For more than two and a half months, the new passport issuance process has been stopped in the missions of Bangladesh abroad. As the machine readable passport server is not updated on time, the passport generation has stopped. This passport was printed on a server. In June, the passport department's Machine Readable Passport (MRP) server crossed the 3 crore mark. This is why passport printing is off. As a result, many expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Maldives, Lebanon and all over the world are not getting a response even though their passports have expired.
Visa cannot be extended due to expiry of passport. As a result, they fear that they may be arrested in that country. Can't even apply for extension of work period without getting passport. Some are unable to come home on vacation. From traffic on the road, you are also getting into trouble at work. Expired passports are being extended by hand writing at the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia without any other means. In this situation, one after another, various embassies are sending emergency notices expressing regret and asking for forgiveness to the expatriates.
It is known that the Malaysian company Iris Corporation got the job of machine readable passport (MRP) in Bangladesh. There was a contract for 3 crore passports. After the three crore fingerprints are exceeded, the printing of new passports is stopped. As a result, the High Commission announced the temporary suspension of passport services of various countries citing server errors. To resolve the crisis, the agreement with Iris Corporation regarding another 6 million MRP has been finalized. As a result, passport services have been stopped in almost all countries of the Middle East since last June. Expatriate Bangladeshis suffer in this. It is alleged that they are not getting passport even after two-three months after submitting it to the embassy for renewal. As the problem became evident, the embassies apologized to the expatriates and promised to solve the problem quickly.
The new Director General (DG) of the Department of Immigration and Passports, Major General Mohammad Ayub Chowdhury, said that initiatives have been taken to upgrade the machine readable passport system. Our contract with a Malaysian company is being extended. After the server is upgraded, the passport will be printed based on the submitted application form. He said, our MRP passport was supposed to be closed. MRP has to be run as e-passport could not be activated. I am running it with a pair of hands. Many things are coming to an end. This will increase everything extra. We have already bought the passport, we are also extending the maintenance contract. I bought all the necessary items from Germany
In this situation, the problem is more in Saudi Arabia, because most Bangladeshis work there. The notice given to expatriates at the embassy in Beirut, Lebanon on June 28 said that due to a temporary problem in the central passport server of Bangladesh, the passports submitted for renewal at the embassy will be delayed in preparation.
In an emergency notification regarding passports issued by the Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait on July 11, it is said that all expatriates who have submitted their applications since May 22, their passport distribution will be suspended until the error in the distribution server is fixed. On August 7, the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia announced with an emergency notice that the capacity of the passport department's server has run out. Due to which the passport application is in the pipeline. The Bangladesh Embassy in South Korea issued a notification on August 6, the Bangladesh High Commission in Maldives on August 9, and the Japanese Embassy on August 5.
Meanwhile, it is said that the process of solving the passport issue crisis has started in America. As against 1364 applications processed from the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC, 1101 passports have already been printed. It is said that these prepared passports will reach the embassy soon via FedEx.