10 Year E-Passport From July

In line with the developed world, a 10-year electronic passport (e-passport) will be introduced in Bangladesh instead of a machine-readable passport (MRP) from next July. The Department of Immigration and Passports announced the move on Tuesday (May 21st). Officials said the passport would be valid for 10 years.

It is learned that the fee for an e-passport will be doubled. Besides, a passport for 5 years will also be issued. At present the fee for ordinary passport is Rs. 3450 and for emergency passport it is Rs. 6900. The Passport Department has proposed to add essential services in the case of e-passports. However, with 15 percent VAT, a separate fee has to be charged for this. According to the guidelines of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization, Machine Readable Passport (MRP) was officially launched in the country on April 1, 2010.

At present MRP is being issued in various Bangladesh missions at home and abroad. However, the e-passport to be launched in July is more modern. It will contain all the necessary information of a citizen's passport in one chip. The information can be read by punching the computer. It is a sophisticated method of storing information of a citizen. However, in addition to the chip, it will also have a piece of paper. Abdullah Al Mamun, director of the Immigration and Passports Department, said ordinary citizens will get the benefit of e-passport from July.

The government has taken a project worth around Tk 4,500 crore to hand over these passports to the citizens. The Immigration and Passport Department project initiated by the Ministry of Home Affairs will start implementation from the current financial year. Which will end in June 2026. He said it is being implemented with full government funding. However, despite a proposal to increase the passport fee, no final decision has been made so far. According to the e-Passport project, the government will implement the latest technology-enabled passport issue, increase security, increase the acceptability of Bangladeshi passports abroad and ensure smooth movement of Bangladeshi and incoming foreign nationals at immigration checkposts.

If this is implemented, all the information of the concerned person can be found by searching the number of a passport holder from anywhere in the world. Concerned parties say that in the MRP system, there is a tendency for multiple passports as a person's ten fingerprints are not stored in the database. As a result, the government feels the need for e-passport.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed to introduce e-passport during the inauguration of Passport Service Week on April 24, 2016. Later, during the Prime Minister's visit to Germany, on 16 February 2016, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the German company Varidos GmbH and the Ministry of Home Affairs to introduce e-passport.

Following this, a seven-member committee was formed with the representatives of Dhaka University, BUET, Ministry of Home Affairs, Passport Department and other concerned agencies and it was decided to launch e-passport.