Sri Lanka’s easy online tourist visa from midnight
Government initiates forensic audit into VFS Global deal irregularities
COLOMBO– Sri Lanka restored the easy online visa system for tourists from midnight Thursday (26) ending the outsourced process that caused much distress to foreign visitors.
Foreign Minister Vijtha Herath, who is also Minister of Public Security in charge of the Department of Immigration and took up duties on Wednesday (25), announcing the restoration of the previous system said that giving the visa processing facility to VFS Global had caused distress to people, especially foreigners coming to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ordered the old easy visa system be restored several weeks ago, but the Department of Immigration under then Minister Tiran Alles ignored the order.
Herath said with the intervention of his ministry it was possible to restore the previous online system within 24 hours. “From midnight tonight, the system of getting visas easily will be available again,” he said on Thursday, deeming it a great victory.
“We have acted quickly on the court order,” he said, adding that business visitors and others would also be able to get visas online,
He said the new government had also initiated a forensic audit on the VFS Global deal, adding that any discrepancies found would be subject to legal action in the future.
Earlier in the week, the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the Controller General of Immigration, I. H. Illukpitiya, over his failure to restore the previous Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system which was acclaimed to be one of the easiest systems to get a visa in the world.
The complex VFS Global system, which had high fees and extra charges not disclosed upfront, also put off many older visitors who could cope with it.
VFS Global runs online visa systems for several developed nations, to screen visitors from developing countries who are desperate to get in.
-economynext.com
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.