Travellers planning winter trips from Bangladesh to Spain or the wider Schengen Area face an unexpected hurdle: the Embassy of Spain in Dhaka has suspended all Schengen visa appointments and submissions until at least 17 December 2025. A notice posted on the embassy’s website on 6 December cites “operational reasons” and advises applicants that the last files were accepted on 26 November. Applicants with urgent humanitarian or family-reunification needs may email the consular section, but routine tourism, study and business visas are on hold.
Consular insiders blame a mix of staff shortages, IT upgrades to the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) and a seasonal surge in applications linked to January school start-dates in Spain. Over the past two years, the Dhaka post has processed roughly 18,000 Schengen visas annually – small in EU terms but critical for Bangladeshi seafarers joining Spanish-flag vessels and for the country’s fast-growing outbound student market.
![Spanish Embassy in Dhaka Halts Schengen Visa Processing Until Mid-December]()
For multinational companies, the freeze disrupts crew-change schedules and short-notice technical assignments. Shipping agencies with vessels berthed in Algeciras and Las Palmas report scrambling to source replacement crew from the Philippines and Indonesia. Universities have asked incoming Bangladeshi master’s students to begin classes online if their January arrival is delayed.
The embassy says it expects to resume appointments “after 17 December,” but no exact date has been confirmed. Visa facilitation firm BLS International, which manages Spain’s visa application centres in Dhaka and Chattogram, has paused new bookings and is keeping paid applicants on a wait-list. Advisers recommend that travellers bound for trade fairs or project kick-offs in early January switch routing to the nearest Spanish consulate with capacity – New Delhi or Kuala Lumpur – though that option adds cost and transit-visa complexity.
Bangladesh is Spain’s second-largest trading partner in South Asia, driven by the textile supply chain. The embassy suspension highlights how single-post disruptions can ripple through corporate mobility programmes and underlines the importance of redundancy planning for critical routes.
Consular insiders blame a mix of staff shortages, IT upgrades to the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) and a seasonal surge in applications linked to January school start-dates in Spain. Over the past two years, the Dhaka post has processed roughly 18,000 Schengen visas annually – small in EU terms but critical for Bangladeshi seafarers joining Spanish-flag vessels and for the country’s fast-growing outbound student market.
For multinational companies, the freeze disrupts crew-change schedules and short-notice technical assignments. Shipping agencies with vessels berthed in Algeciras and Las Palmas report scrambling to source replacement crew from the Philippines and Indonesia. Universities have asked incoming Bangladeshi master’s students to begin classes online if their January arrival is delayed.
The embassy says it expects to resume appointments “after 17 December,” but no exact date has been confirmed. Visa facilitation firm BLS International, which manages Spain’s visa application centres in Dhaka and Chattogram, has paused new bookings and is keeping paid applicants on a wait-list. Advisers recommend that travellers bound for trade fairs or project kick-offs in early January switch routing to the nearest Spanish consulate with capacity – New Delhi or Kuala Lumpur – though that option adds cost and transit-visa complexity.
Bangladesh is Spain’s second-largest trading partner in South Asia, driven by the textile supply chain. The embassy suspension highlights how single-post disruptions can ripple through corporate mobility programmes and underlines the importance of redundancy planning for critical routes.
