Representative image.
Representative image.

Bangladesh is all set to start the distribution of electronic passports (e-passports) from January 22 next.

As per reports, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to formally launch the e-passport distribution at the Bangabandhu International Conference (BICC) on January 22.

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Bangladesh’s department of immigration and passports (DIP) will initially distribute e-passport from Agargaon, Jatrabari and Uttara passport offices and later delivery of the e-passport will be started in phases.

The cost of project ‘Introduction of Bangladesh e-Passport and Automatic Border Control Management’ is estimated to be Tk4, 569 crore.

A German based company Veridos GmbH is making the e-passports.

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The DIP and Veridos GmbH signed an agreement on July 19, 2018, for the electronic passports alongside machine-readable ones.

The project is being implemented till June 2028 with full government funding.

Some 30 million passports will be delivered in 10 years.

The validity of the e-passports will be for five and ten years.

According to the DIP, two million e-passports would be prepared in Germany.

As a result, the passports of those who apply first will be prepared in Germany.