Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud said that documents certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not need to be re-certified in other countries. As a result Bangladeshis going abroad will save approximately Tk. 500-600 crore every year.
On Sunday (July 28) at noon local time in the city of The Hague, Bangladesh became a party to 'The Convention on Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization of Foreign Public Documents' or Apostille Convention - 1961 through a ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
As a result, documents attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country will not need to be re-arrested in other countries. This will save approximately Tk. 500-600 crores of Bangladeshis going abroad every year.
At the beginning of the program, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands welcomed Dr. Hasan. The Foreign Minister in his speech on the occasion explained the necessity and immediate benefits of this agreement for millions of citizens of Bangladesh.
He said, as a result of this, the students, professionals and immigration aspirants going abroad will be able to do it faster, easier to get all the public documents that had to be authenticated in the traditional way in the case of admission and employment abroad.
Joining this convention is a landmark step for Bangladesh and the country's students will benefit the most, said Dr. Hasan, because as a result, electronic apostle certificates will be issued by verifying the e-APP or electronic apostle program system, the authenticity and correctness of which can be verified from anywhere in the world with the existing QR code on the certificate. This will completely reduce the various types of harassment and suffering of students and professionals going abroad.
The Foreign Minister also said that if you use the apostle certificate issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of your country, you will not have to go to foreign embassies or foreign ministries or any other foreign authority for verification by spending labor and money. This will save approximately Tk. 500-600 crores of Bangladeshis going abroad every year.
At present, various documents (such as academic certificates, birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.) of citizens going abroad and staying abroad for various purposes including taking higher education in foreign universities, applying for jobs, settling abroad, and marrying foreign citizens need to be authenticated by multiple authorities.
After the verification of various ministries of the country including the verification of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the service candidates have to appear again at the foreign embassies, foreign ministries of the respective countries and various foreign authorities for verification, which is very time-consuming, laborious and expensive.