Before you start

A sponsoring entity in Bangladesh — a company, a registered branch or liaison office, or an NGO registered with the Bureau
For private sector: a BIDA E-visa recommendation obtained by the sponsor before the visa application
For NGO sector: NGO Affairs Bureau approval of the appointment, tied to an approved project
A passport valid well beyond the intended stay

Step-by-step

1
Confirm which regulator covers your employer — and that it is not BEPZA
BIDA for private business, which covers essentially all of Gazipur's garment and textile industry. The NGO Affairs Bureau for NGOs and INGOs. BEPZA only for export processing zone enterprises — and there is no EPZ in Gazipur; the nearest is Dhaka EPZ at Savar, a different district. People assume a garment job in Bangladesh means a zone file and it usually does not here. A file in the wrong system is restarted, not transferred.
Via employerWho: You and your employerBefore anything is lodged
2
Have the sponsor obtain the visa recommendation first
For the private sector, the local sponsor applies online to BIDA for an E-visa recommendation in your favour, and only then do you apply for the visa at a Bangladeshi mission. Arriving on a tourist or business visa intending to convert is the standard failure mode and it does not work.
Via employerWho: Your employer6–10 weeks before travel
3
Lodge the work permit through BIDA's One Stop Service portal
The work permit application runs through bidaquickserv.org. BIDA publishes service times in working days — around sixteen for a new commercial-office permit — and the permit is ordinarily granted for an initial year.
OnlineWho: Your employerIn parallel with the visa
4
Apply for the security clearance within the permit's stated period
Mandatory for all foreign investors and employees, applied for through the same OSS portal since 1 October 2025. If no objection is raised within 21 working days the clearance is deemed granted — but BIDA also states that failing to apply within the timeframe specified on the work permit invalidates the permit. Diarise the date on the permit, not the date you were told about.
OnlineWho: Your employerWithin the period stated on the work permit
5
Budget a full day for anything at the Dhaka divisional office
DIP runs seven Divisional Passport and Visa Offices, and Gazipur is not one of them because it falls inside Dhaka division. In-country extension therefore means going into the capital, down a corridor whose rapid-transit project was shelved in 2025. Go early, go with a complete file, and do not assume you will get back for an afternoon meeting.
In personWho: YouBefore expiry
6
Check your employer's standing before you rely on the sponsorship
Fifty-one garment factories in Gazipur closed in the five and a half months to late January 2025, and your visa and work permit are tied to your sponsor. That is not a reason to avoid the sector, but it is a reason to understand the employer's position, to keep your own copies of every permit document, and to know what happens to your status if the sponsor stops operating.
Via employerWho: YouBefore accepting an offer
7
Start the tax clearance certificate six to eight weeks before you leave for good
A person not domiciled in Bangladesh may not leave without a tax clearance certificate from the income tax authority. For a permanent departure that means filing a return covering 1 July to your departure date, at your own tax circle — which for a Gazipur resident is here, not in Dhaka.
In personWho: You6–8 weeks before permanent departure

Documents you’ll need

Passport with the Bangladeshi visa
BIDA E-visa recommendation letter, or NGO Affairs Bureau appointment certificate
Work permit and its stated security clearance deadline
Employer's registration documents and, for factories, its operating licences
Your own copies of everything, kept independently of the employer
Tax clearance certificate, on permanent departure

Things most newcomers don’t know

Gazipur has no Divisional Passport and Visa Office, and its neighbours' cities do.

DIP operates seven divisional offices — Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Rangpur and Barishal — which issue visas to foreign nationals as well as passports to citizens. Gazipur is a city of 2.7 million with none, because administratively it sits inside Dhaka division. A foreign resident of Chattogram or Rajshahi renews locally; a foreign resident of Gazipur travels into the capital along one of the most congested corridors in the country. It is a small thing that recurs annually, and nobody raises it at offer stage.

Source: Department of Immigration & Passports

There is no EPZ in Gazipur, so a garment job here is a BIDA file, not a BEPZA one.

BEPZA runs zones at Chattogram, Dhaka (Savar), Mongla, Ishwardi, Cumilla, Uttara, Adamjee and Karnaphuli, plus the BEPZA Economic Zone. None is in Gazipur, despite this being the densest garment district in the country — the industry here grew up outside the zone system on ordinary industrial land. Recruiters and general guides conflate 'garment factory in Bangladesh' with 'EPZ', and the permit route, the regulator and the timetable all differ.

Source: BEPZA; BIDA

Your immigration status is tied to a sponsor in a sector that is visibly contracting.

Between 5 August 2024 and late January 2025, 51 garment factories closed in Gazipur and 17 more across Savar, Ashulia and Dhamrai, with over 50,000 workers affected; owners cited market volatility, banks declining to open letters of credit, loan defaults and raw material shortages. Work permits and E visas in Bangladesh are sponsor-bound and nothing accumulates toward permanent status. That combination means an ordinary commercial risk becomes an immigration risk, and the mitigation is unglamorous: keep your own copies of every document and understand the employer's position before you accept.

Source: Prothom Alo, 28 January 2025; BIDA

Bangladesh has no digital nomad visa, no freelance permit and no retirement route.

The categories are E for employment, PI for private investors, N for NGO appointments, S for students, and family dependants. There is nothing for a remote worker with no Bangladeshi sponsor, nothing for a self-employed consultant without a company here, and nothing for a retiree on external income. Immigration is entirely national, so Gazipur offers no different answer from Dhaka.

Source: Department of Immigration & Passports

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a garment job means a BEPZA file — there is no EPZ in Gazipur.
Budgeting a morning for a visa errand that is actually a day trip into Dhaka.
Arriving on a tourist or business visa intending to convert to employment.
Missing the security clearance application deadline printed on the work permit.
Leaving every copy of your permit paperwork with an employer in a contracting sector.
Planning a permanent departure without allowing weeks for the tax clearance certificate.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.