Safiqul Islam (Jami)
Passport can be corrected according to National Identity Card (NID). Recently, the Department of Security Services of the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a circular in this regard. According to the circular, if there is a discrepancy between the NID and the passport of the applicant for passport within Bangladesh, the passport can be issued according to the information provided in the NID (name, parent’s name, age, etc.) on the basis of proper proof. In addition, the circular issued on April 28 by the Department of Security has to be followed in processing the passport re-issue application by correcting the information of the applicants for the passport.
The circular was issued to the Cabinet Secretary, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, Secretary of the Bangladesh Election Commission Secretariat, Director General of the Department of Immigration and Passports, Director General of the Directorate General of Defense Intelligence, Addl Inspector General of Police Special Branch, e-Passport and Project Director of Automatic Border Control Management Project.
Ordinary people are facing difficulties in amending passports. Meanwhile, thousands of passport amendment applications are stuck in the passport department. On 28th April this year, the circular on ‘Disposal of Passport Re-Issue Applications at Home and Abroad with Correction of Information’ stated that National Identity Card/JSC/JDC/ SSC/HSC/ Dakhil/ Technical/Open University and equivalent certificate should be considered.
Birth certificate should be considered in case of those who do not have such certificate. Moreover, Birth certificate should also be considered in case of minors. If necessary, the information provided by the Special Branch and other intelligence agencies can be verified. It was also mentioned in the circular that in case of change of age in the application, a maximum interval of five years can be considered.
