Bangladesh’s interim government on Thursday (January 8, 2026) said it has asked its key missions in India, including at New Delhi, to suspend visa services over security concerns.

Foreign Affairs Adviser M. Touhid Hossain told a media briefing at his office that Bangladesh has also sought reversal of a recently imposed visa bond requirement by the United States.

“What I have done is that I have asked our three missions [in India] to keep their visa sections closed for the time being. It’s a security issue,” Mr. Hossain said.

The adviser’s comments came after Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commission in Kolkata overnight restricted visa services after identical moves in New Delhi and Agartala keeping business and work visas beyond the purview of the restriction.

Bangladesh has diplomatic missions in Mumbai and Chennai as well, where the visa services remained operative.

India had earlier imposed restrictions on visas for Bangladeshi nationals after August 5, 2024, citing security concerns.

Bangladesh’s ties with New Delhi have remained strained since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League regime was ousted following a violent student-led street protest in July-August 2024.

Mr. Hossain also told reporters that Bangladesh will pursue diplomatic efforts to seek exemption from the United States’ newly imposed visa bond requirement calling the decision “certainly unfortunate and painful for us.”

He, however, said the U.S. decision was “not abnormal” as it was not applied for Bangladesh alone and a number of countries were faced with immigration-related challenges in view of the U.S. administration’s measure.

Meanwhile, when asked about Bangladesh’s “potential interest” in procuring the JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft from Pakistan, the Foreign Adviser said, “I can’t tell about this today. [But] Talks are underway. You will know once things are finalised.”

The Trump administration is nearly tripling the number of countries whose passport holders will be required to post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply to enter the United States.

Less than a week after adding seven countries to the list of nations subject to visa bonds, bringing the total to 13, the State Department on Tuesday added 25 more. The bond requirement for the latest additions will take effect Jan. 21, according to a notice posted on the travel.state.gov website.

The move means that 38 countries, most of them in Africa but some in Latin America and Asia, are now on the list, which makes the process of obtaining a U.S. visa unaffordable for many.

It’s the latest effort by the Trump administration to tighten requirements for entry to the U.S., including requiring citizens from all countries that require visas to sit for in-person interviews and disclose years of social media histories as well as detailed accounts of their and their families’ previous travel and living arrangements.

U.S. officials have defended the bonds, which can range from $5,000 up to $15,000, maintaining they are effective in ensuring that citizens of targeted countries do not overstay their visas.

Payment of the bond does not guarantee a visa will be granted, but the amount will be refunded if the visa is denied or when a visa holder demonstrates they have complied with the terms of visa.

The new countries covered by the visa bond requirement as of Jan. 21 are Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

They join Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Turkmenistan and Zambia on the list.