Passengers using e-visas are facing delays while clearing immigration at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka, as immigration officials say barcodes on e-visas do not always contain complete information, making verification time-consuming. Sarowardi Hasan, who was traveling to Bangkok with his family, said immigration officials asked him to wait for visa verification. Journalist Asaduzzaman Biku, who traveled to Brazil last November to cover a climate conference, said he and several other journalists faced complications during visa verification at immigration. Liton added that in most countries e-visa verification through barcodes takes no more than five minutes. He added that the digital devices used for visa verification at the airport are insufficient compared to current operational needs and that improving technical capacity is essential to reduce delays.

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 14, 2026 14:08 UTC