Qatar opened its first visa centre in Bangladesh yesterday to provide easy processing services and collection of biometrics data.

Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al-Dehaimi, Qatar's ambassador to Bangladesh, and Nurul Islam BSc, former minister for expatriates' welfare and overseas employment, inaugurated Qatar Visa Center (QVC) at Rupayan Trade Center on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue in Dhaka.

The QVC in a statement said to be equipped with state-of-the-art biometric enrollment and medical test facility and designed in line with international standards ensuring greater transparency, traceability and increased security for visa applicants.

The centre will remain open 8:30am to 4:30pm from Sunday to Thursday.

“The State of Qatar has become one of the favorite destinations of Bangladeshi work forces,” said the Qatari ambassador.

"Opening Qatar visa centers in Bangladesh shall be a big step forward in this regard as it will provide all visa related services with first class medical examina-

tions facility and other travel assistances without any cost for all visitors wishing to travel to the State of Qatar,” he said.

The centre's medical test services will be provided by Stemz Healthcare, a visa-related medical services company.