Sri Lanka's Immigration and Emigration Department, generally known as the 'passport' office, on Wednesday launched a scheme whereby applicants are informed by SMS (if they have a mobile phone) once their passports are ready.
This means they need not come to the office or stay for hours outside till the passport is ready for collection. At the launch of the new service, Immigration and Emigration Controller General P.B.Abeykoon said much criticism has been directed against the passport office on corruption and inefficiency and he welcomed this as a means of being guided on the correct path and to be more transparent.
He said the media is always welcome at his department and free to visit the place at any time, with or without permission.
Mr Abeykoon said that more than 5,000 applications for passports are received everyday with around 1,000 to 2,000 passports issued per day.
He said those applicants who wait in the area around the passport office till they receive their passports, need not do so anymore as the SMS alert will keep them informed.
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