Sri Lanka restores online visa application platform after top court suspends controversial deal

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By Editor_1

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka has restored an online visa application platform to encourage tourism after its top court suspended a controversial multimillion-dollar deal that outsourced visa processing to a foreign consortium.

The government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said late on Thursday (26) that the move was intended to promote the island nation’s key tourism sector, as its economy limps out of the 2022 financial crisis.

Tourists will now be able to apply for a visa online without paying the US$25 charged by India-based VFS Global, which won an outsourcing contract in April from the previous government.

Rights activists had alleged in court that the contract was not awarded transparently and said the consortium stood to earn up to US$ 2.75 billion over a 16-year period.

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court in August ordered immigration authorities to revert to the online platform that was used prior to the award to VFS.

“The visa facility provided by VFS Global has caused significant difficulties for many,” Dissanayake’s office said in a statement on Thursday, adding that foreigners had faced challenges obtaining visas.

On Wednesday (25), immigration chief Harsha Ilukpitiya was arrested for failing to heed the Supreme Court’s decision.

Ilukpitiya had awarded the multimillion-dollar contract to India’s GBS Technology Services and IVS Global FZCO, along with VFS Global as a partner, to process visa applications from April.

“We have initiated an immediate forensic audit to investigate the irregularities associated with VFS Global,” the president’s office said on Sept 26.

“Any discrepancies found will be subject to legal action.”

AFP has contacted VFS in Sri Lanka for comment.

Under the outsourcing deal, any foreigner entering Sri Lanka was required to pay a US$ 25 visa processing fee – even citizens of countries that had visa-free travel arrangements with Sri Lanka.

About 1.19 million tourists visited the island in the first seven months of 2024, up 56 per cent from the same period in 2023, according to central bank data.

-AFP

 

Editor_1
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