Machine Readable Passport (MRP)
The Bangladesh Government has implemented a project to replace 6.6 million Bangladeshi passports with new machine-readable passports. According to a guideline of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Machine-readable Passport (MRP) and Machine-readable Visa (MRV) issuance was started by Bangladesh Government in April 2010. However, all traditional non-MR passports will be honoured as a bona fide travel document issued by the Bangladesh Government until it expires. All traditional non-MR passports must be withdrawn from circulation by November 2015. Machine-readable passports for Bangladesh are produced by Polish Security Printing Works (Polska Wytwornia Papierow Wartosciowych).
The Bangladesh Government will set up 85 new passport offices and 6 visa cells at home and abroad for issuing Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) and Machine Readable Visas (MRVs).[4][5] For non-resident Bangladeshis, 66 passport offices will be set up at 66 Bangladesh Missions and Consulates abroad, who will issue the Machine-readable Passports. The replacement of all of the passports will take almost 3 years, which will fall inside the deadline of November 2015.
Issuance of Machine Readable Passport:
(a) Paper application or
(b) Online application
Types of Passport:
A Bangladeshi citizen may hold any of the following three types of passports.
Ordinary Passport (Green cover)
This is the most common type of passport. Any citizen of Bangladesh may possess a Regular or a Business passport for international travel. Any age of Children travelling also requires a passport and may not be able to travel with their parent's passport. The maximum validity period of a "business" or "regular" passport is 5 years, which can be 10 years as well in some cases.
Official Passport (Blue cover)
Government Officials of Bangladesh are entitled to receive this type of passport. It provides the holder visa free access to certain countries such as Russia, China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Kuwait, Cambodia, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Chile, Turkey, Laos, Belarus that usually doesn't allow visa free access to "regular" or "business" passport holders. Official passports are identified by a blue stamp on the first page that reads "Official".
Diplomatic Passport (Red cover)
This type of passport can only be held by Bangladeshi citizens who are members or staffs of the diplomatic community. In addition, the members of parliament receive this type of privileged passport. This passport provides visa free access to more countries than the "official" passport. "Diplomatic" passports can be distinctly identified by their red cover which sets them apart from the green-coloured "regular", "business", or "official" passports.
Delivery type:
a) Regular : 21 days
b) Express : 9 days
Payment Information:
Fees:
a) Regular : BDT3,000 + VAT BDT450 Totaling BDT3,450
b) Express : BDT6,000 + VAT BDT900 Totaling BDT6,900
extra hiding commission (2,000 BDT)
Depository Banks:
Passport fees can be deposited at any branch of the following banks
Sonali Bank
Dhaka Bank
Bank Asia
Premier Bank Limited
One Bank Limited
Trust Bank
The fees can be paid online through credit card and mobile phone also.
Invalid:
In August 2012, it was discovered that up to 6,000 MRPs were invalid through Immigration Headquarters in Agargaon.[6] Over 100,000 passports were made invalid by the Department of Immigration and Passports.[citation needed]
Data on passports:
Passport note:
The inside cover contains the date and place of issuance of the passport as well as the declaration of the President, addressing the authorities of all other states, identifying the bearer as a citizen of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and requesting that he or she be allowed to pass and be treated as per international norms. The note inside of the Bangladeshi passports states:
In Bengali (Bangla):
গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতির পক্ষে সংশ্লিষ্ট সকলকে এই মর্মে জানান যাইতেছে এবং প্রত্যাশা করা হইতেছে যে, ইহার বাহককে অবাধে ও বিনা প্রতিবন্ধকতায় গমনাগমনের অনুমতি এবং তাহার প্রয়োজনে সকল প্রকার সহায়তা ও নিরাপত্তা প্রদান করা হউক।
গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতির আদেশক্রমে
In English:
These are to request and require in the name of the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford him/her every assistance and protection of which he/she may stand in need.
By order of the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Passport holder identity[edit]
Information about the passport holder are spread across seven or more pages in the contemporary Bangladesh passport. The field names (e.g. name) are written in Bengali (Bangla) and English, with the field values is written in English only. No information regarding gender or faith are required.
Inside cover of the old hand-written Bangladesh passport
The inside cover of a machine-readable Bangladeshi passport has an embossed image of the National Monument, with the national anthem of Bangladesh written in Bengali (Bangla) and English.
Bangladesh passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel
The first page contains the President's declaration in Bengali and English, and states that the passport is valid for all the countries in the world except Israel.
The second page is the main data page. It contains all information pre-printed on a thin plastic paper. The information printed are:
Photo of bearer (বাহক এর ছবি)
Passport type (শ্রেণী)
Country code (দেশ কোড)
Passport No. (পাসপোর্ট নং)
Surname (বংশগত নাম)
Given Name (প্রদত্ত নাম)
Nationality (জাতীয়তা)
Personal No. (National Identification Number or the Birth Certificate Number) (ব্যক্তিগত নং)
Date of Birth (জন্ম তারিখ)
Previous Passport No. (পূর্ববর্তী পাসপোর্ট নং)
Sex (লিঙ্গ)
Place of Birth (জন্মস্থান)
Date of Issue (প্রদানের তারিখ)
Issuing Authority (প্রদানকারী কর্তৃপক্ষ)
Date of Expiry (মেয়াদোত্তীর্ণের তারিখ)
Holder's Signature (স্বাক্ষর)
In addition, more information regarding the passport holder is encoded using optical character recognition, and can only be read by a particular machine.
The third page contains eight instructions for the passport holder in Bengali only, with a statement in English reading:
If lost abroad the founder of this passport is requested to deposit it to the nearest Bangladesh Mission/Consulate.
It also contains the passport number printed on the page.
The fourth page contains further information of the bearer:
Name (নাম)
Father's Name (পিতার নাম)
Mother's Name (মাতার নাম)
Spouse's Name (স্বামী বা স্ত্রী এর নাম)
Permanent Address (স্থায়ী ঠিকানা)
Emergency Contact (জরুরী যোগাযোগ)
Name (নাম)
Relationship (সম্পর্ক)
Address (ঠিকানা)
Telephone No. (টেলিফোন নং)
All information is printed using a dot matrix printer and is in English only. It is then signed by the appropriate officer of the issuing authority.
The inside back of the passport contains an embossed image of the National Parliament of Bangladesh in Bengali and English, with a quotation of Louis I Kahn, the architect of the complex, in English.
Geographical validity:
The passport is currently valid for all countries of the world except Israel. Passports were formerly not valid for entry to Taiwan, Rhodesia or South Africa.
Visa requirements:
Main article: Visa requirements for Bangladeshi citizens
In 2017, Bangladeshi citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 38 countries and territories, ranking the Bangladeshi passport 95th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.
