EC prepares to provide BD expats with NID cards abroad

The Election Commission plans to begin registration of Bangladeshi expatriates in the second week of September to provide them with national identity cards.

The commission is waiting for the Singapore government’s permission for starting the project there.

EC Secretary Md Alamgir shared the information in a news briefing on Wednesday following a commission meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda.

The meeting discussed an amendment to the voter list policy and reviewed the draft policy of registering expatriate Bangladeshis, says a bdnews24 report.

An EC delegation has already met the authorities and also carried out a feasibility study to provide such services for the first time to expatriate Bangladeshis in Singapore.

The EC sent a proposal in July to the Singapore government on the issue.

“We’ve finished all preparation on our part. Now we’re waiting for the Singapore government’s nod. We’ll start to work the moment they will approve our proposal. We plan to begin it in the second week of September,” said the EC secretary.

The number of expatriate Bangladeshis is comparatively small in Singapore, he said. The EC will start the process in the Middle East once the programme becomes successful in Singapore, he added.

“We’ve gone through the existing law; there is no conflict between the law and the programme. We’ve finalised the draft in today’s meeting. We’ll have to amend our policy for that. We’ll do it soon,” said Alamgir.

The primary tasks of registration of expatriate Bangladeshis were done by CEC during his visit to Saudi Arabia, Election Commissioners Rafiqul Islam during his visit to the UK and Shahadat Hossain during his visit to the Maldives along with officials of the respective countries. They received a huge response from the expats.

The expats can apply online for their NID cards. Those who are unable to apply online may take help from the concerned desk at the embassies. The programme will start once the policy is formed, according to EC officials.

Draft Policy

An eligible Bangladesh national can apply and fill the registration form online. Those who are unable to fill the registration form online may take help from the operator at the help desk and fill it.

After filling the registration form, the information of the voter will be sent home through a web portal. The concerned registration officer will verify the address that the applicant will mention in the form and submit a report in no later than a week to the EC.

The regional and district election officers will oversee the entire process. It is likely to have a system to upload photo with the application.

A team will be sent to concerned countries to complete the registration process after collecting information from the national identity registration division. Once the registration is done, the smart card will be printed and distributed through the embassies.