Immigration and Emigration Department faces fury over passport delays
Thousands of Sri Lankans are compelled to wait for long periods to receive new passports as the Immigration and Emigration Department works through a backlog of applications amid high demand for international travel.
The online passport application processing system operates at snail’s pace as a result of data entry delay in the system and the lack of top level SLAS officers at the department to handle authoritative functions, official sources said. This fully computerised system launched last year has now become cumbersome for applicants as they had to visit relevant Assistant Government agents offices located far away from their homes to place their finger prints, several applicants complained.
Even after submitting fingerprints to department’s head office, it will take one to 3 months or more to issue passports they said.
Some of them noted that they are still to receive passports after down loading all documents to the department’s online system and making payments three months ago.
There were also complaints relating to the delay in urgent services which is supposed to issue the passport within one day or in three days.
A disgruntled applicant who applied for an urgent service told the Business Times that she received the date of submitting fingerprints one month after paying Rs. 15000 for this service. She said that she had to pay additional Rs.400 as expedient fee.
Another applicant who applied for a normal service is yet to receive the new passport after more than three months following his payment of Rs. 5000 for normal service
Several senior officials at the Department of Immigration and Emigration told the Business Times that there was a shortage of 10-12 SLAS officers making it difficult to perform the functions of the processing of applications at the department. This was due to the present suspension of public sector recruitment to fill vacancies of deputy controllers and high officials .
There was no shortage of blank passports as the current stock is sufficient for three months but the delay in the roll out of the e-passport after awarding the contract to a local firm with Finnish collaboration may create a dearth in normal passports, they said.
Several attempts made to contact the Immigration Controller General I. S. H. J. Ilukpitiya and Secretary to the Public Security Ministry Viyani Gunathilaka failed as they were busy attending urgent meetings.
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