A new highly birefringent octagonal photonic crystal fiber (Hi-Bi OPCF) with a rectangular array of four elliptical airholes in the fiber core region is proposed and analyzed using the full-vector finite element method with anisotropic perfect match layer absorbing boundaries. Numerical results show that the phase birefringence of the photonic crystal fiber (PCF) reaches 3.43￡10 2 at the wavelength of 1 550 nm. Moreover, two zero-dispersion wavelengths are achieved in the visible and near infrared wavelength regions for one polarization state but not in the other.