Work Permits for Foreign Nationals in Chattogram

The work permit Bangladesh process in short

The work permit Bangladesh process for a foreign national has four stages: a visa recommendation and the right visa, arrival, a work permit application filed by the employer within 15 days of arrival, and an online security clearance. Which authority issues the permit depends on where the employer sits. Outside the zones it is now the Invest Bangladesh Authority, which succeeded BIDA in 2026; inside an export processing zone it is BEPZA.

For employers in Chattogram (Chittagong), that split is practical rather than academic. A garment or footwear factory in the Chattogram EPZ applies to BEPZA. A shipping agency in Agrabad, a steel plant on the Dhaka–Chattogram highway or a project in the Mirsarai economic zone applies to Invest Bangladesh. Non-governmental organisations generally follow a separate route through the NGO Affairs Bureau.

The permit is only one piece. Tax registration, salary remittance and visa renewals follow, and each depends on the permit being valid. Getting the sequence right at the start is what keeps an expatriate's stay lawful.

Who issues work permits after the 2026 reforms

The Invest Bangladesh Act 2026 merged BIDA, BEZA and the Public Private Partnership Authority into the Invest Bangladesh Authority. The authority's press release on the Bill lists the statutes it repeals; BEPZA's statute is not among them. Work permit functions therefore divide as follows.

BEPZA's investor page confirms that it issues work permits to foreign nationals as part of its one-window service. The Invest Bangladesh FAQ lists visa recommendations and work permits for foreign nationals among the authority's core services. Sector regulators, such as the central bank for bank employees, may add conditions of their own.

Older documents and HR templates still say "BIDA work permit". Bangladesh Bank's Foreign Exchange Policy Department circular no. 40 of 30 September 2026 now refers to the Invest Bangladesh Authority in place of BIDA, and employers should update their own references in the same way.

Step one: the right visa

The work permit Bangladesh process starts before the employee travels. The Invest Bangladesh FAQ describes visa recommendations for four types of entry, applied for through OSS and approved online within 24 hours where the information and documents are complete.

• E visa: for employees of private or public organisations, both foreign and local companies. This is the usual visa for an expatriate employee.
• E1 visa: for people engaged in machinery and software installation and project inspection services.
• P1 visa: for foreign private investors in industrial and commercial enterprises.
• Visa on arrival: available for certain investor visits on the authority's recommendation, but not a substitute for an employment visa.

With the recommendation, the employee applies to the Bangladesh mission abroad for the visa itself. Arriving on a tourist or business visa and then seeking a work permit is a common mistake: it usually means leaving and re-entering on the correct visa, or a conversion that may not be granted.

The work permit Bangladesh process, step by step

For an employer outside the zones, the sequence below reflects the official FAQ and the authority's security clearance announcement. BEPZA follows a similar sequence through its own system for zone enterprises.

1. Confirm the employer can sponsor. The employer should itself be registered or approved, for example a company registered with Invest Bangladesh or a branch office with approval, so that the application can be filed through OSS.
2. Obtain the visa recommendation. Apply through OSS with the employee's passport, appointment letter, qualifications and the employer's documents.
3. Issue the visa abroad. The employee applies to the Bangladesh mission with the recommendation and enters on the E visa (or the relevant category).
4. File the work permit within 15 days of arrival. The FAQ states that the employer logs in to OSS and submits the application and documents, including a copy of the visa, within 15 days of the expatriate's arrival, then pays the fee.
5. Complete the online security clearance. Since 1 October 2025 security clearance has been processed through OSS. The authority's announcement says clearance is treated as granted if no objection is raised within 21 working days of a complete submission.
6. Receive the permit and register for tax. Once the permit issues, obtain a TIN for the employee through OSS and start payroll withholding.
7. Extend the visa and diarise renewals. Align the visa with the permit's validity, and diarise the permit's expiry so that an extension is filed in time.

Documents to prepare

The exact checklist is published on OSS and changes from time to time, so download it when you start. In practice the work permit Bangladesh process draws on the same core papers at each stage: the employee's passport and visa pages, photographs, academic and professional certificates, a CV, the signed appointment letter or service contract stating role, salary and term, and the employer's incorporation or approval documents and registration letter.

Two habits save time. First, make the job title, salary and duration identical in the appointment letter, the visa recommendation and the permit application; mismatches are the most common reason for queries. Second, keep certified copies of foreign qualifications ready, because the same certificates are needed again for the employee's TIN and for extensions.

The employment contract

The appointment letter is not just a form for the authority. It sets the employee's rights if the relationship ends badly, and it is the document a court or tribunal will read. Foreign employers often use a group template governed by foreign law; that may be workable for senior executives, but the contract should still reflect Bangladeshi requirements on tax, notice and the permit's conditions. Our article on appointment letters and employment contracts explains what Bangladeshi law expects.

Security clearance: what changed in 2025

Security clearance used to be the least predictable part of the work permit Bangladesh process. In September 2025, BIDA announced that from 1 October 2025 clearance applications must go exclusively through the OSS portal, with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Immigration and Passports and law enforcement agencies taking part in the reform.

Two points from the announcement matter. First, clearance is deemed granted if no objection is raised within 21 working days of a complete submission. Second, the authority warned that applying late, outside the window set in the work permit, makes the permit invalid. The Business Standard reported that the number of required documents was reduced from 34 to 11 as part of the change.

A deemed clearance is only as good as the submission. Missing pages, inconsistent names or an appointment letter that does not match the permit can restart the clock.

Extensions, changes of employer and the five-year question

Work permits are granted for a limited period and must be extended before they expire, with a matching visa extension. An extension application should show that the employee is still doing the job described in the original permit, that salary has been paid and taxed properly, and that the employer remains in good standing.

A permit is tied to the employer. If the employee moves to another company, even within the same group, a new permit is generally needed. The Business Standard also reported in October 2025 that BIDA's view was that, as a general rule, no foreign worker should remain employed in Bangladesh for more than five years, and that it was tightening monitoring of people who stay longer by moving between group companies or holding separate BIDA and BEPZA permits. Employers planning long assignments should build succession and localisation into the plan.

Inside the export processing zones, BEPZA applies its own instructions on expatriate employment and extensions, and zone enterprises should follow those rather than assume the mainland practice applies. The work permit Bangladesh process is similar in outline, but the forms, fees and officers are BEPZA's.

When an assignment ends, cancel the permit and settle the employee's tax position before departure. Leaving a permit open, or an unpaid tax liability, can cause difficulty for the employer's next application.

Tax, salary and remittance

Foreign employees need a tax identification number. The Invest Bangladesh FAQ lists the documents for an employee TIN through OSS, including the passport and visa pages, the appointment letter, the work permit and the company's memorandum. Salary paid for work in Bangladesh is taxable here under the Income Tax Act 2023, and the employer withholds tax through payroll.

The same FAQ states that foreigners employed in Bangladesh can remit up to 80 per cent of their monthly salary after admissible deductions through an authorised dealer bank, along with savings and admissible retirement benefits. The remittance depends on the permit and tax records being in order, which is another reason to keep them current.

Whether the employee is taxed as a resident or a non-resident depends on the time spent in Bangladesh during the income year under the Income Tax Act 2023, and the difference affects both rates and allowances. Short assignments of engineers and installers, common in Chattogram's port and power projects, need particular attention because a stay that runs longer than planned can change the employee's status mid-year. Where the employee remains on a foreign payroll, a tax treaty between Bangladesh and the home country may be relevant, and the employer should take advice before assuming that no Bangladeshi tax is due.

Bangladesh tax law also penalises employers who employ foreigners without the required permission, separately from immigration consequences. The National Board of Revenue sets current rates and filing rules, which should be checked each year.

An illustrative scenario

This scenario is illustrative only; the parties are generic. A Chattogram steel re-rolling company, registered with Invest Bangladesh, hires a foreign plant engineer for two years. Its HR team obtains a visa recommendation through OSS, and the engineer collects an E visa from the Bangladesh mission in his home country.

He arrives on a Sunday. By Wednesday the company has filed the work permit on OSS with the visa copy and paid the fee, followed by the security clearance application. With no objection raised within the review period, the permit issues and the company obtains his TIN and starts withholding tax.

Six months later the group asks him to spend time at a sister company inside the Karnaphuli EPZ. Because that company is a BEPZA enterprise with its own permit regime, the group takes advice before he starts work there instead of assuming his existing permit covers it. That is the moment many groups get the work permit Bangladesh process wrong.

Risks and common mistakes

What to do next

• Identify the authority: Invest Bangladesh, BEPZA or the NGO Affairs Bureau.
• Confirm the employer's own registration or approval is in place and current.
• Obtain the visa recommendation and the correct visa before travel.
• File the permit and security clearance within 15 days of arrival.
• Register the employee for tax and set up payroll withholding from the first salary.
• Diarise permit and visa expiry dates and plan for the five-year policy line.

The work permit Bangladesh process is easier when it is planned with the investment itself. See our guides to the Invest Bangladesh registration process and the BEPZA investment process, and our foreign investment practice. For employers with ongoing HR questions, our labour and employment team also advises on contracts and exits.

TRW & Co's offices in Dhaka, Singapore, Dubai and London help foreign employers coordinate group mobility, while our Chattogram office at Room 4022, Annex 2, District and Sessions Judge Court Building, Court Hill (Porir Pahar), Kotwali, Chattogram 4000 handles local filings. Email info@trw.co, call +880 1779 127165 or contact us.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and official materials

1. Invest Bangladesh FAQ — Visa recommendations, work permits, employee TIN, salary remittance
2. Invest Bangladesh: security clearance for work permits now fully digital — Online clearance from 1 October 2025; 21 working day deemed clearance
3. Invest Bangladesh: press release on the Invest Bangladesh Bill 2026 — Merger of BIDA, BEZA and PPPA
4. BEPZA: Why BEPZA — One-window service including work permits in EPZs
5. The Business Standard: Bida moves to ease foreigners' recruitment — Document reduction and the five-year guideline (October 2025)
6. NGO Affairs Bureau — Foreign staff of NGOs
7. National Board of Revenue — Income tax rules for foreign employees

General information only, current as at 2 November 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create an advocate–client relationship. It reflects the law of Bangladesh unless stated otherwise, and the law, court practice and official fees change frequently. Check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.