Passports in a day likely

The government has planned to issue passport in a single day to meet emergency needs of citizens.

Officials said before introducing the super express service, the Department of Immigration and Passport (DI&P) delivered 1,896 'reissue' passports from the venue of Development Fair on an experimental basis.

The fair concluded on Saturday.

According to the officials, the department received 2,747 forms and could issue 1,896 passports in five hours during the three-day fair.

"We've launched the system on a trial basis at the development fair and got good response," said project director Saidur Rahman Khan.

He said delivering the reissue passports in a day is still challenging as people are not conscious about providing right documents and correct information in the form.

He also said many of the enrolled passport seekers did not appear to get their passports from the fair venue.

The department now issues machine readable passport in express and regular service, which are delivered in seven and 21 days respectively.

The project head said the pressure of passport seekers has been increasing in the country and the department needs to increase its capacity.

According to the DI&P officials, more than three million people hold passports in the country.

But the number is increasing, driven by increasing overseas jobs, tourism, and migration.

The department has also taken measures to introduce e-passports with polycarbonate data page to speed up the process of issuing and reissuing passports, given the growing demand.

[email protected]