Overstaying turns expensive for foreigners

By Isuri Kaviratne

Foreigners overstaying in Sri Lanka will be blacklisted and deported and will be denied visas in future, Immigration and Emigration Controller P.B. Abeykoon said.

“We will put a red stamp on the passport which will prevent their chances of returning to Sri Lanka and it will clearly have an impact on them when getting visas to other countries as well”, he said.

A fine too would be imposed on the overstaying foreigners according to the period they had overstayed. A 25 US dollar fine for those who overstayed for 7-30 days and a 50 US dollar fine for overstaying 30-60 and a 100 US dollar fine for overstaying more than 60 days will be imposed from March 1.

“A grace period has been declared from February 1 to March 1 for the foreigners to extend their visas”, Mr. Abeykoon added.
The Controller added that the computer system at the airport had been programmed to check the periods each foreigner had stayed in the country and if they have overstayed, they would be fined before leaving the country.

He said foreigners who had been deported so far were mostly Asians though the overstaying rate had decreased within the past few years. “Last year we deported nearly 600 foreigners though there were times when we found around 10,000 overstaying”, he said.

He added that the Immigration and Emigration Department expected public cooperation in tracing overstaying foreigners in the country.

“They come on tourist visa and start working here. Then gradually they overstay without extending their visa”, he said.

Mr. Abeykoon added that the implementation of the fine is one of the budget proposals and it had been under discussion in Parliament for sometime before implementation.