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Immigration Dept. acts irk Lankans abroad
From Neville de Silva in London
The tortoise-like pace with which the Immigration Department in Colombo acts is causing innumerable difficulties for Sri Lankans in the UK and continental Europe and to our diplomatic missions in the respective countries.

The Sunday Times has received a number of messages from Sri Lankans in the UK and Europe asking that these problems posed by the Immigration Department be highlighted.

In the last couple of months at least three persons arriving in Colombo were told that their passports were ‘inactive’ and therefore they could not leave the country.

The reason was that they had applied for new passports through our diplomatic missions in their countries of residence. It appears that under the hi-tec computerised system operated by the Immigration Department existing passports become ‘inactive’ when applications are made for new passports, unknown to the traveller.

The critical issue is that the passport declared ‘inactive’ would carry the visa entitling the holder to enter the country from where he arrived in Colombo. Without that passport carrying the visa its holder cannot return home.

This policy has not been conveyed to our missions according to diplomats in Europe and so those living abroad and holding Sri Lanka passports are unaware of it until they arrive at the airport immigration counter where they are told they cannot leave the country unless the Immigration Department authorises.
This has led to appeals to our missions or to family and relatives abroad for help.

In the meantime they have to stay put in the country because it takes time to have the visa from the country where they are resident transferred to a new passport. When the new one is delayed it aggravates the problem.
Since the Immigration Department’s shift to new premises in congested Punchi Borella the problems have been aggravated as it moved in even before telephones were installed cutting off communications with our diplomatic missions abroad who act as agents of the Immigration Controller and with the outside world.

Equally chaotic was the move from Bambalapitiya to the new premises made by the Citizenship Division that is responsible for receiving and approving dual citizenship applications.

After numerous public inquiries at our missions by Sri Lankans who did not know where the new office was or how to contact it, missions had to contact the Foreign Ministry in Colombo to assist trace the ‘absconding’ division.

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