Sri Lanka’s on-arrival visa system will continue until the court’s verdict is issued on the case filed against the visa issuance system, Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles said. 

Addressing the media yesterday, Minister Alles said that 12 additional counters have been established at the Katunayake Airport for this purpose.

Stating that queues were reported at the existing counters due to several flights arriving at the same time, the minister said as a solution, 12 more counters have been set up to issue on-arrival visas.

Minister Alles revealed that due to the interim order issued by the court against visa processing company VFS Global, measures are being taken to issue on-arrival visas to tourists for 30 to 60 days. 

The new visa issuance system by global visa processing service, VFS Global and its charges came under the spotlight after a local passenger had raised concerns over the process, with the video of the incident being widely circulated on social media.

A probe launched by the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) also found that VFS Global had been picked without calling for official bids, resulting in the Department of Immigration and Emigration losing out on receiving competitive rates for visa issuance.

In July this year, three petitions were filed at the Supreme Court against Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles and the government against the VFS visa procedure. Opposition MPs Patali Champika Ranawaka, M.A. Sumanthiran, and Rauff Hakeem filed the three petitions. 

The lack of a proper visa issuance system has severely inconvenienced tourists visiting Sri Lanka, with long queues regularly reported at the visa counters at the Katunayake Airport.

In a bid to resolve the issue, earlier in September, the Cabinet of Ministers authorized President Ranil Wickremesinghe to implement visa-free access for 38 countries with immediate effect.

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry announced that the government has adopted Singapore’s streamlined ‘one-chop’ approach, where a visa or a visa extension is issued with just one official stamp or seal (‘chop’) on the applicant’s passport. (Newswire)

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Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 30) calling for action against the procedural violations and abuse of public trust by officials in the procurement of private entities to handle the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system for the issuance of visas for tourists visiting Sri Lanka. 

Issuing a statement, TISL said this matter was filed in the public interest, considering the lack of transparency and non-adherence to guidelines in the decision-making and procurement processes that impact the tourism industry, the national economy and national security. 

The Petitioners argue that the fundamental rights of the citizens to equality and the right to information, as guaranteed under the Constitution under Articles 12(1) and 14A, have been violated through the actions and inactions of the respondents.

Among the respondents named in the petition are the Minister of Public Security, the Controller General of Immigration, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, GBS Technology Services & IVS Global- FZCO, VFS VF Worldwide Holdings LTD, the Cabinet of Sri Lanka and the Attorney General. 

The petition lists several key issues that have led to the current concerns:

1. The improper and irregular selection of private entities as authorized representatives for issuing visas.
2. Entering into agreements with private parties in a manner that could lead to severe financial losses and damage to the tourism sector.
3. An incident at the Bandaranaike International Airport in May 2024 highlighted the problematic appointment of private entities for visa processing.
4. The existing partnership with Mobitel (Pvt) Limited from 2012 ran smoothly without an occurrence of major breakdowns, negative publicity, data breaches or other complaints.
5. Mobitel (Pvt) Limited tendering proposals for the improvement of the ETA system in August 2023 with no cost to the government.
6. Mobitel (Pvt) Limited tendering a proposal to provide the ETA platform services for USD 1 per application, in stark contrast to the USD 18.50 charged by GBS Technology Services & IVS Global- FZCO and VFS VF Worldwide Holdings LTD. 

According to TISL, the petition calls for the respondents to be held accountable for their illegal, arbitrary, and unreasonable acts or omissions in the procurement process. 

The new visa issuance system by global visa processing service, VFS Global and its charges came under the spotlight after a local passenger had raised concerns over the process, with the video of the incident being widely circulated on social media.

A probe launched by the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) also found that VFS Global had been selected without calling for official bids.

The CoPF report presented in Parliament also reveals that this move had resulted in the Department of Immigration and Emigration losing out on receiving competitive rates for visa issuance. (Newswire)

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Three petitions have been filed at the Supreme Court against Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles and the government against the VFS visa procedure introduced at the Katunayake Airport.

Opposition MPs Patali Champika Ranawaka, M.A. Sumanthiran, and Rauff Hakeem have filed the three petitions. 

The petitioners have called on the court to issue an order suspending the visa system as there was a potential threat of the breach of vital security data from the nation.

“I moved the Supreme Court against Minister of Public Security, @TiranAlles  and the Government for allegedly aiding and perpetrating a multi-billion dollar scam involving the IVS visa procedure,” MP Champika Ranawaka said in a post on ‘X’. 

Also speaking to the media today, MP Champika Ranawaka said a decision had been taken to file the said petition taking into consideration that they were members of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance (CoPF).

Meanwhile, MP Rauff Hakeem told the media that the VFS visa deal was considered a scam which is 10-fold worse than the Central Bank bond scam. 

The new visa issuance system by global visa processing service, VFS Global and its charges came under the spotlight after a local passenger had raised concerns over the process, with the video of the incident being widely circulated on social media.

A probe launched by the Committee on Public Finance also found that VFS Global had been picked without calling for official bids and had resulted in the Department of Immigration and Emigration losing out on receiving competitive rates for visa issuance.

“If competitive bids were called for then the government could have obtained the services for a fee less than US$ 25,” CoPF Chairman MP Harsha de Silva said, presenting the CoPF report in Parliament recently. 

Stating that local firm Mobitel had also in the past offered to provide some service for US$1, MP de Silva said however, no specifications had been issued on the criteria for the visa issuance service amidst which VFS Global had been selected. 

He said the CoPF is of the view that if specification documents had been available then, not only Mobitel but other overseas firms would also have had an opportunity to engage in competitive bidding for the visa issuance service in Sri Lanka, adding that an issue has arisen as to why the selection of firms had been conducted without a specification document. (Newswire)

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Investigations by the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) into the visa issue linked to VFS Global have identified that the prime contractor for visa issuance was not the said firm but GBS Technology Services and IVS Global FZCO, CoPF Chairman Harsha de Silva said. 

Presenting the CoPF probe report in Parliament today, MP Harsha de Silva explained that VF Worldwide Holdings, which is commonly known as VFS, was part of GBS Technology Services and IVS Global FZCO.

He said investigations have revealed that the prime contractor is not VFS Global as claimed but GBS Technology Services and IVS Global FZCO, but all the companies have signed an agreement to carry out visa issuance. 

MP de Silva said the CoPF report has found that VFS Global had been picked without calling for official bids and had resulted in the Department of Immigration and Emigration losing out on receiving competitive rates for visa issuance.

“If competitive bids were called for then the government could have obtained the services for a fee less than US$ 25,” he said. 

Stating that local firm Mobitel had also in the past offered to provide some service for US$1, MP de Silva said however, no specifications had been issued on the criteria for the visa issuance service amidst which VFS Global had been selected. 

He said the CoPF is of the view that if specification documents had been available then, not only Mobitel but other overseas firms would also have had an opportunity to engage in competitive bidding for the visa issuance service in Sri Lanka. 

The CoPF Chairman said an issue has arisen as to why the selection of firms had been conducted without a specification document. 

Commenting on the incident of data breach related to VFS Global, which was brought to light by an international YouTube travel vlogger, MP Harsha de Silva said investigations are ongoing into the matter.

He said Immigration Officials had informed CoPF that a set of dummy data had been accidentally sent to the international YouTube travel vlogger. 

The CoPF Chairman emphasized that data protection was essential when providing such services and is important for national security. 

MP Harsha de Silva added that the CoPF investigations have also found that the agreement on the visa issuance process does not mention an investment of US$ 200 million or Rs. 200 million as claimed by the authorities, confirming that no such investment has been made as yet. 

The Committee on Public Finance launched a probe after the newly introduced visa issuance system by global visa processing service, VFS Global and its charges were brought to the limelight after a local passenger had raised concerns over the process, with the video of the incident being widely circulated on social media.

In the video, an agitated Sri Lankan national claimed that Indian companies who had taken over visa processing at the Bandaranaike International Airport were causing delays and levying extra processing fees. 

Responding to the incident and allegations, the Indian High Commission refuted reports of Indian companies taking over visa issuance at the Katunayake Airport, stating, “Any reference to India in this context is unwarranted.”

Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles, under whose purview the visa process falls, also acknowledged in Parliament at the time that the decision to grant the process to global visa processing service, VFS Global was taken following Cabinet approval and that it was not processed through Parliament. (Newswire)

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