Current Bangladeshi passports invalid for US from Oct'04

The US State Department has banned Bangladeshi conventional passport beyond October 5, 2004, official sources said.

Only machine-readable biometrics passport having latest security features will be acceptable to the US authorities after the deadline.

Bangladeshi aspirants, both normal and red passport holders, willing to visit the US have to abide by the new directive issued as part of the US anti-terrorism measures.

The new requirement will also be applicable to other countries included in the US terror-risk list on January 16 this year, sources said.

Sixteen countries, including Bangladesh, were included in the list.

In a recent briefing held in Los Angeles, the US State Department informed the office of the Consulate General of Bangladesh of its latest decision.

Jane Tannenbaum, chief diplomatic liaison division, visa office, the US Department of State, conducted the briefing attended by high officials of the Consulate General of Bangladesh.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already informed the Ministry of Home Affairs about the latest US decision, sources said.

The number of Bangladeshi US visa recipients, both immigrants and non-immigrants, could decline once the biometrics passport is introduced, officials fear.

Neither the photo nor the signature of any passport holder will be pasted in the proposed biometrics passport unlike in the present system.

The signature will be imposed on the biometrics passport by computer scanning, which could be read only by machine.

Instead of a photo, there will be a ghost image of the holder in the passport, visible only by an ultra violet light.

"Any sort of counterfeit will be impossible if such a machine-readable passport is introduced," a high-up at the Department of Immigration and Passport (DIP) said.

Similar US directives might be enforced for the remaining countries in the world in future, sources hinted.

When asked, officials at the DIP said they received no directive in this regard till yesterday.

The cost of passport could go up once the biometrics passport is introduced in the country, one official at DIP told The Daily Star.

The country has a demand for one million passports a year.