Dhaka, July 16 (V7N) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted approval to begin voter registration and National Identity Card (NID) services for Bangladeshi expatriates in five additional countries: the United States, Oman, South Africa, Jordan, and the Maldives. With this expansion, the Election Commission (EC) aims to strengthen the inclusion of overseas Bangladeshis in the national voter list.
 
At a press briefing held on Tuesday at the Election Commission headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka, Director General of the National Identity Registration Division, ASM Humayun Kabir, confirmed the latest development. He stated that preparatory work is underway to initiate NID registration services in these newly approved countries.
 
“Initial preparations include equipment setup, staff recruitment, technical integration, and necessary training,” Kabir explained, adding that the Middle Eastern nations have been given priority due to the high volume of Bangladeshi expatriates residing there.
 
Currently, NID services are operational in 16 mission offices across 9 countries. Japan is set to become the tenth country in July, though technical delays — specifically, the absence of a public IP — have temporarily halted operations.
 
Kabir also confirmed that the U.S. missions in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C., have all received approval to begin providing NID services.
 
As of now, a total of 48,080 expatriate Bangladeshis from 9 countries have applied for NID registration. Of those, 29,646 individuals have completed biometric registration, and 17,367 have already been added to the voter list.
 
The demand for overseas voter registration dates back to the 2007–08 launch of the photo-based voter list. However, the process faced repeated delays due to legal and technical challenges. In November 2019, the EC initially launched online registration in Malaysia, but efforts stalled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative was resumed in July 2023 and received renewed momentum under the current Election Commission, led by A.M.M. Nasir Uddin, especially following the public mobilization of August 5 that year.
 
Presently, NID registration services are available at Bangladeshi missions in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Kuwait, Qatar, Malaysia, Australia, and Canada. The EC has announced plans to eventually expand NID services to 40 countries worldwide, enabling more expatriates to formally participate in Bangladesh’s electoral process.
 
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