e-passport to be launched Nov 28

e-passport to be launched Nov 28

Bangladesh will formally introduce electronic passports (e-passport) on November 28 , Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said yesterday.While briefing reporters at his office on his recent Europe tour, the minister said relevant authorities have confirmed the date.

Dr Momen said the difficulties of Bangladeshi expatriates in renewing their passports will be over as e-passports will have a validity period of 10 years.

An e-passport is a biometric passport that includes a chip containing the information that is printed on the passport’s data page. In some countries, e-passports include two fingerprints as well.

The Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) was supposed to begin distribution of the e-passports from July to ease immigration, but it did not see light within the deadline.

Bangladesh and Germany signed an agreement on July 19 last year, following Dhaka’s decision to issue electronic passports alongside machine-readable ones.

The cabinet committee in the meeting approved the last shipment of 20 lakh machine-readable passports (MRP) and 20 lakh lamination foil, the minister said adding that it would cost Tk 41 crore.

“Now, our e-passport will be introduced on November 28,” said the minister, who returned home on Wednesday after visiting Germany, France, Italy, Greece and Azerbaijan.

Implementation of the project - Introduction of e-passport and Automated Border Control Management in Bangladesh - started in July 2018.