Bangladesh joined the Apostille Convention with Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud formally handing over the “instrument of accession” to the Netherlands foreign ministry in The Hague on Monday.
With that, the foreign ministry said documents attested by the Bangladesh foreign ministry would no longer be required to authenticate by the host countries of Bangladeshi students, workers, and those travelling to meet their family members.
This will save time and money approximately Tk500 to Tk600 crore per year, the foreign ministry said after the official ceremony.
Earlier, on May 20, Bangladesh approved the signing of the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, in a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Apostille Convention is intended to simplify the procedure through which a document, issued in one of the contracting states, can be certified for legal purposes in the other contracting states of the Convention.
In the Hague ceremony, the foreign minister said Bangladeshi students would benefit immensely from joining of the Convention.
The foreign ministry will attest the documents using the Electronic-Apostille program or e-APP which will generate a QR code that can be scanned by any country.
Netherlands Foreign Secretary Paul Hujits expressed hope that it would be possible to fully launch the e-APP or electronic apostille program for Bangladeshi citizens with the final support of other countries that are party to it within eight months of joining the convention as customary.
Bangladeshis need to authenticate their documents – academic certificate, birth certificate, and marriage certificate - for higher education, jobs, permanent residency, marriage with foreign nationals, and meeting family members, among others.
The foreign ministry authenticates those documents after the relevant department's endorsement.
Then the visitors visit the embassies of the countries they intend to travel to for their authentication.
Bangladesh does not have embassies of all the countries. So, many citizens need to travel to India to face those missions.
The foreign minister left for the Netherlands on Sunday. He is expected to return on Tuesday.
