No Police Verification Required for Passports Anymore

Dhaka: In a significant move, police verification will no longer be mandatory for issuing and renewing passports. This update was revealed by a source from the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday.

Earlier, a meeting was held at the Secretariat on Tuesday morning, chaired by Senior Secretary Dr. Nasimul Ghani of the Ministry of Home Affairs, to discuss and resolve issues related to passports.

National Identity Cards and birth certificates will now serve as the primary basis for passport issuance. As long as these two documents are valid and accurate, there will be no barriers to issuing a passport, as suggested in the advisory council's meeting. Following this, the Ministry of Home Affairs' Security Services Division began taking action on the matter.

An official, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed that the discussions on this topic have made significant progress during the meeting. Another session is expected to follow soon. Most representatives present were in favor of removing the police verification requirement for passports.

During the meeting, important recommendations were made to address the complexities surrounding passports. The decisions will be finalized based on the advisory council's directives, and relevant orders will be issued accordingly. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, the Police Special Branch, and other relevant departments.

Notable attendees included: Saifullah Panna, Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, Sheikh Abu Taher, Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Md. Ruhul Amin, Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, Major General Nurul Anwar, Director General of the Department of Immigration and Passports, Mohammad Nurul, Additional Secretary and Director General of the National Identity Registration Division of the Election Commission of Bangladesh, ASM Humayun Kabir, Joint Director of the National Security Intelligence Directorate, Md. Ziaul Kader, Additional Secretary, Local Government Department, Md. Zahid Hossain, Registrar General for Birth and Death Registration, Golam Rasul, Additional Inspector General of Police, Amin Al Parvez, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Hayatun Nabi, Special Police Superintendent (SB), Mohammad Saidur Rahman, Project Director of the E-Passport and Automated Border Control System Project, Lieutenant Colonel Safi, among others.