Sri Lankans: Waiting to get out!
The number of Sri Lankans waiting in line for a visa to most European destinations has increased in the past few months which travel agents state is due to reduced staff at these offices.
“It has been like this for a while,” former Travel Agents Association President and UFTAA Director Trevor Rajaratnam told the Business Times adding that when COVID-19 struck the staff at these Visa processing offices the time taken for processing has nearly doubled.
“They are allocating the appointments according to their ability to handle,” he explained adding that this has today become a “huge issue and burden”.
The demand for visas has also increased significantly for a mix of travel reasons like business and leisure and while most Sri Lankans are found to be visiting families resident in Europe others are also trying to move there.
An official at a western mission said they are seeing a huge rise in visa applications and almost impossible to handle for a small embassy.
“The quality of applications is getting worse and worse and fraud is on the rise. There are cases when people who saw their first application refused, try it again via business trips,” he said adding that some members of business delegations have disappeared after entering Europe.
He said it takes applicants weeks, even months to get a visa appointment.
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