Penalty for overstaying foreigners to be revised in addition to visa fees

The Ministerial Consultative Committee approved the orders made by the Minister of Public Security
under the Immigrants and Emigrants Act to revise the fine of USD 500 in addition to the visa fees to
foreigners who have overstayed their period of valid visas, the Parliament Committee said. 

The approval was given at the Ministerial Consultative Committee held recently under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles.

Accordingly, it has been recommended that no penalty shall be levied for departure at an approved port of the Department of Immigration and Emigration within a period of 7 days or less than the overstaying period of valid visa without getting extended the period of visa, to levy a penalty of USD 250 for an overstaying period of more than 07 days and overstaying period of 14 days or less and to levy a penalty of USD 500 for overstaying period of more than 14 day, a communique from the Committee said. 

This step has been taken in accordance with the requests made by various parties regarding the promotion of tourism, attracting investors and due to the inconvenience caused to officials working in foreign missions operating in Sri Lanka due to having to pay the above penalty. Accordingly, these orders are to be approved by the Parliament on a future date. 

Apart from this, Members of Parliament pointed out that there is a shortage of officers in police stations as police officers are deployed at various places and for the protection of individuals. Minister Tiran Alles advised the IGP that these tasks have been in operation for a long time, and after conducting a proper security assessment, deploy officers only for essential needs and deploy other officers at police stations.