Bangladesh Election Commission seeks foreign ministry’s consent to expand overseas enrollment operations as part of a plan to cover 40 nations

The Election Commission (EC) of Bangladesh is preparing to begin voter registration and National Identity Card (NID) issuance activities in eight additional countries, including the United States, Turkey, Egypt, and France. The other countries on this new list are South Africa, the Maldives, Jordan, and Oman.

To initiate the process, the EC has formally sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting consent to start operations in these countries. The commission stated that it has completed all necessary preparations to implement the registration services in these nations.

Speaking to the media on Monday, A S M Humayun Kabir, Director General of the National Identity Registration Wing of the EC, confirmed that they have already taken preliminary steps to commence operations and are waiting for approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He expressed optimism that the ministry would respond soon and mentioned that the EC expects to take decisions on several more countries within the next couple of months. The commission is targeting substantial progress in this initiative by December this year.

He also noted that Japan is expected to join the list of countries where voter registration and NID issuance for Bangladeshi expatriates will be launched soon. While he refrained from giving an exact date due to technical considerations, he indicated that the process may begin within the current month.

On July 2, a formal letter titled “Approval for Initiating Voter Registration and National Identity Card Issuance for Bangladeshi Citizens Living Abroad” was signed by Md. Abdul Momin Sarkar, Director of Registration and Expatriate Services at the EC. The letter was addressed to the Foreign Secretary, outlining the commission’s plan to provide NID services to Bangladeshi expatriates in 40 countries worldwide.

According to the EC, voter registration and NID services have already begun in nine countries: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Qatar, Malaysia, Australia, and Canada. The remaining 31 countries—including Bahrain, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Brunei, Mauritius, Iraq, Greece, Spain, Germany, Japan, South Africa, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, China, Indonesia, the Maldives, New Zealand, Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, the United States, Egypt, and Oman—have been identified for future inclusion based on priority and diplomatic agreement.

The EC’s letter mentions that the Foreign Ministry had previously approved the launch of registration and NID activities in Japan on May 25, and preparations have been completed to begin operations by July 15.

The EC has formally requested the Foreign Ministry to grant priority consent for starting the process in the eight new countries—United States, Turkey, Egypt, France, South Africa, Maldives, Jordan, and Oman—where logistical readiness has already been ensured.

According to EC officials, the voter registration and NID service activities currently being carried out in the nine countries have already received applications from 47,032 expatriates. Of these, biometric data for 29,563 applicants have been collected through Bangladeshi missions abroad. The EC has approved 20,451 of these applicants for voter registration, while 3,677 applications have been rejected due to various reasons.

The commission emphasizes that the expansion of this initiative will allow a broader range of expatriate Bangladeshis to participate in the democratic process and enjoy official identity services, regardless of their country of residence.