How do I legally register a charity in Bangladesh and open a bank account for donations?

Thank you for reaching out with your question about starting an education charity in Bangladesh. The legal path depends on your funding sources. For an organization that plans to collect foreign donations , you must register with the NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) under the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act, 2016 . This requires first registering your base entity (as a society, trust, or non-profit company), then submitting Form FD-1 to NGOAB along with your constitution, executive committee details, and activity plans . The registration fee is currently BDT 50,000 for local NGOs . For compliance and to open a bank account that can receive foreign funds, you will need your NGOAB registration certificate and project approval (FD-6) before funds can be released by the bank . The timeline for NGOAB registration can typically take around 90 days or more due to security clearances and inter-ministerial verification, though official targets are 21 working days . The overall process timeline and fees are estimates and can vary based on the completeness of your documents and current regulatory workflows. If you decide to proceed, we can manage this process for you. Please feel free to share any evidence of your preliminary planning or draft documents you may have, and let us know if you would like to engage our services for a smooth registration.