End Confusion over Passport Name Spellings

Dear Sir,

A passport is one of the most important documents a citizen needs to travel abroad for tourism, medical treatment, education, business, or other purposes. Although the e-passport system was introduced to make international travel easier and safer, ordinary citizens in Bangladesh still face various difficulties when applying for passports.

Among these, confusion over the English spelling of Bengali names has become a major source of harassment. As there are no clear and universally accepted rules for transliterating Bengali names, the same name often appears with different spellings in government documents. For instance, ‘Jasimuddin’ and ‘Chowdhury’ may appear in different forms. Such inconsistencies are often not the citizen’s fault.

Consequently, applicants face additional paperwork, corrections and delays over minor spelling differences. The dominance of middlemen further worsens the situation.

The concerned ministry should therefore formulate a clear, uniform and simple policy for spelling names to ensure consistency and reduce unnecessary harassment.
Shahriar Mostak 
Student, Department of Economics
Dhaka Central University