The Bangladesh High Commission first secretary from Canberra, Naza Akther, has advised Bangladesh nationals in Fiji to contact the High Commission in Australia if they face problems with their visa or passport.

The high commission staff from Canberra, Australia were in the country last week to assist their country nationals renew their passports.

“The Bangladesh High Commission from Canberra caters for our country’s national in New Zealand and Fiji, so the continuation in this regard, we came over to issue machine readable passports because international travel law has stated that after November 24, people using hand written passports would not be allowed to travel, “ Moss (Ms) Akther said.

“Since most Bangladesh nationals in Fiji still have hand written passports, they are now hassle free because instead of paying huge amount of expenses to come down to Australia to renew their passports, we are actually here to help and assist them.

“This is an initiative by the government where we have come down to take their biometrics which is the bounding now in the world and our nationals here are facing difficulties travelling around the world.”

She said it was also an initiative to help cut down on spending costs for Bangladesh nationals who wish to travel to Australia to get passport and visa matters settled.

“After taking the biometrics we will then issue their passports, get their visa sorted from Bangladesh and send them back to Fiji through courier mail. This will grant them the access to finally travel anywhere in the world.

“We will organise consulates camp in a year to come down and sort out the needs of Bangladesh nationals in Fiji,” Moss Akther said.

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