Every figure on this page was read from an official Rwandan source — the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration (migration.gov.rw), the official government e-services portal IremboGov (irembo.gov.rw and support.irembo.gov.rw), the Rwanda Development Board eRegulations portal (businessprocedures.rdb.rw), the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (rbc.gov.rw) and the official Rwandan missions in London and Washington (rwandainuk.gov.rw, rwandainusa.gov.rw). No blog, agent page or third-party visa service was the source of any figure. Claims checked 2026-09-17

Pathways & visa routes

11 verified routes · Visa on arrival for Bangladesh: 30 days, visa fees waived, under the Commonwealth limb · Claims checked 2026-09-17

Rwanda issues a visa on arrival to citizens of all countries, and since 1 January 2018 no prior application is needed. A Bangladeshi ordinary-passport holder sits inside the fee-waiver category: no visa required for a stay of thirty (30) days — visa on arrival, visa fees waived, 30 days. Bangladesh is named by name in that list, and it qualifies through the Commonwealth limb of the waiver. The African Union limb is continental and does not cover Bangladesh on nationality grounds, and the November 2023 "visa-free for all Africans" measure does not name Bangladesh and, on the official texts, does not change the Commonwealth-category treatment.

The eleven routes below are the ones that meet this site's published bar — a route appears here only after its fee and its document list have been read from an official source. One further route, the V2 family visit, is documented for its fee and its validity but has no official document list published on any official page reached; it is named separately at the end of this section rather than counted inside the eleven.

One conflict is stated rather than resolved. The DGIE's own visa-class page still prices the holiday visa at 50 USD for single entry, adding that it is free of charge for "nationals of countries with which Rwanda has a visa waiver arrangement including African Union, Common Wealth and La francophonie". Both statements sit on the same government website, and no single official sentence states the position for Bangladesh unambiguously. The consistent reading across all three official sources — the DGIE visa-on-arrival page, the DGIE communiqué of 10 March 2020 and the Rwandan High Commission in London — is fee waived, 30 days, visa on arrival. It is set out in full under Official inconsistencies below.

Visa on arrival — 30 days, visa fees waived (Commonwealth category; Bangladesh named)

Fee: free of charge — visa fees waived for a visit of 30 days

Maximum stay: 30 days · Entries: single — the visa is issued at the point of entry · Processing time: no official processing time stated for this class

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
Sufficient funds to cover the costs of the stay. Evidence for such funds may be requested online, at a Rwandan foreign mission or at the entry point.
Health: a vaccination certificate may be required at the border post. See the yellow-fever note at the end of the Required documents section.

Status: OPEN. Effective dates: visa on arrival for all nationalities from 1 January 2018; the thirty-day no-visa and fee-waiver category that names Bangladesh has effect from 10 March 2020, when it "takes immediate effect" and updated the regime of 21 June 2019. Source: DGIE — visa on arrival; the DGIE communiqué Rwanda's New Visa Regime, 10 March 2020; Rwandan High Commission London. Claims checked 2026-09-17

V1 — Holiday / tourist visa (the paid option)

Fee: 50 USD for single entry; 70 USD for multiple entries. The same official fee block adds that single entry is free of charge for nationals of countries with a visa waiver arrangement including the Commonwealth — see the conflict below

Maximum stay: 30 days for single entry; 90 days for multiple entries. May be extended in exceptional circumstances · Entries: single or multiple · Processing time: no official processing time stated on the official visa-class page

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months — the only itemised requirement the DGIE visa-class page publishes for this route.
Sufficient funds to cover the costs of the stay.
Vaccination certificate — may be required at the border post.
For an application filed online through IremboGov: a scanned photograph with a white background (JPG, 500 KB), a scanned copy of the passport biodata page (PDF, 500 KB), and a scanned application letter and other certificates (PDF, 500 KB).

Status: OPEN. No effective date is stated on the official class page for this route — recorded as not verified. Source: DGIE — visitors visa classes; Embassy of Rwanda, Washington DC; IremboGov — Rwandan visas on arrival. Claims checked 2026-09-17

V11 / T12 — East Africa Tourist Visa (EATV): Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda

Fee: 100 USD. No waiver is published for this class — a Bangladeshi applicant pays the full fee

Validity: 90 days — not renewable on expiry or on exit from the three-country block · Entries: multiple, within the three countries · Processing time: no official processing time stated for the EATV

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
Copy of the passport biodata page, with at least 6 months' validity.
Copy of a recent passport-size photograph.
Yellow-fever vaccination certificate — required on the joint EATV list.
Return ticket.
Travel itinerary.
All documents attached must be in English. Any other documents may be required during processing.

Status: OPEN. The joint list requires a yellow-fever certificate even though Rwanda's own border rule does not require one for an arrival from Bangladesh — both facts are reported as they stand. No effective date is stated on the official sources. Source: DGIE — visa issued under special arrangement; Uganda Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control; RDB eRegulations. Claims checked 2026-09-17

V5 — Conference and meetings

Fee: 50 USD, and free of charge for nationals of countries with which Rwanda has a visa waiver arrangement including the Commonwealth. Bangladesh is a named Commonwealth country in Rwanda's waiver list, so the published fee for this route reads as waived

Maximum stay: 30 days · Entries: single · Processing time: no official processing time stated for this class

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
For an application filed online through IremboGov: a scanned photograph with a white background (JPG, 500 KB), the passport biodata page (PDF, 500 KB), and an application letter and other certificates (PDF, 500 KB).

Status: OPEN. No conference-specific item — such as an invitation or accreditation — is published by DGIE or IremboGov, so none is listed here; that is recorded as a gap, not as an absence of the requirement. The DGIE block for this route carries its own "click here to apply" link pointing to the passport service rather than the visa service — an official-page error, flagged and not resolved. Source: DGIE — visitors visa classes; Embassy of Rwanda, Washington DC. Claims checked 2026-09-17

V6 — Business survey

Fee: 50 USD for single entry; 70 USD for multiple entries. No waiver wording is published for this class — the fee is not assumed to be waived

Maximum stay: 90 days · Entries: single or multiple · Processing time: no official processing time stated for this class

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
For an application filed online through IremboGov: a scanned photograph with a white background (JPG, 500 KB), the passport biodata page (PDF, 500 KB), and an application letter and other certificates (PDF, 500 KB).

Status: OPEN. Conditions published for this class: dependents not allowed, work not allowed, change of status not allowed, permit renewable once. No business-specific item — such as a company letter or an invitation — is published officially, so none is listed. Source: DGIE — visitors visa classes. Claims checked 2026-09-17

V9 — Itinerant business

Fee: 200 USD. No waiver is published for this class

Validity: from 2 to 10 years, renewable · Entries: multiple · Processing time: no official processing time stated for this class

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months — the only itemised requirement published.

Status: OPEN. Issued to a foreign investor, board member or representative of a multinational company who does not reside in Rwanda but has significant business activities there and needs to visit regularly. Dependents not allowed; work not allowed; change of status allowed. Applications are made at the DGIE headquarters. Source: DGIE — visitors visa classes. Claims checked 2026-09-17

V7 / T8 — Medical treatment

Fee: 30 USD, as published by the DGIE. The RDB eRegulations page for the same route publishes RWF 29,717.68 / USD 20, citing the visa-fee communiqué of 2016 — the two official figures conflict and neither is discarded here

Maximum stay: 90 days · Entries: single · Processing time: no official processing time stated by the DGIE for this class; the RDB portal states a total duration of 1 and a half to 3 and a half days for the procedure

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
Online application form.
Visa request letter.
Photograph.
Statement from a medical practitioner, or from the head of the health facility.
Appointment letter to a public health facility or a private clinic.
Proof of identity — passport.
Visa acceptance letter.
Sufficient funds to cover the costs of the stay.

Status: OPEN. The route exists and is documented by both official sources; it is not an absence. The visa is also issued to the applicant's foreign care attendant. Work is not allowed; change of status and extension are allowed. Source: DGIE — visitors visa classes; RDB eRegulations — T8 medical treatment, procedure 70. Claims checked 2026-09-17

VT — Transit visa (and VE-2, transit due to unforeseen circumstances)

Fee: 30 USD, and free for nationals of a country with which Rwanda has a visa waiver arrangement including the Commonwealth — Bangladesh is a named Commonwealth country, so this fee reads as waived. VE-2 is free of charge

Maximum stay: not exceeding 72 hours · Entries: single · Processing time: no official processing time stated for this class

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
For an application filed online through IremboGov: a scanned photograph with a white background (JPG, 500 KB), the passport biodata page (PDF, 500 KB), and an application letter and other certificates (PDF, 500 KB).

Status: OPEN. The VE-2 category publishes one document line that is defective on the official page — it reads "any genuine travel document valid not less than [sic] months", with the number missing. That is recorded as an official-page defect, not filled in. VE-2 is issued at the entry point to travellers stranded by circumstances beyond their control. Work is not permitted and change of status is not allowed on either class. Source: DGIE — transit visa. Claims checked 2026-09-17

H2 — Skilled worker employment permit (employer-sponsored); H1, occupation on demand

Fee: 150,000 RWF for H2, and 150,000 RWF for H1. The only published permit fee exemption is for East African Community citizens, and Bangladesh is not an EAC partner state, so the full fee applies. Fees are for processing and are not refunded if the application is denied or withdrawn

Validity: up to two years for H2; up to three years for H1 · Entries: a residence permit is not an entry product and no entry count is published · Processing time: the official permit class pages state none; the official portal states 7 days for the permit service

Certified academic certificates.
The original police clearance from the country of the applicant's previous residence of six months.
Copy of the employment contract.
Recommendation letter from the employer.
Detailed curriculum vitae.
On renewal: copy of the employment contract and a recommendation letter from the employer.
Diplomas and police clearance must be officially translated into English or French, and the police clearance must be the original.

Status: OPEN. The employer sponsors the application, and for H2 the employer must hold a Labour Market Test current for six weeks from the date of first advertisement. The permit is applied for after arrival, and a first-time residence-permit applicant has a 15-day grace period on arrival before penalties apply. A work-permit holder may change employers during the permit's validity but must inform the DGIE in writing. A visitor visa or an East Africa Tourist Visa must not be used for employment. Source: DGIE — employment permits, general permit information; IremboGov — how to apply for a permit; RDB eRegulations. Claims checked 2026-09-17

U1 / N1 — Student permit

Fee: 20,000 RWF. No waiver is published for this class and the EAC exemption does not apply to Bangladesh

Validity: 1 year · Entries: a permit is not an entry product and no entry count is published · Processing time: the official student-permit page states none; the official portal states 7 days for the permit service

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
Recommendation letter from the school.
Sponsorship letter.
Original police clearance for students above 18 years of age.
On renewal: travel document valid not less than 6 months, a recommendation letter from the school, and a sponsorship letter.

Status: OPEN. The class code differs between the two official sources — U1 at the DGIE and N1 at the RDB eRegulations portal; the discrepancy is reported and not resolved. The permit is applied for after arrival. Source: DGIE — study and research permits; RDB eRegulations — student pass. Claims checked 2026-09-17

M2 — Dependent permit (of a temporary residence permit holder)

Fee: 50% (half) of the fee paid by the principal applicant. On an H2 principal at 150,000 RWF that is 75,000 RWF — arithmetic on two official figures, not a published figure. No waiver is published and the EAC exemption does not apply to Bangladesh

Validity: the same validity as the principal applicant's permit — up to two years where the principal holds an H2 · Entries: a permit is not an entry product and no entry count is published · Processing time: the official dependant page states none; the official portal states 7 days for the permit service

Application letter.
Marriage certificate for a spouse.
Birth certificate for a child, or an adoption certificate.
Original police clearance for a person above 18 years of age, from the country of residence for the previous six months.
Copy of the principal's identity card.
On renewal: an application letter and a copy of the principal's identity card.

Status: OPEN. Marriage and birth certificates must be officially translated into English or French, and the police clearance must be the original. A dependent's details can be entered inside the principal's permit application. Source: DGIE — dependant permits; IremboGov — how to apply for a permit. Claims checked 2026-09-17

Documented but not counted among the eleven

V2 — Family visit (the one partial route). Fee 50 USD for single entry and 70 USD for multiple entries; 30 days for single entry and 90 days for multiple entries. No official document list is published — the DGIE visitors-visa page lists the class but repeats the holiday block instead of publishing a V2 block, and the RDB page publishes an eligibility definition with no itemised list. Because this site's bar requires the fee and the documents from an official source, this route is recorded as partial and left outside the count of eleven.
V4 — Job search. 50 USD, multiple entry, 90 days, travel document valid not less than 6 months published. It is a work-adjacent visa, so it is treated here as a sub-option of the work route rather than a separate route.
V8 — Group tourist visa. 150 USD, 30 days, single entry, change of status not permitted. The DGIE states groups of four to ten tourists; IremboGov states a maximum of 15 members per group. The group size is an official conflict and is reported, not resolved.
VE-2 — Transit due to unforeseen circumstances. Free of charge, 72 hours, issued at the entry point. Its only published document line is defective on the official page, as noted above.
Further permits documented on the same official pages. U2 occupational trainee 50,000 RWF; H7 professional research 150,000 RWF; P2 student working during holidays 20,000 RWF; R special pass 50,000 RWF for employment not exceeding 90 days; K assured income 150,000 RWF; P1 voluntary work 50,000 RWF; I religious activities 150,000 RWF. Each has an official fee and document list on the DGIE permit pages, and each is outside the routes counted here.

Required documents

The lists below are the published lists item by item, reproduced from the official source named for each route, not summaries. Where an official source marks an item as conditional, or where a document has an age or translation rule attached, that is stated. Where no itemised list is published for a route, that is recorded as a gap rather than filled in from elsewhere.

1. Visa on arrival and the tourist route — DGIE general information for a tourist visa

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
Sufficient funds to cover the costs of the stay. Official wording: evidence for such funds may be requested online, at a Rwandan foreign mission or at the entry point.
Health: a vaccination certificate may be required at the border post.

The DGIE visa-on-arrival page publishes no additional itemised list for issuance on arrival beyond the travel document.

2. Any application filed online — IremboGov common attachments, all routes

Scanned photograph with a white background — JPG, up to 500 KB.
Scanned copy of the passport biodata page — PDF, up to 500 KB.
Scanned application letter and other certificates — PDF, up to 500 KB.

3. V1 holiday and V2 family visit — DGIE visitors visa class page and the Rwandan High Commission London

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months — the only itemised requirement on the DGIE class page.
Sufficient funds for the stay; a vaccination certificate may be required at the border post.
For an application lodged at the High Commission in London: a valid passport or travel document with at least 6 months' validity on entry; a photocopy of the passport; a completed visa application form; two passport photographs on a white background with the ears visible; a signed letter explaining the purpose of travel; an invitation letter with the passport or ID of the host, or a hotel booking confirmation where there is no host; proof of payment; return flight confirmation or itinerary; evidence of sufficient funds; a prepaid self-addressed envelope for postal applications; and a vaccination certificate where health advisories require one.

4. V11 East Africa Tourist Visa — DGIE and the joint Uganda Immigration list

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months (DGIE).
Copy of the passport biodata page with at least 6 months' validity.
Copy of a recent passport-size photograph.
Vaccination certificate for yellow fever.
Return ticket.
Travel itinerary.
All documents attached must be in English; any other documents may be required during processing.

5. V5 conference and V6 business survey — DGIE visitors visa class page

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
Plus the IremboGov online attachments listed at 2 above.
No conference-specific or business-specific item is published by DGIE or IremboGov — recorded as a gap.

6. V7 / T8 medical treatment — RDB eRegulations, procedure 70

Online application form.
Visa request letter.
Photograph.
Statement from a medical practitioner or the head of the health facility.
Appointment letter to a public health facility or a private clinic.
Proof of identity — passport.
Visa acceptance letter.
Plus the DGIE general requirement of a travel document valid not less than 6 months and sufficient funds for the stay.

7. VT transit and VE-2 — DGIE transit visa page

VT: any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
VE-2: the published line is defective — "any genuine travel document valid not less than [sic] months", with the number missing on the official page.
Plus the IremboGov online attachments listed at 2 above.

8. H2 and H1 employment permits — DGIE employment permit page

H2 new application: certified academic certificates; the original police clearance from the country of the applicant's previous residence of six months; copy of the employment contract; recommendation letter from the employer; detailed curriculum vitae.
H2 renewal: copy of the employment contract and a recommendation letter from the employer.
H1 new application: copy of the employment contract; academic certificates; recommendation letter from the employer; detailed curriculum vitae; police clearance from the country of residence of the previous six months.
General rules for all permits: diplomas, police clearance, marriage certificate and birth certificate should be officially translated into English or French, and the police clearance should be the original only.

9. U1 / N1 student permit — DGIE study and research permit page

Any genuine acceptable travel document valid not less than 6 months.
Recommendation letter from the school.
Sponsorship letter.
Original police clearance for students above 18 years of age.
On renewal: a travel document valid not less than 6 months, a recommendation letter from the school, and a sponsorship letter.

10. M2 dependent permit — DGIE dependant permit page

Application letter.
Marriage certificate for a spouse.
Birth certificate for a child, or an adoption certificate.
Original police clearance for a person above 18 years of age, from the country of residence for the previous six months.
Copy of the principal's identity card.
On renewal: an application letter and a copy of the principal's identity card.

11. Yellow fever — what a Bangladeshi traveller actually needs, and why it is not a fixed answer

Arriving from Bangladesh: a yellow-fever certificate is not required. Bangladesh is not on the Government of Rwanda's published list of yellow-fever-endemic countries, and the requirement is triggered by departure from an endemic country or a country with an active outbreak. The official wording is that the certificate "is not required to travelers coming from Yellow Fever non-endemic countries".
The caveat that must travel with that finding: a traveller whose itinerary transits an endemic country falls under the mandatory limb, and many common Bangladesh to Kigali routings do. The requirement therefore cannot be stated as a fixed rule for "Bangladeshi passport holders" as a class.
The DGIE separately advises travellers to carry a yellow-fever certificate as good practice.

Authority & application channels

This is the part most often reported wrongly. Rwanda's immigration authority is the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration (DGIE), not a ministry of foreign affairs and not an embassy. Visas are issued on arrival at the border, online through the government e-services portal, at the DGIE itself, or at a Rwandan diplomatic mission in the applicant's country of residence. There is no Rwandan mission in Bangladesh that any official Rwandan source verified, which makes the last of those channels unavailable in Dhaka on the evidence reached.

Immigration authority — Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration (DGIE), KG 7 Ave, Kigali. migration.gov.rw
Official e-services portal — IremboGov. The visa application service is at irembo.gov.rw — request a visa, and the single-entry service page is irembo.gov.rw — single entry visa. Permit applications run through request a permit. The EATV is applied for at the East Africa tourist visa service.
Issuance on arrival — Kigali International Airport and all land borders, by the DGIE.
Diplomatic mission — no Rwandan mission in Bangladesh was verified by any official Rwandan source. The DGIE instruction to apply at the mission in your country of residence may therefore not be available in Dhaka. This is recorded as unverified, not as a confirmed absence.
Residence permits are applied for after arrival. A first-time residence-permit applicant has a 15-day grace period on arrival before penalties apply. For an H2 employment permit the application is sponsored by the employer, who must also hold a current Labour Market Test.
The DGIE's own warning about agents, quoted verbatim: "There is no single affiliated Agent that is authorised to apply for visa on your behalf. Such Agents may mislead you and charges more than the required visa fees."
Documents are read in English or French. Diplomas, police clearance, marriage certificates and birth certificates should be officially translated, and a police clearance should be the original.
Fees are not refunded if an application is denied or withdrawn by the applicant.
Where a figure comes from IremboGov it is labelled as the official government e-services portal. Where a figure comes from a Rwandan mission abroad it is labelled with the mission, because a mission's published fee table may be stated in its local currency and is not the DGIE's own tariff page.

Frequently asked questions

Does a Bangladeshi passport holder need a visa for Rwanda?

No prior visa is required for a short visit. A Bangladeshi ordinary-passport holder is in Rwanda's "no visa required for a stay of thirty (30) days" category — the visa is issued on arrival and the visa fee is waived. Bangladesh is named by name in that list. The category was set by the DGIE communiqué Rwanda's New Visa Regime dated 10 March 2020, which took immediate effect and updated the regime of 21 June 2019.

Which limb of the waiver does Bangladesh qualify under, and does the Africa-wide measure cover it?

Bangladesh qualifies through the Commonwealth limb. The waiver is granted to citizens of member states of the African Union, the Commonwealth and La Francophonie, and Bangladesh appears in the Commonwealth list. The African Union limb is continental and does not cover Bangladesh on nationality grounds. The November 2023 announcement of visa-free entry for all Africans is an Africa-wide measure: on the official texts it does not name Bangladesh and does not change the Commonwealth-category treatment. Describing Bangladesh's waiver as an "Africa-wide waiver" would be wrong.

How much does it cost, and where does the 50 USD figure come from?

For the thirty-day visa on arrival the fee is waived. The 50 USD figure comes from the DGIE's own visa-class page for the holiday visa, which prices single entry at 50 USD and multiple entry at 70 USD, and then says single entry is free of charge for "nationals of countries with which Rwanda has a visa waiver arrangement including African Union, Common Wealth and La francophonie". Read literally, both statements sit on the same government website. The consistent reading across the DGIE visa-on-arrival page, the 10 March 2020 communiqué and the Rwandan High Commission in London is fee waived, 30 days, visa on arrival — but no single official sentence states the position for Bangladesh unambiguously, and this page does not resolve that conflict.

Can I get a multiple-entry visa, and is it free too?

Multiple entry is available as a paid product: the V1 holiday visa is 70 USD for multiple entries with 90 days of validity, and the V6 business survey visa is also 70 USD for multiple entries with 90 days. Whether the Commonwealth waiver reaches the multiple-entry product is not confirmable: the DGIE prices multiple entry at 70 USD with no waiver wording, and the IremboGov exempt-country column for multiple entry names only African countries. On those texts a Bangladeshi applicant would pay the 70 USD for a multiple-entry V1.

How long can I stay, and can the thirty days be extended?

Thirty days on the fee-waived visa on arrival. The DGIE states the visa "may be extended in exceptional circumstances" and publishes no criteria and no fee for an extension — so whether a Bangladeshi visitor can extend beyond 30 days is recorded here as unverified rather than assumed. If a longer or multiple-entry stay is needed, the published paid option is the 90-day multiple-entry visa at 70 USD.

Where do I get the visa — on arrival, online, or at a mission?

All three channels exist in principle. On arrival at Kigali International Airport and at all land borders, issued by the DGIE. Online through the official government portal IremboGov, at irembo.gov.rw. At a Rwandan diplomatic mission in the applicant's country of residence — with the important qualification that no Rwandan mission in Bangladesh was verified by any official Rwandan source, so that channel may not be available in Dhaka. The DGIE also warns that no agent is authorised to apply on your behalf.

How long does a visa application take?

No single official answer exists — the official figures conflict. IremboGov states the visa service's processing time is 4 days; an IremboGov FAQ states that applicants who apply online receive the DGIE confirmation email after 7 days, and that applicants who apply on arrival receive the visa instantly; the Rwandan High Commission in London states 7 working days. No DGIE visa-class page states a processing time at all. All three figures are official and mutually inconsistent, so this page prints all three and picks none.

What documents do I need for the visa on arrival?

Three items are published: a genuine travel document valid not less than 6 months; sufficient funds to cover the cost of the stay, for which evidence may be requested online, at a Rwandan foreign mission or at the entry point; and a vaccination certificate, which may be required at the border post. If the application is filed online instead, IremboGov adds a white-background photograph (JPG, 500 KB), the passport biodata page (PDF, 500 KB) and an application letter with other certificates (PDF, 500 KB).

Do I need a yellow-fever vaccination certificate?

Arriving directly from Bangladesh, no. Bangladesh is not on the Government of Rwanda's published list of yellow-fever-endemic countries, and the certificate is mandatory only for travellers coming from an endemic country or a country with an active outbreak. The caveat: a traveller whose itinerary transits an endemic country falls under the mandatory limb, and many common Bangladesh to Kigali routings do. So the requirement turns on the routing, not on the passport, and cannot be stated as one fixed rule for Bangladeshi passport holders as a class. The DGIE separately advises carrying the certificate as good practice, and the joint East Africa Tourist Visa document list requires one.

I want to work in Rwanda — which route applies?

The H2 employment permit for a skilled worker sponsored by an employer, or H1 for an occupation on demand — both 150,000 RWF, valid up to two and three years respectively. The employer sponsors the application and, for H2, must hold a Labour Market Test current for six weeks. The permit is applied for after arrival, with a 15-day grace period on a first application. The only published fee exemption is for East African Community citizens, and Bangladesh is not an EAC partner state, so the full fee applies. A visitor visa or an East Africa Tourist Visa must not be used for employment.

I want to study in Rwanda — which route applies?

The student permit — 20,000 RWF, valid for 1 year, applied for after arrival. The documents are a travel document valid not less than 6 months, a recommendation letter from the school, a sponsorship letter, and an original police clearance for a student above 18. Note the code: the DGIE calls this permit U1 and the RDB eRegulations portal calls the same permit N1 — an official discrepancy this page reports rather than resolves.

Can my spouse or children join me?

Yes, as the M2 dependent permit of a temporary residence permit holder. The fee is 50% (half) of the fee paid by the principal applicant, and the permit has the same validity as the principal's — up to two years where the principal holds an H2. Documents are an application letter, a marriage certificate for a spouse, a birth certificate or adoption certificate for a child, an original police clearance for anyone above 18, and a copy of the principal's identity card. Dependent details can be entered inside the principal's own permit application.

Is there a medical-treatment visa, and what does it cost?

Yes — the route exists. It is class V7 at the DGIE and T8 at the RDB eRegulations portal: 90 days, single entry, and it also covers the patient's foreign care attendant. The fee is where the two official sources disagree: the DGIE publishes 30 USD, while the RDB portal publishes RWF 29,717.68 / USD 20, citing the visa-fee communiqué of 2016. The conflict is reported here and neither figure is discarded. The RDB list of documents for this route is the fullest published, and is reproduced in the Required documents section.

Do I need to pay an agent to apply?

No. The DGIE states it plainly, and the wording is worth reading in full: "There is no single affiliated Agent that is authorised to apply for visa on your behalf. Such Agents may mislead you and charges more than the required visa fees." The official channels are IremboGov, the border post on arrival, the DGIE itself, and a Rwandan mission abroad. An agent's fee is not a government fee and is not part of any figure on this page.

Official inconsistencies, and what could not be verified

Eight conflicts between official sources are recorded here rather than resolved, and the gaps that remain are stated as gaps. Where a figure is contradicted by another official figure, both are printed with their source. Where nothing official exists, this page says so instead of substituting a number from elsewhere. None of the eight is a reported-versus-official disagreement; every one of them is official against official.

Official sources that disagree

The fee position for a Bangladeshi national. The DGIE visa-on-arrival page, the DGIE communiqué of 10 March 2020 that names Bangladesh, and the Rwandan High Commission in London give fee waived, 30 days, visa on arrival. The DGIE's own visa-class page prices the holiday visa at 50 USD for single entry, with waiver wording attached. Both positions sit on the same government website, and no single official sentence states the position for Bangladesh unambiguously.
Whether the fee waiver extends to multiple entry. The DGIE prices multiple entry at 70 USD with no waiver wording; the IremboGov exempt-country column for the multiple-entry product names only "African countries". The two official sources do not agree on which reading applies to a Bangladeshi applicant.
Processing time. 4 days (IremboGov visa service) versus 7 days (IremboGov visa FAQ) versus 7 working days (Rwandan High Commission London) — three official figures, mutually inconsistent. No DGIE visa-class page states a processing time at all.
The medical-treatment visa fee. 30 USD (DGIE) versus RWF 29,717.68 / USD 20 (RDB eRegulations, citing the visa-fee communiqué of 2016).
The student permit code. N1 (RDB eRegulations) versus U1 (DGIE) — the same permit published under two official codes.
The V8 group tourist visa group size. Four to ten tourists (DGIE) versus a maximum of 15 members per group (IremboGov).
The V5 conference visa exemption column. The DGIE block for V5 carries the waiver sentence naming the Commonwealth; IremboGov's comparable table shows "N/A" in the visa-exempt column for V5.
The V5 application link. The DGIE's own V5 block links "click here to apply" to the passport service URL rather than the visa service — an official-page error, flagged and left as published.

One further official-page defect is recorded without a conflict between two sources: the VE-2 transit category publishes its document line as "any genuine travel document valid not less than [sic] months", with the number missing. It is not filled in here.

Not verified — stated as unconfirmed

No single official sentence states the fee position for a Bangladeshi national. The position is assembled from three official sources. The DGIE's own V1 fee block still prices the holiday visa at 50 USD for single entry while calling it free of charge for waiver countries including the Commonwealth, which is internally ambiguous for a paid class.
Whether the Commonwealth waiver extends to the multiple-entry V1 at 70 USD. Not confirmable from the official sources: one prices it with no waiver wording, the other's exempt list for multiple entry names only African countries.
Whether Bangladesh holds a separate bilateral visa-waiver arrangement with Rwanda that would attract the 90-day validity mentioned in the VE-1 waiver class, as distinct from the 30-day organisation-membership treatment. No such arrangement was found on any official source; Bangladesh is named only in the 30-day organisation-membership list. The absence of evidence is recorded, not asserted as absence of the arrangement.
The V2 family-visit required documents. Not published by the DGIE or by the RDB. The DGIE visitors-visa page lists V2 among its classes but its body text repeats the holiday block, and the RDB page publishes an eligibility definition only.
A route-specific processing time. The official figures conflict, and no DGIE visa-class page states one. Where no route-specific official statement exists, this page writes "no official processing time stated" rather than substituting a figure.
Whether the waiver is applied automatically by airlines and at every land border at check-in. No official Rwandan statement on this was found.
The treatment of Bangladeshi diplomatic, service and official passports. Rwanda publishes a 90-day diplomatic and service waiver list, and Bangladesh is not on it. Whether a Bangladeshi official-passport holder therefore falls outside the waiver entirely and must pay is not explicitly stated on any official source read.
Whether a Rwandan diplomatic mission exists in Bangladesh. No official Rwandan page accessed lists one, so the DGIE instruction to apply at the mission in your country of residence may not be available in Dhaka. This was not confirmed either way.
The IremboGov single-entry visa service page is JavaScript-rendered and returned only portal chrome and a blocked status widget to a non-browser fetch. Fee data on this page is taken from the official IremboGov support articles instead. Recorded as a rendering limitation, not substituted.
The DGIE communiqué PDF is a scanned document with OCR noise. The country list is partially garbled, and no dated successor document covering 2021 to 2026 was found. Bangladesh's name is legible in the list.
RDB eRegulations publishes figures that conflict with the DGIE on the medical-treatment fee and on the student permit code — both listed as conflicts above.
The V8 group-size conflict — DGIE four to ten against IremboGov a maximum of 15 — is unresolved.
No official Rwandan announcement confirms the practical effect, if any, on Bangladesh of the November 2023 "visa-free for all Africans" policy. On the official texts read, it is an Africa-wide measure that does not name Bangladesh, and no official page states that it changes Commonwealth-category treatment.
Whether the 30-day waiver can be extended for a Bangladeshi visitor. The DGIE states only "may be extended in exceptional circumstances", with no criteria and no fee published.
No official max-stay or entry count exists for the residence permits — H1, H2, U1 and M2 are permit classes, not entry products, and no entry condition is published for them.
The yellow-fever rule cannot be stated as a fixed figure for Bangladeshi passport holders as a class, because the requirement turns on the departure and transit country and routings vary. See the yellow-fever note in the Required documents section.

Source

Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration (DGIE) — visa on arrival; visitors visa classes V1 to V12; transit visa, VT and VE-2; visa issued under special arrangement — general information and the East Africa Tourist Visa; travel assistance.
DGIE — the instrument that names Bangladesh — communiqué, Rwanda's New Visa Regime, dated 10 March 2020 (scanned PDF). It lists the "no visa required for a stay of thirty (30) days" category for citizens of African Union, Commonwealth and La Francophonie member states, with Bangladesh named, and states that it took immediate effect and updated the regime of 21 June 2019.
DGIE — residence permits — employment (H1, H2 and related); study and research (U1, U2, H7, P2); dependant (M1, M2, M3); other permits (P1, R, K, I and others); general permit information; permits index.
IremboGov — the official government e-services portal, support articles — how to apply for a visa; FAQs about how to apply for a visa; frequently asked questions about visa application; Rwandan visas on arrival — fee table; FAQs about visa on arrival; how to apply for a permit.
IremboGov — application services — request a visa; single-entry visa service (JavaScript-rendered; fee content not retrievable); East Africa tourist visa; request a permit.
Rwanda Development Board — eRegulations — visas and permits objective, classes T1 to T12 including T8 medical treatment and T12 East Africa tourist visa; procedure 70, T8 medical treatment — cost, duration and document list; procedure 65; procedure 144, N1 student pass; procedure 211, East Africa tourist visa.
Official Rwandan missions — Rwandan High Commission, London — visa application, which names Bangladesh and states "visa on arrival, waived visa fees, and 30 days stay", and carries the 90-day diplomatic and service waiver list on which Bangladesh does not appear; Embassy of Rwanda, Washington DC — V1, V2, V5 and V11 fees and validity.
Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Government of Rwanda — information for travellers, the yellow-fever rule and the list of yellow-fever-endemic countries on which Bangladesh does not appear.
Uganda Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control — East African Tourist Visa, the joint three-country terms and document list for the EATV.

Every source above was fetched and checked on 17 September 2026. Where a source carries its own "last updated" or effective date, that date is shown beside the figure it supports. No blog, agent page, travel site or third-party visa service was the source of any figure on this page.

Rwanda for Bangladeshi Citizens (2026)

Where should a Bangladeshi applicant start?