Bangladesh moves toward 100% biometric e-passport system

DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Bangladesh is moving toward a fully biometric e-passport system, preparing to eliminate its remaining machine-readable passports as the South Asian country pushes ahead with the digitization of identity and travel services.

The government aims to shift entirely to electronic passports by Dec. 31, effectively ending the older machine-readable passport, or MRP, system at home and across its diplomatic missions worldwide.

According to Bonik Barta, the transition is already close to completion, with nearly 99% of passport applicants at Bangladeshi missions abroad now choosing e-passports. The documents are currently issued through 71 passport offices inside Bangladesh and 71 overseas missions.

Bangladesh introduced e-passports in 2020, becoming the first country in South Asia to begin issuing the biometric travel documents.

Unlike MRPs, e-passports contain an embedded electronic chip that stores identifying information and biometric data, allowing automated verification and providing greater protection against passport fraud and forgery.

The scale of the shift is reflected in recent issuance figures. Between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3, Bangladesh issued 107,001 e-passports compared with just one MRP, which was issued by a consulate abroad.

Authorities have now instructed missions where e-passport facilities are fully operational to stop issuing MRPs, while the remaining missions are expected to make the transition by the end of December.

The final stage, however, poses challenges for Bangladesh’s large expatriate workforce. Many migrant workers received older passports using birth registration records that do not match their national identity cards, while some do not have national ID cards.

Those discrepancies could make obtaining an e-passport difficult and potentially affect visas or residence permits, particularly for Bangladeshis working in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and other major migrant destinations.

To ease the transition, expatriates will be allowed to use either national identity cards or birth registration certificates to correct information for e-passport applications until Dec. 31. Authorities have also allowed certain discrepancies between the two records to be corrected during the process.

Bangladesh is expanding overseas enrollment capacity ahead of the full transition, including deploying eight mobile enrollment kits to Saudi Arabia and introducing e-passport services at its missions in New Delhi and Kolkata.

The government had initially targeted the end of 2025 for eliminating MRPs but kept the system operating overseas to avoid disrupting migrant workers.

With demand for MRPs now almost disappearing, officials say completing the transition will largely depend on ensuring diplomatic missions, particularly those serving large Bangladeshi communities in the Middle East, have enough staff and enrollment capacity to handle e-passport applications.