Tourism industry and government clash as visa costs soar

An incident at Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport on 1 May sparked tensions between the tourism industry and the Sri Lankan government. Private operators like GBS and VFS have been allowed to issue visas, and raise fees. As accusations whirl around the Ministry of Public Security, the government plans an investigation.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – An unexpected incident on 1 May at Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport is shedding light on the current mismanagement of visas in Sri Lanka.

The refusal by the “Indian” staff handling Sri Lanka’s immigration to issue a visa to the foreign wife of Sri Lankan lawyer, Sandaru Kumarasinghe, has triggered a controversy after videoclips of the incident were posted on social media.

Since the Sri Lankan government decided to outsource visa procedures to private companies, the tourism industry has been in an uproar over this decision, which has resulted in visa fees soaring, the scrapping of the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system, and the inexplicable disappearance of the convenient and cheap 30-day visa category for tourists.

The people involved in the videotaped incident are employees of a joint venture involving GBS Technology Services & IVS Global FZCO and VFS VF Worldwide Holdings Ltd, which the Public Security Ministry authorised last month to handle electronic entry visa documents.

The current deal has resulted in the price of tourist visas skyrocketing to over US 0 for a stay of 180 days. Tourists who wish to stay for less than a month must pay US$ 75 for a minimum three-month entry permit, including .5 and as "service” and “convenience” fees.

Reacting to the matter, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said that “action will be taken against the person who caused the disturbance in the visa issuance section at the BIA and the officers who recorded the incident.”

Lawyer Sandaru Kumarasinghe, who was returning home after a trip to Thailand, was later summoned to the police station in Katunayake Airport to file a statement about the 1 May incident.

Regretting having to go to the police station, he said that people must determine, if the statement should be recorded from him, who represented the people, or from those who decided to outsource the visa issuance to a foreign company.

His goal is to draw attention to those responsible for the flawed visa management, i.e. the government and authorised private companies, and avoid bringing to trial or questioning ordinary citizens and tourists who are victims of this system.

Senior officials at Bandaranaike Airport told AsiaNews that, “The exorbitant fees directly contravene the Public Security Ministry’s own Gazette, issued in November last year, which not only allowed for free visas to seven countries – China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, and Thailand – but also slashed the previous 30-day online visa fee for all non-SAARC[*] countries from US$ 50 to US$ 35.

According to changes announced by the Department of Immigration and Emigration effective 17 April, the short-term visa is not currently offered, while the more expensive three-month visa is available along with additional fees agreed by the Public Security Ministry with private parties.

However, neither the Gazette nor the Immigration Department's notice containing visa categories and fees mention any agreement with private companies or publicise the fees for their services. The situation thus contains grey areas that explain the controversy.

Meanwhile, VFS, a renowned global company involved in the visa entry controversy, raised several concerns with the Public Security Ministry, stating that it was "shocked to be left victimized", blaming the incident on an internet network failure at the airport, which caused a system failure.

On 1 May, serious delays were reported at the airport's entry visa counter due to network malfunction, while VFS and GBS expressed to the Public Security Ministry their concerns about possible sabotage.

According to a highly placed source, “as the foreign companies involved had raised these concerns with the Public Security Ministry, the government will soon commence a probe headed by Senior Assistant Secretary to President Chandima Wickramasinghe.”

Since the company involved was slow in getting the platform back up working, the visa counter was handed back to the Department of Immigration and Emigration, which operated it without problems. Currently, VFS Global partners with 67 governments.

[*] South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

• sri lanka
• visa management
• outsourcing
• problems
• tourism industry
• vfs
• gbs
• immigration department