Bangladesh's border systems today

E-passport and automated border control

The Department of Immigration and Passports describes one government programme for e-passports and automated border control. It says the work is a government-to-government turnkey project with Germany and names Veridos as the supplier ¹.

The published scope includes 30 million e-passport booklets, 50 eGates, equipment and networks for 72 passport offices, 80 overseas missions, 72 Special Branch or district Special Branch offices and 22 immigration checkpoints ¹. It lists a data centre, a disaster recovery centre and a passport personalisation centre in Bangladesh ¹.

The department's current-project page gives a July 2018 to June 2028 period and an estimated ৳9,038.36 crore cost ². An earlier project information page lists a ৳4,569 crore project value and a ৳3,338 crore supplier contract ¹. The two figures describe records from different stages. The official pages do not reconcile them.

What the eGates do

The department's citizen charter says eGates are used at ports to make immigration clearance faster ⁴. The official e-passport portal publishes an eGate tutorial and accepts passport applications and reissue applications ⁵.

The public pages checked do not list every live eGate location, daily transaction count, failure rate or current watchlist connection. The project scope is not proof that every planned gate and checkpoint is operating.

The online visa form is not a full e-visa

The official MRV portal lets a visitor complete a visa, extension, no-visa-required or on-arrival application form online ³. The applicant must print the form and take it with documents and payment evidence to the nearest visa office or Bangladesh mission ³. Online payment is not supported ⁶.

This is an electronic application form, not a fully digital visa decision and delivery service. That distinction matters when a new e-visa system is proposed.

A separate land-port project

The Bangladesh Land Port Authority published an expression of interest in October 2024 for an Integrated Border Management System under the World Bank-financed ACCESS project ⁷. It proposed pilots at Benapole, Bhomra and Burimari and a design that could be copied at other land ports ⁷. The listed selection method was quality and cost based selection ⁷.

That land-port procurement is a separate official record. It should not be merged with the passport and eGate project or with any later reported air-passenger proposal without a government document linking them.

What a new proposal must explain

Any new border proposal needs a published gap analysis showing what the current e-passport, eGate, visa and land-port systems do, what they do not do, and which interfaces would be reused. Without that record, a claim of duplication or a claim of no duplication cannot be tested from the public evidence.