1. Timeline of submission of application for BSTF travel grant

From the year 2022, every year applicants will have to apply online between January and April. Any application submitted after 11:59 pm Bangladesh Time of 30 April will not be accepted. Within the next month, i.e., in May, applications will be assessed and notification of award will be sent only to the successful candidates by email.

2. How the applicant will receive notification of award of grant from BSTF

Successful candidates will receive notification by email. Therefore, all candidates are requested to keep an eye on the inbox as well as the spam folder of the email they provided in their application. If an applicant does not receive notification by the first week of June, it will imply that her/his application has not been approved and in that case, applicants are requested not to contact BSTF by email or phone to ask status of their application. However, if an applicant is notified of award of travel grant and yet the applicant does not receive the scholarship in the designated bank account by 30 June, BSTF may be contacted by email or phone.

3. Eligibility for application

Bangladeshi students who went abroad from Bangladesh for higher studies from the first day of April of the year preceding the application year until the end of March of the application year will be eligible to apply. Example: Applicants who went abroad between 01 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 will be eligible to apply for grant. Therefore, in this case, students who went abroad before 01 April 2021 or after 31 March 2022 will not be eligible to apply. Moreover, students who have already been awarded BSTF grant previously or have been provided air ticket for travel from elsewhere will not be eligible to apply. Legal steps will be taken against an applicant if she/he conceals or fabricates information to obtain grant fraudulently.

4. Designated bank account

Travel grant will be remitted only to any one of the applicant’s own, father’s, mother’s, spouse’s, brother’s, sister’s bank accounts. The applicant will clearly mention in the application how the money should be transferred and steps will be take accordingly. Any other bank account other than those mentioned in the preceding sentence shall not be eligible unless there is compelling reason. The designated bank account must be maintained with a scheduled commercial bank located in Bangladesh. If the bank account information is wrong and as a result travel grant cannot be sent to the designated bank account, the application will be considered rejected.

5. Whether hard copies of application documents are required to submit

No hard copies are required. Applicants will only need to upload soft copies of required documents through online application system. However, the applicants may still need to send hard copies of documents as and when BSTF requests for.

6. Documents that the applicants will need to submit online

Applicants will need to submit online copies of passport (information and pages with immigration seals), NID, educational certificates, annual income statement of self and/or parents, passport size photo, enrollment certificate (mentioning date of enrollment, course name, date of commencement of course etc.) issued by the foreign university in which applicant has been admitted, plane ticket, all boarding passes etc.

7. How to submit application online?

At the beginning of the online application, all applicants will need to create an account using their emails and later all communications to and from the BSTF will be done through this email. Therefore, the applicants are requested to choose email address carefully.

8. What should I do if I do not have the required documents at the time of online application?

Applicant will be able to save all the steps of the application at any time and then later the applicant will be able to add or replace any information or document to the saved application. Therefore, if any required document is not at hand at the time of application, the applicant will be able to return to the saved application and continue. However, applicants should note that once the application is finally submitted after completing all steps and review, the applicant will not be able to edit the application anymore and hence the application may be rejected. Therefore, the applicants should take extreme care at the time of submission of application.

9. May I submit application using birth registration instead of NID?

Yes, if the birth registration can be verified online. However, in this case, the birth registration number must be exactly the same as the personal number mentioned in the applicant’s passport.

10. Can I apply for travel grant in case of travel by bus or train?

Travel by bus or train only to India will be eligible for application. Adequate supporting documents in this regard will need to be submitted.

11. Can there be more than one applicant from the same family?

Yes, all the eligible applicants from the same family will be allowed to submit application separately.

12. If there is only departure seal but no arrival seal in the passport, will the application be allowed?

If there is no arrival seal in the passport, reason for such case will be duly verified and if found that the foreign immigration does not put arrival seal in the passport, the application will be allowed. However, other related document in support of arrival will be required.

13. Will all the successful applicants receive the same amount of travel grant?

Travel grant is generally determined based on the airfare. Therefore, amount of travel grant will differ from applicant to applicant based on their location abroad.