Over 700,000 passports have been issued during the first 08-months of this year, the Immigration and Emigration Department of Sri Lanka reported.
The passports issued in 2022 have created an all-time high of travel documents surpassing the record of 658,725 passports issued for the entire year in 2016.
As per the department’s history, the issuance of passports until the end of August 2022 has increased sharply by 312% to 705,412 from 171,168 passports in the same period last year.
The August passport issuance outcome has also seen a significant surge of 297% compared to 28,976 passports issued in the same period a year earlier.
A total of 116,244 applications were received for both one-day and normal service passports in August, and of it, only 115,152 were issued during the month, the department reported.
According to the Immigration and Emigration Department, over 88,170 passports were issued monthly during the first eight months of 2022. At present, the department receives over 4,000 appointments daily.
Data until the end of August 2022 clearly indicates a significant increase in attempts to migrate amidst the ongoing economic crisis. (NewsWire)