A passport may seem like a simple travel document, but at a foreign border it also represents the credibility of the state that issued it. Immigration authorities assess not only the individual traveller, but also the reliability of the country’s identity records, document security, migration management and willingness to accept responsibility when citizens violate immigration rules.
Bangladesh’s weak position in global passport rankings, therefore, deserves attention without national embarrassment or sensational comparison. The Henley Passport Index ranks 199 passports by the number of destinations accessible without a prior visa, using International Air Transport Authority (IATA) data, and according to its latest calculation, Singapore leads the 2026 ranking, while Bangladesh ranks 97th, sharing the position with North Korea. The index does not measure a nation’s dignity or cultural worth; it simply indicates how much mobility confidence other governments extend to its passport holders.
Clearly, we need improvement that requires more than asking friendly states for visa-free access. Bangladesh needs a national mobility strategy combining diplomacy, secure identity systems, labour recruitment, border management, aviation, trade and consular responsibility.
First, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should create a specialised passport and mobility diplomacy unit. It could identify realistic partners, prepare country-specific negotiating dossiers, and coordinate the ministries whose decisions affect international travel. Bangladesh should prioritise countries with growing trade, investment, education, labour, tourism or aviation links, especially where Bangladeshi travellers do not overstay or engage in irregular employment much.
The objective need not always be complete visa exemption. Practical gains may come through electronic visas, visas on arrival, long-term multiple-entry visas for businesspeople and academics, accelerated student processing, simplified transit rules, and trusted-traveller programmes. If evidence of compliance could be generated from such limited access, it could increase confidence in Bangladeshi travellers and thus lead to wider access.
Although Bangladesh’s e-passport system is an important achievement, a sophisticated booklet cannot compensate for inconsistent civil records. Passport issuance increasingly relies on NID data for identity verification, but interoperability among the databases maintained by the institutions responsible for birth registration, national identity cards, and passports remains limited. As a result, variations in names, birth dates, parental identities, and transliteration continue to create the potential for suspicion even when they result from administrative error rather than fraud.
The value of an e-passport also depends on whether foreign borders can authenticate its chip. The International Civil Aviation Organization’s Public Key Directory enables states to exchange the digital certificates needed to verify electronic travel documents. Bangladesh should ensure prompt reporting of lost, stolen, cancelled, and fraudulently obtained passports while its missions regularly explain the country’s verification and anti-fraud procedures to host authorities.
Also, it must be noted that passport strength is affected by travellers’ conduct abroad. Visa overstaying, unauthorised employment, fraudulent student admission, document manipulation, and unsubstantiated asylum claims can trigger restrictions against an entire nationality. The actions of a minority then impose higher costs and longer scrutiny on legitimate tourists, students, researchers, businesspeople and family visitors.
Since irregularity often begins before departure through deceptive recruitment, excessive migration costs, unsuitable visas, and unregulated intermediaries, Bangladesh should strengthen recruitment oversight, pre-departure information, and legal assistance abroad. It should also respond quickly when another government seeks to verify the nationality of a person subject to lawful return. A state cannot credibly request easier entry while appearing unwilling to take responsibility for citizens who no longer have a legal right to remain abroad.
Besides, for visa negotiations with priority countries, Bangladesh should use evidence such as data on visitor numbers, timely return, tourism spending, tuition payments, investment, research collaboration, and contributions to bilateral trade. Its bargaining assets include a large consumer market, garments, pharmaceuticals, information technology, aviation demand, a global diaspora, and substantial education and medical travel. Bangladesh is also among the major contributors to UN peacekeeping, an international role that can be integrated into a broader narrative of reliability and cooperation.
Also, through BIMSTEC, BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal), and bilateral arrangements, Bangladesh can pursue easier travel for businesspeople, students, researchers, patients, cultural professionals, and organised tour groups. Harmonised online applications, reduced fees, business-travel cards, and simpler land-border permits may not immediately change a global ranking, but they would increase the passport’s practical value.
Notably, mobility privileges are also reversible. In March 2026, the European Commission suspended visa-free travel for holders of Georgian diplomatic, service, and official passports, citing failures to uphold commitments linked to the visa-free regime. The wider lesson is that passport power depends on continuing confidence in state institutions, documentation, migration governance, and adherence to international obligations.
Bangladesh, therefore, should adopt a five- or 10-year mobility strategy with measurable targets: new e-visa, visa-on-arrival and visa-waiver arrangements; lower visa-refusal and overstay rates; faster identity verification; fewer fraudulent documents; and quicker consular and readmission decisions. An annual mobility report should publish progress and assess the performance of diplomatic missions.
The power of a passport comes from confidence that the document is genuine, its holder is identifiable, immigration conditions will be respected, and the issuing state will act responsibly when problems arise. A stronger Bangladeshi passport must therefore be built not only at the foreign ministry, but also in birth-registration offices, passport departments, recruiting agencies, embassies, border databases, and courts. It is ultimately a project of national credibility, connectivity and negotiating capacity.
Dr AKM Ahsan Ullah is professor at the Faculty of Arts and Social Science in the University of Brunei Darussalam. He can be reached at [email protected].
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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