New regional passport office in Aftabnagar area of the capital started its operation for the residents under nine police stations of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
The residents of Rampura, Motijheel, Paltan, Badda, Mugda, Sabujbagh, Khilgaon, Hatirjheel and Shahjahanpur police stations were seen standing with their e-passport applications in a queue since 8am on the ground floor of 'Dhaka East' office at Aftabnagar in the capital.
Most of the applicants expressed their satisfaction with the first day service of the new office.
However, some applicants alleged that they had faced some troubles in getting information as the information centre of the office has not yet been opened.
Earlier, the service was available only at some designated regional passport offices, including the divisional passport office in the capital's Agargaon.
The country launched electronic passport, or e-passports at the beginning of 2020 to complete the whole process of immigration formalities online as the first country in South Asia and 119th in the world.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the e-passport programme in 2020 as a 'Mujib Barsha' gift.
Since January 2020, citizens have been able to schedule online appointments for enrollment, which helped them to avoid delay. More than half a million citizens have applied for e-passports via online portal.