Lost passport: a BDT 10,000 penalty from the second time

The Ministry of Home Affairs (Immigration-4 branch) has issued new rules for re-issuing a passport that is lost, stolen or damaged. The circular is dated 21 September 2026, was published on the ministry's website on 22 September, and applies from the day it was issued. The rules below come from reading the three-page circular itself, not from news reports.

The fee: no penalty the first time, then BDT 10,000 every time

• The first time a passport is lost, stolen or damaged: the standard passport fee only. No penalty.
• Every time after that: the standard fee plus a BDT 10,000 penalty fee.

Damage counts, not only loss or theft. The standard fees are in our guide to getting a Bangladeshi e-passport as a student.

If it is lost or stolen in Bangladesh

1. 1Report it online without delay, on the designated website or online system of the Department of Immigration and Passports. The department then updates the passport's status.
2. 2File a General Diary (GD), the police record of the loss, at the nearest police station, also without delay.
3. 3The police station has 72 hours to verify the GD and send its report to the department or the nearest passport office. If no report arrives within 72 hours, you can still submit the re-issue application with a copy of the GD attached.
4. 4The department then issues a Lost Circular and completes the re-issue.

The circular does not give a link for the online report. To find out where to file it, call the department's passport helpline: 16445 from inside Bangladesh, +880 9666 716445 from abroad.

If it is lost abroad

Report it on the department's online system and inform the Bangladesh embassy, high commission or consulate concerned. That mission issues the Lost Circular and completes the re-issue. For a student in Europe, that means the Bangladesh mission responsible for the country you are living in.

Three rules that matter more than the fine

1. A passport reported lost is revoked, and a revoked passport stays dead even if you find it. Once revoked, it cannot be reactivated or used for travel abroad, and finding it must be reported to the police and the department's online system without delay. A new passport means a new number; what that does to a visa application in progress, or to a visa in the old passport, is covered in renewing your passport mid-application. So be sure the passport really is lost before you report it, and once you are sure, do not wait.

2. Someone is holding your passport and will not give it back? If the GD verification shows that the passport was handed to a person, company or travel agency to obtain a visa, is being held there unlawfully, and cannot be recovered straight away, the department may revoke the old passport and issue a new one. That is at the department's discretion, not an automatic right, so write the GD exactly as it happened.

3. A re-issue cannot change who you are. Your name, date of birth, father's name and mother's name cannot be changed outright. Lawful corrections are considered separately, through the approved data-correction procedure. If your documents disagree on your name, read fixing a name mismatch across your documents first.

What the new passport will say

The data page of the re-issued passport, the photo page that almost every visa application copies, will be printed with "Previous Passport is Reported to be Lost", and the old passport will be marked Lost/Revoked in the database. Keep your copy of the GD safe.

If it is only partly damaged

If part of the passport is damaged but an identifiable part is still in your hands, it can be re-issued when you surrender that part. If nothing identifiable is left, the lost-passport rules apply.

What the circular does not say

• Whether a passport lost before 21 September counts as your "first time". If you have lost one before, ask the passport office or 16445 before you apply.
• The exact page for the online report.

Why the rule changed

The ministry says the number of people inside the country applying for re-issue on a declared loss, theft or damage has risen, and that a misused passport creates serious security risks, including human trafficking, illegal entry and anti-state activity. As soon as a passport is reported lost or stolen, the police Special Branch will update the Immigration Management System and, where needed, notify INTERPOL. The circular consolidates and amends the earlier circulars, orders and instructions on the subject.

The circular: Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration-4 branch. Memo no. 44.00.0000.000.137.99.0002.24.197, dated 21 September 2026, signed by Mohammad Nuruzzaman, Deputy Secretary. The original circular (PDF, a three-page scan in Bengali)