Every year, thousands of Bangladeshis embark on foreign trips for various purposes. From education and health to recreational needs, the number of Bangladeshis opting for foreign travel is increasing exponentially. With a limited validity on a passport, it becomes necessary to get the passport renewed at some point. Considering the bureaucratic hassle involved, here’s a comprehensive guide on how to renew a Bangladeshi MRP passport. 

There are mainly three types of passports in Bangladesh: handwritten, machine-readable, and e-passport. The last handwritten passport was issued in 2010 and considering each passport has a maximum validity of 10 years, all handwritten passports are obsolete at this point.

Currently, passports are available either as MRP or e-passports. E-passports have been made available on a rollout basis starting in 2020. As of 2022, all the regional passport offices of Bangladesh are now offering the e-passport service. As a result, anyone holding an MRP passport can easily apply for reissuing their passport as an e-passport in the following way. 

Read More: How to Get E-Passport in Bangladesh: Things you need to know

How to Apply Online for Reissuing MRP as E-passports 

The process of applying for e-passports is a hybrid one. You need to apply for the passport online and visit the regional passport office (in accordance with your present address) for biometric verification. Follow the steps below. 

Registering on the Official Passport Site 

The first step is to open an account on the official e-passport website. Here you will have to select whether you are currently in Bangladesh or not. 

After that, you will need to select the district and nearest police station of your present address. Based on the information, a regional passport office would be suggested to you. 

Registering e-mail

After confirming your regional passport office, you will need to fill up your basic information, including your mobile number and e-mail. 

A verification e-mail will be sent to your chosen mail address and from there you can move into the next step. 

Read More: E-Passport for Children in Bangladesh: Application process, necessary documents

Filling Out the Information 

After registering your e-mail, you will need to fill out your personal information. This is a long process, and the information is divided into several categories. 

You must fill up each of them correctly as any anomaly in the information may lead to application rejection. For ease of understanding, each of the categories is discussed below. 

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Personal Information 

This section specifically pertains to information relating to you. here you will have to provide information such as your name, BRC, or NID number. Note that you will have to provide the exact information (either BRC or NID) that was used to generate the expired passport. 

Here you will also need to outline your profession, personal details, and citizenship information. 

Address 

This section is divided between permanent and present addresses. The permanent address is in detail divided into the village, district, thana, and other denominations. The post office number gets selected automatically based on the provided information. 

If your present and permanent address are the same, you can simply check the box marked as “permanent and present address same”. If not, you will have to individually input the present address as well. 

ID Information

The next step would be your identity information. First, you need to select whether you have any previous MRP/handwritten passport or not. Since this is a case for renewing, you will have to select the “I have an existing MRP” option. 

After you select the option, you will need to select the reason for the passport request. In this case, it would be either “expired” or “conversion to e-passport”. After that, you will need to input the details of your existing/expired passport. You will also need to input your NID/BRC number here.

Parental Information 

On the next page, you will be asked to fill out parental information. Here you will need to input the name of your father and mother. Their profession and NID/BRC number will also have to be included. 

In case of the absence of parents, you can input the details of a legal guardian in a separate box in the same way. 

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Spouse Information 

After parental information, you will be asked to fill up spousal information. If you select unmarried, then all the options will become blank and you will be able to move to the next page. 

If you are married, then you will need to fill out the details of your spouse in the same way as your parents. 

Emergency Contact 

You will also need to input an emergency contact into your application form. First, you will have to select the relationship you share with the emergency contact. After that, you will need to input their personal and address details as well as contact information in detail. 

Passport Pages 

After that, you will need to select the number of pages you want in your passport. There are currently two options, either 48 pages or 64 pages. You can also select the validity duration between 5 years and 10 years for your passport. 

Here is the fee structure of both options in different delivery timeframes. 

Read More: Bangladeshi applicants for UK visa need to pay online

Bangladesh Passport Renewal Fee Payment 

The e-passport web portal lists both online and offline payment methods for the fees. But unfortunately, the online payment gateway is not available currently. As a result, you will have to opt for offline payment in case of an application from Bangladesh. 

You can pay via Bank Asia, Premier bank, Dhaka bank, One bank, Sonali bank, and Trust Bank. You will also be able to pay the fee via e-challan.

Offline Steps 

Since the passport renewal process is a hybrid one, you will need to visit the regional passport office for biometric verification. After you have completed the online application, you will be asked to schedule an appointment with your regional passport office. Depending on the rush, it might be several weeks or a few working days. 

After that, you will need to print out your online application form from the dashboard. You will also notice a pdf file outlining the required documents that you will need to bring during the appointment. These include – 

Printed application summary and appointment document
-Payment slip 
-Identification document 
-GO/NOC for government officials 
-Other relevant documents 

After the biometric verifications become complete, you will be scheduled for your passport according to your chosen delivery option. 

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Final Words 

The process of Bangladesh passport renewal has eased a lot since the days of handwritten ones. With a hybrid application system, applicants can complete the majority of the process from the comfort of their homes. It not only increases efficiency but also reduces bureaucratic nightmare for the general public.