single sentence saves people weeks. It also produces the most common expensive mistake in this whole area: an applicant whose main destination has no Dhaka route decides to apply to a country that does have one, and builds an itinerary to justify it. Do not. Which member state may examine your file is a legal question, not a convenience, and the Schengen application from Bangladesh explains the rule that decides it.
If your destination is not European, the same three-layer logic applies. Check the country’s own foreign ministry or embassy website for the mission accredited to Bangladesh, and ask that mission where a Bangladeshi resident lodges an application.
Why this page will go out of date, with a worked example
Take this seriously, because it is the failure mode of every “embassies in Dhaka” list on the internet, including this one.
The Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Dhaka announced that, as of 1 February 2026, visa applications for Türkiye are only accepted by a newly named authorized visa application center in Bangladesh. Before that date, a different company held the authorization, dating from 2019. Search the topic today and you will still find a large number of pages naming the old center, confidently, with an address. Those pages were correct once. They now send readers across Dhaka with a passport in hand to an office that cannot take it. The Türkiye visa guide for Bangladeshis covers that change in detail.
That is what “verified as of August 2026” means on this page. Not that we are careless afterwards, but that a mission’s own announcements page always outranks a list, including ours.
How to check for yourself, in five minutes
- Start at the source of truth for the mission’s existence. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh publishes the foreign-missions list for Bangladesh at mofa.gov.bd. That tells you whether a resident mission exists.
- Then go to that mission’s own website, not to a directory, and find its visa or consular section. If it has outsourced, that page names the operator.
- Read the mission’s announcements page. Center changes are announced there first, and the announcement carries a date.
- If there is no mission, find the country’s embassy accredited to Bangladesh, commonly in New Delhi, and ask which office accepts applications from Bangladeshi residents.
- Only then book anything. Appointment first, tickets last.
Two things to keep in mind while you do it. Never pay someone for an appointment slot. And be careful with search results for visa portals, because lookalike sites with official-sounding names are common across almost every destination in this cluster.
For the applications themselves, see the UK visit visa from Bangladesh, the US visa interview in Dhaka and the Indian visa and IVAC process. And if none of this appeals, the visa-free and visa-on-arrival destinations for a Bangladeshi passport require no counter at all.
FAQ
How many embassies are there in Dhaka?
Dhaka hosts several dozen resident embassies and high commissions, plus the EU delegation, and many other countries are accredited to Bangladesh from missions resident elsewhere, most often New Delhi. The authoritative list is published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh at mofa.gov.bd. We do not publish a fixed count here, because the number changes and a wrong figure on this page is worse than no figure.
Which Schengen countries can I apply to in Dhaka?
The EU Delegation to Bangladesh states that seven EU Member States have a resident Embassy in Bangladesh. Verified application points as of August 2026 include the German Embassy Dhaka for Germany and Estonia, the Royal Danish Embassy Dhaka for Denmark and Norway, the Netherlands counter at VFS Global for the Netherlands and Poland, the France counter at VFS Global, a joint Italy and Malta center at VFS Global, and the Embassy of Switzerland. Confirm on the mission’s own site before applying.
What is the difference between an embassy and a visa application center?
The embassy or high commission is the authority that decides your application. A visa application center, such as those run by VFS Global, the Canada visa application center, or IVAC for India, is an outsourced contractor that collects your form, documents, fee and biometrics and forwards them. The center cannot approve or refuse anything, and a refusal decision comes from the mission or the immigration authority, not from the counter staff.
What do I do if my destination country has no embassy in Dhaka?
Contact that country’s embassy accredited to Bangladesh, which is frequently in New Delhi, and ask which mission accepts applications from Bangladeshi residents. The EU Delegation to Bangladesh publishes exactly this instruction for European countries. Do it before you book flights, and do not substitute a different destination simply because it is easier to apply to.
Can an agent get me an embassy appointment in Dhaka faster?
The missions themselves say no. The German Embassy in Dhaka states that it does not work with brokers or agencies and that such individuals and organizations are not able to secure appointments with it. The Dutch government tells applicants to book their own appointment and not to use an intermediary. Book directly through the official system.
Checked August 2026. Sources named inline: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh (mofa.gov.bd) foreign-missions list, named as the authoritative index of resident missions; the EU Delegation to Bangladesh (EEAS), for the statements that seven EU Member States have a resident Embassy in Bangladesh, that applicants should check with the embassy of the EU country that will be their main destination, and that anyone whose country has no Embassy in Dhaka should consult their own national Embassy in Delhi first; the German Embassy Dhaka (dhaka.diplo.de), for Germany and Estonia coverage, the Videx form, and its statement that it does not work with brokers or agencies; the Royal Danish Embassy in Dhaka (um.dk), for its representation of Norway in visa matters and its issuance of visas for the Faroe Islands and Greenland; the Government of the Netherlands (netherlandsworldwide.nl), for the VFS Global center in Dhaka, for Poland being applied for at the Netherlands’ visa application location, and for its warning against intermediaries; France-Visas (france-visas.gouv.fr) and VFS Global Bangladesh, for VFS Global as the exclusive service provider for the Embassy of France in Dhaka and for the published center addresses in Gulshan and Sylhet, and for the joint Italy and Malta center; the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (eda.admin.ch), for its Bangladesh Schengen document page; and the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Dhaka, for its announcement that visa applications are only accepted by its newly named authorized visa application center as of 1 February 2026. Addresses are reproduced as published by those sources and should be confirmed before travel. No fee is quoted and no processing time is promised. Review interval: 180 days. This is a reference map, not immigration advice.