The immigration Service Code (IS Code) is not mandatory

Earlier Drishtipat had learnt from an email that there is a new requirement of IS Code for passengers entering Bangladesh. It goes as follows:

The Immigration Service of the Govt. of Bangladesh has imposed the Immigration Service Code (IS code) for all passengers including transit/transfer passengers with immediate effect as a mandatory requirement.

Both arriving and departing passengers need to possess the Immigration Service Code (IS Code) before they report at the Immigration counter at Zia International airport. Failure to comply with the same may result in offloading of passenger(s).

Passengers or representatives are required to log on to www.immigrationbd.com and fill up the online embarkation/ disembarkation card (ED card) to get the IS Code. After getting the IS code it has to be inserted in passenger PNR under OSI field.

There was confusion all around as neither any government circular was published nor anything on this was published in the media.

Somebody from the immigration police left a comment in that Drishtipat post:

This is SS Immigration from Immigration Police Bangladesh. Just to clarify your dounbts, IS Code is an optional feature - NOT at all mandatory. There is no bar to continue your travel to Bangladesh, they way it was going on. Please visit www.immi.gov.bd to know detail about IS Code.

That explains that it was a hoax.