Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina has asked for a new passport and national identity card, a move her aides describe as a step towards returning from exile.

A letter from her lawyers was sent to Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi, according to the Associated Press. It asks that the application be processed on the basis of Hasina’s Bangladeshi nationality. Hasina has said she wants to return in December.

Bangladesh’s government is reviewing whether she is legally entitled to the documents, AP reported. Dhaka is also seeking her extradition from India; an Indian handover has not taken place.

The request carries significant legal and political stakes. Hasina was ousted in 2024 after student-led protests and has since remained in India. A tribunal in Bangladesh sentenced her to death in absentia in 2025 over the deadly crackdown on protesters. Hasina denies wrongdoing and has rejected the legitimacy of the trial.

Her lawyers’ application does not itself establish whether the documents will be issued, whether she will return, or how the government’s extradition request will proceed. Those questions remain unresolved as the relevant ministries consider the passport and identity-card request.