Work Permit and E-Visa Services in Bangladesh
A work permit in Bangladesh is the permission a foreign national needs to work for a company, branch or liaison office. It is issued through the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority. An E-visa is the employment visa the same person must arrive on. PayrollBD prepares both files from Dhaka for your company, in the order the authorities require. Every application is made in your company’s name.
What does the work permit service cover?
Six pieces of paper, in two halves. Before the employee flies, the company needs BIDA’s visa recommendation and the visa itself. After landing, the work permit, the security clearance and the visa extension follow in that order. Each depends on the one before.
PayrollBD runs both halves for companies with their own Bangladesh entity. A group with no entity uses the employer of record route instead.
Before the employee arrives
Three things are settled before anyone boards a flight: BIDA’s letter, the visa it supports, and the file for BIDA on arrival. Each is a document you can hold. The visa category is chosen on the facts of the engagement, not on whatever is quickest to obtain.
- Visa recommendationBIDA’s recommendation letter for the E, E1 or PI visa. It is requested through the OSS portal on your board resolution, the passport copy and the contract or appointment letter.
- Visa applicationThe online visa form of the Department of Immigration and Passports. It is printed and lodged with the Bangladesh mission together with BIDA’s letter.
- Arrival fileThe passport, the visa, the arrival stamp and every paper BIDA will ask for within fifteen days. It is assembled before the flight, not after it.
After the employee arrives
Three more follow once the arrival stamp is in the passport. The first of them runs on a fifteen-day clock set by BIDA. The permit, the clearance and the extension are filed in sequence, each on the strength of the one before. The file then stays open for every amendment and renewal the employment brings.
- Work permitFiled through BIDA’s OSS portal within fifteen days of arrival. An inter-ministerial committee awards it, for one year at first.
- Security clearanceThe certificate BIDA lists as issued by the Security Services Division. It is tied to the E visa and the expatriate work permit.
- Extension and amendmentThe visa is extended on the strength of the permit. The permit is then amended, extended or cancelled as the salary, role or employer changes.
How does the process run?
Eight steps, in the order BIDA, the Bangladesh mission and the Security Services Division take them. The first four happen before arrival and produce the visa. The last four happen after arrival and produce the permit, the clearance and the extension. The fifth step cannot be recovered if it is missed, because the fifteen days run from the arrival stamp.
- 1Register the company or commercial office with BIDA. Pass the board resolution naming the foreign national.
- 2Advertise the post to national candidates. Keep every advertisement copy for the E visa file.
- 3Request BIDA’s visa recommendation letter through the OSS portal for the E, E1 or PI visa.
- 4Lodge the online visa form and BIDA’s letter with the Bangladesh mission. Collect the visa.
- 5Enter Bangladesh on that visa. File the work permit through the OSS within fifteen days of arrival.
- 6Answer the committee’s queries. Collect the permit, issued for one year at first.
- 7Obtain the security clearance certificate. Extend the visa on the strength of the permit.
- 8Amend, extend or cancel the permit as the employment changes, before any date lapses.
Which visa does the employee arrive on?
The visa category is decided by the person’s role, not by convenience. The work permit is later filed against the visa in the passport. BIDA recommends three categories for private-sector companies.
Each carries its own evidence: an employment contract for the E visa, a service contract and letter of credit for the E1 visa, and a board resolution naming the investment for the PI visa.
| Visa or permission | Who needs it | Who recommends or issues it |
|---|---|---|
| E visa, employment | Foreign employees of a BIDA-registered company or commercial office | BIDA recommends; the Bangladesh mission issues |
| E1 visa, service contract | Vendor personnel engaged under a service contract | BIDA recommends on the contract and the L/C copy |
| PI visa, private investor | Foreign investors and shareholders of the company | BIDA recommends on the board resolution |
| Work permit | Foreign nationals employed by a company, branch or liaison office outside the export zones | BIDA through the OSS portal; an inter-ministerial committee awards it |
| Security clearance certificate | Holders of an E visa and an expatriate work permit | Security Services Division, as BIDA lists it |
The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority states on its own site that permission for a work permit is processed through BIDA’s OSS portal and that an inter-ministerial committee awards it. It states that the expatriate must submit the application within 15 days after arrival. It states that a foreign national is primarily awarded a work permit for one year, with extension normally allowed for a maximum of five years. It lists the security clearance certificate associated with the E-visa and the expatriate work permit as issued by the Security Services Division. BIDA’s investment portal lists the documents for a new work permit and for the E, E1 and PI visa recommendations, from the board resolution and the passport with arrival stamp to the manpower statement and the company’s income tax clearance certificate. The Department of Immigration and Passports runs the online visa application form that is printed and lodged with the Bangladesh mission. The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority issues the work permits for foreign nationals inside the export processing zones. Reviewed by Eicra Binte Islam, HR Admin, PayrollBD.
Which documents does BIDA ask for?
Eight families of paper, taken from BIDA’s own list for a new work permit and for the visa recommendation before it. Nearly all of them already exist inside a properly kept company.
The ones usually missing are the manpower statement, the encashment certificate and the advertisement copies, so those three are chased first. A file goes to BIDA only when every item on this list is in it.
- Company papersThe permission letter for the branch, liaison or representative office. For a local company, the memorandum, articles and certificate of incorporation signed by the shareholders.
- Board resolutionThe resolution employing the foreign national, with name, nationality and passport number. It states the salary, allowances and other benefits agreed.
- Passport and visaThe passport copy carrying the arrival stamp and the E, E1 or PI visa, with the recommendation letter BIDA issued for it.
- Contract and certificatesThe service contract, appointment letter or transfer order. Copies of every academic and professional certificate of the employee.
- Manpower statementEvery local and foreign employee with designation, salary and allowances, nationality and first appointment date. The local-to-foreign ratio is read from it.
- Tax clearanceThe company’s up-to-date income tax clearance certificate. For an amendment, the expatriate’s own certificate as well.
- Encashment certificateThe certificate of inward remittance of the initial establishment cost. BIDA’s document list sets it at a minimum of USD 50,000.
- Training and advertisementsThe list of local employees the expatriate will train. Copies of the recruitment advertisements for the E visa recommendation.
What does PayrollBD commit to on every file?
Four commitments, each one a boundary you can check against the file itself. They cover whose name every application is made in and how the fifteen-day window is protected. They also cover what you see before anything is filed, and how a change in the employment reaches the permit before it becomes a breach.
Filed in your company’s name
Every recommendation request, work permit application, amendment and cancellation is lodged on the OSS portal under your company’s own account and letter of authorisation. Every approval letter is addressed to you. PayrollBD prepares, files and follows up as your authorised representative. Nothing is held in an agent’s name that you would later have to recover.
Filed inside fifteen days
BIDA’s own rule is that the work permit application reaches it within fifteen days of the foreign national’s arrival. The arrival date is fixed in the file the day the ticket is booked. The papers that depend on the arrival stamp are the only ones left open. The application goes in before that window closes, not after it.
No paper you have not seen
Every document that leaves for BIDA, the mission or the Security Services Division is sent to you first, as the exact copy to be filed. The board resolution and the letters of authorisation are drafted for your signature, never signed on your behalf. A query from the committee is answered only after you have seen the question and the proposed answer.
Every change amended in time
BIDA requires the permit to be amended when the employment agreement or the approval letter changes. It cancels a permit automatically on expiry. Each file carries its own calendar of expiry, extension and tax-clearance dates. A change of salary, role, passport or employer triggers the amendment before the change takes effect.
What gets asked before a foreign hire?
Four questions come up before nearly every engagement. How long does the permit last? Can the person move to another employer on it? Must the company be registered with BIDA first? Does the job really have to be advertised? Each is answered below from what BIDA publishes, and each answer says where the point is written down.
Four answers, each with its basis
Each answer opens with the position and then names its source: a BIDA answer read for this page, a document on BIDA’s own list, or the written terms of the engagement. Where a point depends on the employee’s role or the company’s registration, the answer says so. It does not offer a rule that would not hold for every case.
How long does a work permit in Bangladesh last?
One year at first. BIDA states that a foreign national is primarily awarded a work permit for one year. It states that extension is normally allowed for a maximum of five years, and that a permit is cancelled automatically on its expiry date. The extension file is therefore opened well before the anniversary.
It carries the current permit, the expatriate’s tax clearance and the renewed agreement, so the employee never works on a permit that has lapsed.
Can the employee switch employers on the same permit?
No. BIDA’s own answer is that an employee who wants to change employer must cancel the existing work permit and leave Bangladesh. The person then enters again on a proper visa, and a permit for the new employment is issued. A group moving a person between two of its own entities faces the same rule.
The old employer files the cancellation, and the new one files a fresh recommendation, visa and permit. That is planned around the travel, not discovered after the transfer.
Does the company need BIDA registration first?
Yes. BIDA states that companies and commercial offices must hold registration issued by BIDA to appoint foreign nationals. Its document list for the work permit opens with the office permission letter or the incorporation papers. Where the registration or the branch permission is missing, the corporate secretarial file is completed first.
A recommendation request lodged without it is returned, not processed.
Is a job advertisement really required for an E visa?
For the E visa recommendation, yes. BIDA’s document list asks for copies of all the advertisements for the recruitment of national employees. The manpower statement is read against the ratio BIDA publishes.
For industrial projects that is ten local workers to one foreign worker at the initial stage and twenty to one in operation. For commercial offices it is five to one. The PI visa file for an investor carries no advertisement, because an investor is not filling a post.
Send the passport copy and the job offer
Send the foreign national’s passport copy, the draft appointment letter or service contract, and your company’s BIDA registration or office permission if you have it. We come back with the visa category and the recommendation file.
We list what is already in hand and what is missing, the dates that will govern the permit, and the written terms. Nothing is filed before that.