Bangladeshi expatriates living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are going to get Machine Readable Passport (MRP) in their homes, as the government will distribute the passport through outsourcing.
Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) yesterday approved a proposal of IRIS Corporation Berhad Consortium, Malaysia for the passport delivery.
“The IRIS Corporation will deliver the MRP to the Bangladeshi citizens living in the UAE at their residences by charging US$ 13 for each passport,” Finance Minister A M A Muhith told reporters at the Secretariat yesterday.
He said nearly 10 lakh Bangladeshis now living in UAE will get the MRP within 18 months.
“In the next phase, we will deliver the MRP to the expatriates in Saudi Arabia,” informed the minister.
Officials said Bangladesh Mission in the UAE has not enough capacity to issue the huge number of MRP in a stipulated time.
On the other hand, the Bangladeshis are living in different corners of the UAE. If they come to the mission office to collect the MRP, it requires at least two days. In addition, they have to spend nearly UAE Dirham 300-400 for transportation cost.
Sometimes, the employers do not allow leave that causes difficulties for them.
Considering the aspects, the government has decided to deliver the MRP at the residence of the expatriate people, which would save their time as well as financial cost.
Earlier, in the first phase, the government delivered MRP to the Bangladeshi expatriates at Malaysia through the outsourcing process.
Bangladeshi expatriates in Malaysia is paying an extra US $18, over the Taka 3,000 (for normal processing) or Taka 6,000 (for speedy processing) as delivery charge to get their MRP passports sent to their addresses from the Bangladesh embassy in Malaysia.
Due to the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the government has to convert all Bangladeshi passports to machine readable versions by March 2015.
Officials of the home ministry said most of Bangladeshi expatriates, especially those in the Middle East countries, do not hold MRP passports.
Recently, expressing concern over the slow progress, labour secretaries of Bangladesh missions in 21 countries urged the government to expedite the process.
