Photographs of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina were taken for the e-passport that will be introduced from Jan 22.
“Photographs of the prime minister were taken by the Department of Immigration and Passport (DIP) Authority at her official Ganabhaban residence here this afternoon,” PM’s Deputy Press Secretary KM Shakhawat Moon told BSS on Sunday (Jan 19).
He said the prime minister also put her signature digitally on a device.
Project Director of the e-passport Project Brigadier General Saidur Rahman Khan was present.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to launch the e-passport at a programme at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) on Jan 22.
DIP Director General Major General Shakil Ahmed earlier told BSS that the DIP will distribute e-passports from Agargaon, Jatrabari and Uttara passport offices and later, e-passports will be distributed in phases from DIP offices across the country.
Renowned German company Veridos GmbH has been working on e-passport and e-gate in the country, he said, adding that efforts are underway to make immigration process flawless with the introduction of the e-passport.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), there are more than 100 states and non-state entities (i.e. United Nations) currently issuing e-Passports, and over 490 million e-Passports are in circulation.
E-passports add a layer of security to traditional non-electronic passports by embedding an electronic chip in the passport booklet that stores the biographical information visible on page 2 of the passport, as well as a digital security feature.
The digital security feature is a country specific “digital signature.” These digital signatures are unique to each country and can be verified using their respective certificates.
According to the project details, the project “Introduction of Bangladesh e-Passport and Automatic Border Control Management” is being implemented at a cost of Tk 4,5.69 billion.
The DIP is implementing the project from Jul, 2018 to Jun, 2028, with full government funding. A total of 30 million passports will be delivered in 10 years.
With issuing the e-passport the whole process of the immigration formalities will be completed through online.
It said two million e-passports will be made in Germany. As a result, the passports of those who apply first will be made from Germany. Validity of e-passport will be for five and 10 years.
The DIP and Germany Veridos signed an agreement on July 19 in 2018 for electronic passports alongside machine-readable ones.
According to the DIP, it will issue three categories of e-passports — normal, emergency and very emergency passports — with a validity of five to 10 years.
An adult will get passports with 10-year validity, while children below 18 years and senior citizens who are above 65 will get five-year validity passports.
The DIP will issue 48-page and 64-page passports with a validity of five and 10 years as per the requirement of the applicants.