Tourism Minister Harin Fernando has reportedly threatened to resign from his ministry at today’s cabinet meeting held under the patronage of President Ranil Wickramasinghe.
Minister Fernando, expressing his displeasure over the new visa process, has informed the cabinet he will resign from his portfolio if the new visa system continues without any changes.
The Tourism Minister has questioned the $18.5 service fee charged by VFS Global and has demanded an all-inclusive 30-day single-entry visa for $50 until the Government finalizes the proposal for free visas for over 50 countries.
After a series of discussions among Cabinet Ministers and relevant officials it has been decided to issue a 30-day single-entry visa all-inclusive at $50.
VFS Global has reportedly agreed to the new proposal suggested for the single entry visa
The $50 reportedly includes a $10 service fee for VFS Global, but there has been no confirmation in this regard.
“Starting from May 7th, a 30-day single-entry visa without additional charges will be available for $50 until our proposal for free visas for more than 50 countries is finalized. Until then, seven countries will continue to enjoy free visas as before,” Tourism Minister Harin Fernando tweeted.
“When the new proposal was introduced, VFS charges were not mentioned. Since it came to light, I have objected to the proposal,” Tourism Minister tweeted, referring to the initial VFS proposal, in response to Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa who had questioned the move.
“It’s not surprising that the Opposition Leader wants to pin this on me rather than on the line ministry, which implemented this system while we were finalizing the proposal for free visas for over 50 countries,” Minister Harin Fernando said. (NewsWire)
