To obtain CIP status, expatriates must remit $100,000 legally per year

Noman Sabit: Bangladeshis living abroad must remit at least $100,000 to the country in a single year to qualify for Commercially Important Person (CIP) status. For any given year of selection, a specified number of non-resident Bangladeshis who legally remitted more than $100,000 in the preceding fiscal year will be awarded CIP status.

The practice of granting CIP status to expatriates began during the Awami League government. Under existing rules, CIP cardholders are permitted entry to the Secretariat using their cards, receive priority seat reservations for business travel by air, road, rail and waterways, and are entitled to use VIP Lounge-2 at airports.

The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment issued the CIP (Non-Resident) Policy last Wednesday, thereby repealing the previous notification. Under the new policy, a total of 90 non-resident Bangladeshis will be selected as CIPs: 75 foreign currency remitters, five non-resident investors, and 10 non-resident importers of Bangladeshi products.

To qualify as an investor CIP, an individual must make a direct investment of at least $300,000 in the industrial sector. If construction of the industrial establishment is ongoing, the amount of foreign currency specified in documents proving the shipment of machinery (such as bills of entry, letters of credit, etc.) will be taken into account.

Many expatriate Bangladeshis import products from the country. To obtain CIP status in this category, they must import Bangladeshi goods worth at least $300,000. This import must have taken place in the fiscal year preceding the year under consideration for CIP selection. In such cases, preference will be given to products—and importers—that generate higher value addition within Bangladesh.

The policy states that applicants will be ineligible for CIP status if they are loan defaulters, tax defaulters in Bangladesh, involved in trade disputes with foreign buyers, have been convicted of crimes, or have provided false information.

Applications for CIP selection will be invited through advertisements published by Bangladeshi missions abroad and in print and electronic media within the country, as well as on the websites of relevant agencies. Each year, application notices are to be published between September 1 and September 30, and the official gazette listing the selected CIPs is to be issued between January 16 and January 31 of the following year.

In addition to airport privileges, CIPs will receive priority in meetings with senior officials at home and abroad and invitations to national day and festival events at Bangladeshi missions. They and their family members will also receive priority access to cabins in government hospitals.

BP/SM