Bangladesh resolves 6.44 million NID correction applications, with 128,010 still waiting

Nearly 98% of applications have received decisions

Bangladesh's Election Commission has resolved 6,442,832 applications to correct National Identity Card information out of 6,570,842 submitted, according to National Identity Registration Wing figures updated through October 18. Another 128,010 applications remain pending, while 1,355,157 have been rejected.

The figures put the completion rate at about 98.1%, with roughly two applications in every 100 still awaiting a decision. Rejected applications are included among those resolved: completing a case means deciding it, whether the requested change is accepted or refused.

The remaining workload is concentrated in the most complex category, known by the Bengali letter Gha. It contains 69,252 pending applications, about 54.1% of the entire queue. Officials say disputed ages, major changes to family information and repeated submissions after rejection make these cases harder to finish.

The commission is responding by giving local offices more authority, checking a sample of decisions every month and examining a technological system intended to prevent identity fraud. For applicants, the practical change is that some birth date corrections supported by educational certificates can now be decided at an upazila, or subdistrict, office rather than going to senior officials.

The October 18 update does not specify its year, although its category breakdown includes applications labelled 2026. Earlier figures explicitly dated August 2, 2026, provide a comparison with the newer totals. The record also includes a missed clearance target in March 2025, followed by a large reduction in pending cases that July.

Why the queue continued despite a special programme

The commission's earlier effort shows how quickly new applications can replace completed work. On December 19, 2024, National Identity Registration Wing Director General ASM Humayun Kabir promised to process about 375,000 pending applications within three months.

By March 2025, around 400,000 applications were still waiting, and officials shifted the target to September. Humayun said updating the voter list had taken priority over corrections. The commission had registered 4,754,000 new voters by March 22, with registration scheduled to continue until May 5.

Humayun described the competing workload in a March briefing:

"As of March 16, we have completed 2,78,000 applications, but an additional 3,02,000 new applications have been submitted in the meantime," Humayun said.

New submissions exceeded completed applications by 24,000 during that period. Staff could therefore process hundreds of thousands of cases while the queue continued to grow.

A short timeline shows how the effort developed:

• December 19, 2024: The commission promised to clear about 375,000 pending applications within three months.
• March 2025: Around 400,000 remained pending, and the completion target moved to September.
• July 2, 2025: The commission announced that its special correction programme had processed 907,662 applications, leaving 76,694 pending.
• August 2, 2026: Figures listed 6,230,592 resolved applications and 147,778 still being processed.
• October 18 update: Resolved applications reached 6,442,832, with 128,010 awaiting decisions.

What the July 2025 programme achieved

Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed presented the results of the special initiative, called the Crash Programme, at a July 2, 2025 briefing in Agargaon, Dhaka. He said 378,806 applications had been pending on January 1, with another 605,520 arriving between January and June.

The commission listed a programme workload of 984,356 applications, of which 907,662 had been processed and 76,694 remained pending. Those last two figures add up to the stated workload. The opening queue and new applications, however, add up to 984,326, a difference of 30.

Akhtar said monthly submissions had fallen from nearly 100,000 to about 80,000. The October update puts the continuing monthly flow at 80,000 to 90,000. At that rate, another 960,000 to 1.08 million applications would arrive over a full year.

That flow explains why a successful clearance campaign can be followed by another queue. The commission has to handle both applications already waiting and fresh requests arriving every working day.

How the later figures compare

The later July statistics recorded 6,378,370 applications received since 2020, with 6,230,592 resolved and 147,778 pending. Figures dated August 2, 2026, gave a slightly higher receipt total of 6,378,730, while retaining the same resolved and pending counts. The July receipt total equals the sum of those two counts; the August total is 360 higher.

The October pending figure of 128,010 is 19,768 below the July and August figure of 147,778, a reduction of about 13.4%. Resolved applications increased by 212,240, from 6,230,592 to 6,442,832.

The approval figures contain a larger discrepancy. The July breakdown listed 4,935,138 approvals, while the August breakdown listed 4,061,146. Both gave 1,295,454 rejections. Adding the July approval and rejection figures produces the stated resolved total of 6,230,592; adding the August figures produces 5,356,600. The commission's published breakdown needs clarification on that approval subtotal.

The October rejection total rose to 1,355,157. That is about 21% of resolved applications, or roughly one rejection for every five decisions. It shows why the completion rate and the approval rate tell applicants different things.

Why the most difficult cases dominate

The commission sorts correction applications by the type and complexity of the requested change. Four main categories, Ka, Kha, Ga and Gha, run from simpler corrections to major alterations. Two additional subdivisions, Ka-1 and Kha-1, assign certain requests to other levels of officials.

Ka applications commonly involve spelling corrections to a person's name or their parents' names. Other categories cover changes involving marriage information, photographs, signatures and more extensive name changes. Gha cases include major changes to ages, birth dates and parents' names and are handled at the highest administrative level.

The October figures list 68,269 pending Gha applications labelled 2026 and another 983 labelled 2025, making 69,252. Earlier July figures placed the Gha queue at 78,778, alongside 19,433 pending Ka cases and 25,410 pending Kha cases.

National Identity Registration Wing Director of Operations Md Saiful Islam said some proposed age changes would leave only 10 years between a parent and child. Other changes would place a person below age 18 when they originally became a voter. Officials check these inconsistencies before deciding whether to accept the correction.

Saiful also said applicants sometimes submit the same requested change under another category after rejection. Some continue applying after five or six refusals. Each fresh submission adds administrative work, even when it concerns a change already considered.

Where the largest regional queues are

Dhaka and Cumilla have the largest pending totals in the October regional breakdown, with 10,615 and 10,559 applications respectively. Together, they account for 21,174 cases, or about 30.6% of the 69,252 applications listed across the 10 regions.

Mymensingh follows with 8,332 cases. Rajshahi has 6,875, Chattogram 6,688 and Sylhet 6,469. The remaining totals are Khulna with 5,871, Faridpur with 5,140, Rangpur with 4,477 and Barishal with 4,226.

These regional figures add up to the Gha pending total. Dhaka's queue is about two and a half times Barishal's, illustrating how unevenly the difficult cases are distributed.

The commission says senior management and relevant directors are monitoring progress, holding meetings and sending instructions to responsible officers. Local and district officials have also received greater scope to decide applications, reducing the number that need consideration further up the administrative chain.

Which birth date corrections can be decided locally?

An August 13 circular allows the relevant upazila or thana election officer to decide certain birth date corrections under the Ka category. Applicants must support the request with a Junior School Certificate, secondary school certificate or equivalent educational certificate that can be verified online.

Online verification allows an officer to check a certificate against the issuing institution's records rather than relying solely on a document presented by the applicant. Open University certificates are excluded from this particular route.

The change gives qualifying applicants access to a decision closer to home. It also directs a defined group of birth date cases away from the most complex category, where senior officials face a heavier queue.

Regional election officers and additional regional election officers must monitor the decisions made by staff under them. Every month, they must randomly examine at least three applications decided by each responsible officer and submit a report.

The first reporting period covered August 13 to August 31, with a September 21 submission deadline. Subsequent monthly reports are due in the first week of the following month. This creates a continuing check on whether local decisions match the supporting documents.

What the special committee and urgent service cover

The commission formed a committee of four members on July 16 to help clear difficult Gha applications. Its membership consists of a director, a deputy director and two assistant directors. The director responsible for registration and expatriates serves as convener.

The committee's work includes recommending quicker decisions, examining documents and recommending rejection where evidence is insufficient. Its remit also covers changes to the Card Management System portal, recommendations on locking or unlocking NID records, and reversing changes in the system.

Saiful said officials try to accelerate applications involving urgent humanitarian needs, including job applications and travel abroad. Applicants who explain those needs can have their cases considered for faster processing, while officials continue checking whether the requested correction is justified.

Akhtar said some applications no longer require a correction. He also identified inconsistencies in information submitted through local representatives for voters living overseas. Those cases require further checks before officials can reach a decision.

Fraud prevention and accurate registration

Akhtar said people implicated in NID fraud are being handed to law enforcement agencies. Commission officials or employees involved also face administrative action. The NID division is warning people against fraudulent intermediaries, with advice also available through its helpdesk.

The commission is examining a technological system intended to detect or prevent fraud before it happens. Its design and launch date have not been announced.

At the July 2025 briefing, Akhtar also explained why access to some identity records is restricted. Responding to questions about locked NIDs, he said:

NIDs are locked for various reasons, mainly to prevent misuse or fraud.

Akhtar's stated priority is accurate registration from the beginning, so that fewer people need corrections later. With 80,000 to 90,000 new applications arriving each month, that means checking information carefully when a person first registers as well as deciding existing cases promptly.

For citizens, the immediate priorities are a decision on the remaining 128,010 applications and consistent checks across offices. For the commission, the continuing task is to keep new requests moving while reducing avoidable errors in the identity register.

Key Points

• The October 18 figures list 6,570,842 applications received, 6,442,832 resolved and 128,010 pending.
• The resolved total includes 1,355,157 rejected applications.
• Complex Gha cases account for 69,252 pending applications, about 54.1% of the queue.
• Dhaka and Cumilla together account for 21,174 of the listed regional Gha cases.
• Some birth date corrections supported by educational certificates verifiable online can be decided locally.
• Regional supervisors must randomly check at least three decisions per responsible officer each month.
• A technological fraud prevention system is being examined, with no launch date announced.