Europe refuses more visas from Dhaka than from anywhere else in the world.
More than half of the Schengen applications filed in Bangladesh are refused. Most of these refusals come from avoidable problems: the wrong embassy, a weak travel purpose, or financial documents that don't add up. This page shows the official numbers, where to apply, and how to keep your file out of the refused pile.
Same city, very different odds
Eight Schengen embassies decide visas in Dhaka. In 2025 the refusal rate ranged from 27.8% at the Swiss embassy to 74.5% at the Swedish one, which also decides for five other countries.
You cannot pick the "easy" embassy. Schengen rules require you to apply to the country where you spend the most days, or the country you enter first if the days are equal. Booking Switzerland to avoid Sweden, then flying to Stockholm, is treated as misrepresentation. The rates reflect who applies to each embassy, not how friendly it is. Source: European Commission consulate statistics 2025.1
Which embassy handles your destination
Many Schengen countries have no visa desk in Dhaka. Another embassy decides for them, or you have to apply abroad. Choose your main destination.
Result
Choose a country to see who decides your visa, where you submit, and the 2025 refusal rate at that desk.
| Embassy in Dhaka | Decides visas for | How you submit |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Germany, Estonia | VFS Global (short stay). National D visas by embassy appointment only. |
| France | France, Austria, Portugal, Czechia | VFS Global. The centre opened in September 2025. |
| Italy | Italy, Malta, Slovakia | VFS Global is the embassy's only authorised agent. |
| Netherlands New | Netherlands; Poland since 1 May 2026 | VFS Global. Short-stay service started on 2 November 2025. |
| Sweden | Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovenia | VFS Global. From 15 October 2026 the Swedish Migration Agency decides, not the embassy. |
| Denmark | Denmark, Norway | VFS Global |
| Switzerland | Switzerland, Hungary | Embassy of Switzerland, Dhaka |
| Spain | Spain | Embassy of Spain, Dhaka |
Greece
You submit at an application centre in Dhaka. The Greek embassy in New Delhi makes the decision.
Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia
No decision in Dhaka. You usually apply in New Delhi, so you need an Indian visa first.
Belgium, Lithuania, Liechtenstein
No visa desk in Dhaka. Check the country's foreign-ministry page for its current representation.
Getting to New Delhi
Indian visa centres in Bangladesh suspended most services in August 2024. Tourist visas reopened on 28 June 2026 at five centres.5
Representation list: EU Delegation to Bangladesh, June 2026, plus embassy and VFS notices.3 Representation changes several times a year. Confirm on the embassy's own site before you pay any fee.
What a Schengen visa officially costs
The visa fee is not refunded if you are refused. Anyone asking for lakhs of taka "for the visa" is charging for something other than the visa.
UK visit visas: refusals are rising again
The UK is not in Schengen and runs its own visa system. For Bangladeshi visitors it is just as strict as Schengen, and getting stricter.
Source: Home Office entry-clearance visa outcomes, Bangladesh nationals, visitor route. Refusal rate = refused ÷ (issued + refused). 2026 figures are provisional.2
Legal work migration to Europe is growing
Bangladesh's Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) counts every worker who leaves legally. Departures to Europe fell sharply in 2024 and are now recovering. Italy is the largest destination.
Italy's Decreto Flussi 2026–2028 opens 497,550 work-entry places in total, with a preferential quota for Bangladesh.7 Croatia issued 3,183 work permits to Bangladeshis from January to November 2025, down from about 12,400 in 2023. Thousands of the 2023 permit holders never arrived.8
Before you pay anyone: in 2024 Italy suspended thousands of already-issued work permits for fraud checks (Law Decree 145/2024). A real work visa always starts with a permit issued to a named employer in Europe, and you can verify that permit.9
Three rules before you hand over money
Nobody can sell you a decision
Only the consulate decides. A "guaranteed visa", an "embassy contact" or a "fast-track slot" for extra money is not a real service. In one 2024 case an applicant paid an agent ৳500,000 and never reached the embassy.9
A job offer is a document you can verify
Ask for the work permit number (Italy: nulla osta) and the employer's registration, then check them. If the "employer" can't name a company, a city and a permit, there is no job.
Every document must be genuine
Fake bank statements, hotel bookings or invitation letters are the fastest way to a refusal that stays on record in the Schengen Visa Information System, and can lead to an entry ban. Embassies in Dhaka warn about this openly.9
A second pair of eyes before you submit
We have prepared visa files since 2011. Our office is in Warsaw. With a refusal rate above 50%, the cheapest moment to fix a file is before the embassy sees it.
- Embassy and route check. The right country, the right visa type, the right place to submit.
- Document review. Bank statements, employment proof, travel plan and sponsor letters, read the way a visa officer reads them.
- Refusal analysis. If you were refused before, we work out which ground was used and what has to change before you reapply.
- Cover letter and itinerary that match your documents exactly.
- We don't sell jobs, appointments, invitation letters or guarantees.
- European Commission, Schengen visa statistics by consulate, 2025 (and 2024). home-affairs.ec.europa.eu. Counts applications by consulate location (Bangladesh), not by nationality.
- UK Home Office, Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes, year ending June 2026 (Vis_D02). gov.uk
- Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, Travel & study (June 2026). eeas.europa.eu. Also: Embassy of Sweden, Dhaka (Poland notice; processing change from 15 Oct 2026); Polish MFA (Schengen visa for citizens of Bangladesh); VFS Global media releases (France, Sept 2025; Netherlands, Nov 2025).
- German Federal Foreign Office (Schengen fee from 11 June 2024); VFS Global, Germany in Bangladesh fee page. visa.vfsglobal.com
- Business Today, "India opens tourist visa window for Bangladesh from June 28", 25 June 2026. businesstoday.in
- BMET data reported by The Business Standard, 30 June 2026. tbsnews.net
- Decreto Flussi 2026–2028. infoimmigrazione.com
- Croatia Week, foreign worker permits 2025; Total Croatia News. croatiaweek.com
- Embassy of Italy in Dhaka, press release 9 Sept 2024; The Business Standard on the seasonal-permit backlog (2025); German Embassy Dhaka fraud warning. ambdhaka.esteri.it
Independence: Intel.Viza is a private visa-preparation service. We are not affiliated with any embassy, the European Union, the UK Government or VFS Global. Official visa fees are paid directly to the embassy or its appointed service provider and are never part of our fee. We do not guarantee any visa decision.