TB test for UK visa in Bangladesh: clinics, fees, steps

A TB test for a UK visa is a short medical check, but it is easy to get the timing or the clinic wrong. Bangladesh is on the Home Office list of countries where applicants for longer stays must be screened for tuberculosis, and only a certificate from an approved clinic is accepted with the application.

This guide explains who needs the test, lists the approved clinics in Bangladesh with the fees the Home Office publishes, walks through the appointment and explains how long the certificate lasts. Clinic details and fees change, so check the official page before you go.

Who needs a TB test for a UK visa?

You need a TB test if you are coming to the UK for six months or more and you have lived in a listed country, such as Bangladesh, for six months or more, and you were living there or in another listed country within the last six months. All three conditions come from the GOV.UK TB test page.

In practice that means students, spouses and partners, workers and anyone else applying for a stay longer than six months. A Standard Visitor coming for a holiday, a family visit or meetings does not need a test. GOV.UK also lists a few exemptions, including diplomats accredited to the UK and returning UK residents who have not been away for more than two years.

The rule follows where you have lived, not your nationality. A Bangladeshi citizen who has lived abroad for years may fall outside it, and a foreign national living in Dhaka may fall inside it. Check the list of countries where the test applies if your situation is unusual.

Where can you take the UK visa TB test in Bangladesh?

At one of the clinics on the Home Office's list of approved TB clinics in Bangladesh. A certificate from any other hospital or diagnostic centre will not be accepted, however good the X-ray. The list on GOV.UK, last updated in March 2025, shows these five.

The GOV.UK list gives each clinic's phone numbers and email addresses. It says no appointment is needed at the Green Crescent clinics in Dhaka and Sylhet; for the others, contact the clinic before you go. Ask each one what to bring, because the GOV.UK page does not set a list.

How much does the UK visa TB test cost in Bangladesh?

According to the GOV.UK list last updated in March 2025, the IOM clinics charge 70 US dollars for applicants aged 11 and over and 30 US dollars for children under 11, paid in taka at the clinic, with no extra fee for follow-up investigation. The Green Crescent clinics charge ৳5,500 for applicants aged 11 and over, ৳3,500 for children under 11 and ৳14,000 for further investigation.

These figures are more than eighteen months old, so confirm the current fee with the clinic before your visit. The test is paid to the clinic, not to the Home Office or VFS, and it is separate from the visa fee and the health surcharge. Our page on the UK visa fee for Bangladeshi applicants sets out the full budget.

What happens at the TB test appointment?

1. 1

   Contact the clinic and confirm the details

   Check the current fee, opening hours, whether you need an appointment and what to bring, such as your passport and photographs.

2. 2

   Register and complete the forms

   Bring the passport you will use for the visa, because the certificate records your passport details and must match your application.

3. 3

   Have the chest X-ray

   GOV.UK says the test is a chest X-ray, and no other TB tests are needed for the visa.

4. 4

   Give sputum samples if asked

   If the X-ray result is not clear, you may be asked for sputum samples, which takes longer to process.

5. 5

   Collect your certificate

   If no TB is found, the clinic issues a certificate to include with your visa application. Check that your name and passport number are correct.

For children, a clinician decides whether an X-ray is needed, and GOV.UK says children under 11 will not normally have one. You still take the child to an approved clinic and complete a health questionnaire. Pregnant women can have the X-ray with extra shielding in the second and third trimesters, choose a sputum test, or wait until after the birth.

Can a visa agency arrange the TB test?

An agency can tell you which clinic is closest, remind you of the six-month validity and make sure the certificate goes into the right part of your upload. It cannot take the test for you or speed up results. The certificate comes only from the approved clinic.

Agencies that use Visolv keep every paper for a client's file in one place and check names, dates and passport numbers across them, which catches a certificate issued against an old passport or a name spelt differently. The route a TB test sits in is set out in our guides to UK student visa requirements, UK spouse visa requirements and the UK visa from Bangladesh.

How long is a UK visa TB certificate valid?

The certificate is valid for six months from the date of your X-ray, not from the date it is printed. It must still be valid when you submit your visa application. If your plans slip and the six months pass, you will need a new test.

So time the test to your application. A student who will receive a CAS in June and apply in July can take the test in June. A spouse whose partner's income evidence will not be ready for four months should wait. Then add the standard UK visa decision times to see when you are likely to travel. GOV.UK warns that the sputum route can mean waiting up to eight weeks for results, so leave a margin in case the X-ray is not clear.

What if the TB test result is not clear?

Then the clinic will usually ask for sputum samples and tell you how long the results take. Do not apply until you have the certificate. If tuberculosis is found, the clinic explains the next steps, and you will not receive a certificate until the clinic is satisfied; GOV.UK does not set out the full process on the main page, so ask the clinic and check the official page.

If TB is found, treatment comes first; ask the clinic when and how you can be tested again. Keep any clinic letters, because they explain gaps in your timeline when you later apply.

The TB test for a UK visa is simple once you know the rules: only for stays over six months, only at an approved clinic, and only valid for six months from the X-ray. Book it with your application date in mind, and if you want the rest of your file checked too, go through a visa agency that uses Visolv.

The Visolv team

Editorial team, Easital Technologies (Dhaka)

Visolv is software for visa agencies, made in Dhaka by Easital Technologies: an AI caseworker that reads and checks every paper in a client's file, writes the drafts and builds the upload pack under the agency's own brand. We write about what we see in real visa files from Bangladesh.