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Italy has assured Bangladesh that it will clear 20,000 pending visa applications for Bangladeshi nationals by December, said Foreign Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain on Tuesday.
"As many as 20,000 (visa) cases were cleared from Rome but the pace of issuing those (in Dhaka) is slow. I spoke with the Italian ambassador (in Dhaka). He promised me that they will issue all 20,000 visas by December," Touhid said.
The foreign adviser shared the updates with reporters following a meeting with a delegation of Italian visa seekers at the foreign ministry, BSS reports.
He said apart from the cleared 20,000, they are also working on the remaining applications and will see how much progress can be made.
To expedite the process, the adviser said, Italy has committed to reinforcing additional human resources at its embassy in Dhaka.
Touhid Hossain also advised visa applicants to avoid protests or demonstrations, as these actions would not help accelerate the issuance process.
"Issuing visas is the sovereign right of any country, and we cannot question why they haven't granted a visa," the adviser said, adding that pressuring the Italian authorities could backfire and potentially jeopardize the entire visa programme.
Earlier, the Italian Embassy in Dhaka had issued a statement urging applicants to refrain from submitting forged documents, emphasizing that all applications would undergo rigorous scrutiny to prevent fraud.
It reassured applicants that their 'nulla osta'- the document issued by Italian immigration authorities allowing non-EU nationals to apply for a work visa - would not expire once an application or appointment request had been lodged.
However, the embassy stressed that possessing a nulla osta does not guarantee visa approval, as all documents will be verified according to Italian laws.
bd-pratidin/GR
