E-passport service launched at Bangladesh Consulate in New York

The e-passport service has been launched at the Bangladesh Consulate General in New York.

The e-passport program was inaugurated on Friday (September 10) by Mokabbir Hossain, Secretary, Department of Security and Services, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Sadia Faizunnesa, Consul General of Bangladesh in New York.

Brigadier General Saidur Rahman Khan, Project Director at E-Passport and Automatic Border Control and Management Project, senior officials of Immigration and Passport Department, Dhaka, people seeking service at the Consulate and embassy staff were present on the occasion.

Mokabbir Hossain, Secretary, Department of Security and Services, Ministry of Home Affairs addressed the inaugural function presided over by Consul General Sadia Faizunnesa.

Brigadier General Saidur Rahman Khan, Project Director at Bangladesh e-Passport and Automatic Border Control and Management Project, spoke as the special guest. The Secretary and Consul General of the Department of Security and Services then handed over the enrollment slips of e-passports to some of the applicants.

Mokabbir Hossain, Secretary, Department of Security and Services, in his speech highlighted some of the limitations of previously handwritten and machine readable passports.

He said many developed countries of the world have not yet introduced e-passport and Bangladesh is the first South Asian country to introduce e-passport service. The Minister of Home Affairs inaugurated the e-passport program at the Bangladesh Embassy, Berlin on September 5, 2021 as the first mission of Bangladesh abroad and the service was launched at the Bangladesh Consulate in New York on September 10 as the second mission of Bangladesh.

He added that the present government has already set up e-gates at Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong airports which will make the immigration process of passengers easier.

In her speech, Consul General Sadia Faizunnesa described today as a very significant day for the Consulate and said that at this historic and joyous moment of the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence and the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh Consulate General e-Passport in New York. The introduction of e-passport will be considered as a milestone in building a ‘Digital Bangladesh’ based on advanced technology.

The Consul General further said that Bangladesh is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world today as a result of the visionary political leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh has made unprecedented progress in the socio-economic field including information technology and Bangladesh is moving forward at an indomitable pace under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangabandhu, with the aim of establishing ‘Sonar Bangla’ as dreamed by Father of the Nation.

In his speech, Brigadier General Saidur Rahman Khan said that the Prime Minister inaugurated the e-passport on January 22, 2020. This passport is one of the best technology-based passports in the world. The e-passport service at the embassy has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but soon the government is committed to providing all passport-related services to the citizens.

To avail e-passport service from Bangladesh Consulate General New York, one has to fill the online application form through https://www.epassport.gov.bd/landing link and provide a copy of the application form (with bar code) and other necessary documents.

It is to be noted that besides the e-passport service, the ongoing machine-readable passport (MRP) activities will also continue at this consulate.

In the wake of the global corona epidemic in New York, the inaugural ceremony of the ‘e-passport’ program was held at the consulate in compliance with the rules and regulations of the host country.