EC to resume NID card programme for expat Bangladeshis
The Election Commission is planning to issue National Identity (NID) cards to Bangladeshi expatriates in at least 40 countries in the next five years.
To start with, the NID services will soon be rolled out in several countries -- Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and the UK, according to a top official.
"We'll go to the 40 largest host countries of expatriates in phases within the next five years. We'll initially start the NID services in five to six countries," Brig Gen Saidul Islam, the Director General of the EC's National Identity Registration Wing, told the news agency.
To apply for an NID card, expatriates would need to attach six documents with the application form -- copies of passport and dual citizenship certificate or approval letter from the Bangladesh home ministry are the most important requirements.
Along with these, a copy of the passport of another Bangladeshi expatriate identifying the applicant as a Bangladeshi, the statement of a blood relative living in Bangladesh with name, phone number and NID card copy, would be required.
Also needed are a declaration from the applicant that they are not registered in electoral rolls anywhere in Bangladesh, and a certificate from the local Bangladeshi mission.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the EC had started online registration of Bangladeshi expatriates in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK, after CEC KM Nurul Huda and Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed jointly inaugurated the overseas voter registration programme in Malaysia last November.
A total of 738 expatriates from the four countries had also applied for NID cards before the pandemic began. Of them, 530 online applications came from the UAE, 121 from the UK, 48 from Malaysia and 39 from Saudi Arabia.
The Commission sent the applications to the respective upazila or thana election offices to complete verification process of the expatriates. However, the EC could not send technical teams to these four countries to collect biometrics of the applicants due to the pandemic.
Now, the EC is ready to send its technical teams to the four countries, as well as Kuwait, to collect biometrics for rendering the NID services there to the expatriates, said the head of the NID Registration Wing.
"The Commission will soon decide if fees are to be charged for the NID services abroad. If yes, the commission will also set its rate."
Saidul Islam, however, said when the EC went to four countries to open online portals to render the NID services there, expatriates had asked them to impose fees to maintain better services.
The plan for introduction of the NID services in the 40 countries has also been incorporated in the Development Project Proforma of the Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA)-II, as the tenure of the ongoing IDEA project is going to end in December, said an EC official.
In 2008, the Election Commission, headed by ATM Shamsul Huda, prepared the electoral rolls with photographs and provided laminated NID cards to the voters.
In 2016, the EC headed by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad started providing smart NID cards to the voters.
Some 137 agencies are currently availing the services from the NID database to ascertain one's identity.
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