{"id":84810,"date":"2024-09-28T18:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-09-28T22:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=84810"},"modified":"2024-09-28T20:48:18","modified_gmt":"2024-09-29T00:48:18","slug":"84810","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=84810","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka\u2019s new Govt led by President Anura Kumar Dissanayake Restores Country\u2019s Old Visa System in Adherence to a Recent Supreme Court Ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s newly elected government led byPresident Anura Kumara Dissanayake has restored the country\u2019s old visa system, adhering to a recent Supreme Court order that suspended a controversial new portal managed by a consortium including an Indian company.<\/p>\n

The announcement was made late on Thursday (September 26, 2024), almost two months after the country\u2019s top court directed immigration authorities to revert to the online platform that was in use before the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration switched to the new system, roping in GBS Technology Services, the India-registered IVS Global Services, and VFS Global.<\/p>\n

In April this year, Mr. Wickremesinghe\u2019s government opted for the new system. Following the move, Sri Lanka\u2019s visa fee nearly doubled, sparking concern within the island nation\u2019s tourism industry, a key foreign exchange earner.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe visa facility provided by VFS Global has caused significant difficulties for many. Especially foreigners arriving in Sri Lanka experienced considerable challenges in obtaining their visa,\u201d Minister of Public Security Vijitha Herath said.<\/p>\n

In July, three prominent opposition parliamentarians, M.A. Sumanthiran, Rauff Hakeem, and Champika Ranawaka, moved the Supreme Court against the government for allegedly \u201caiding and perpetrating a multi-billion-dollar scam\u201d in bringing in the new system. Corruption watchdog Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), too, filed a Fundamental Rights petition calling for action against \u201cprocedural violations and abuse of public trust\u201d by officials in the procurement of private entities to handle the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system.<\/p>\n

On August 2, the Supreme Court issued an Interim Order suspending the Cabinet decision approving new online and expat visa operations in Sri Lanka. Consequent to the court order, authorities were expected to restore the old visa system with immediate effect. On Wednesday (September 25, 2024), Department of Immigration and Emigration chief Harsha Ilukpitiya was arrested for failing to act on the Supreme Court\u2019s decision for over a month after its ruling.
\n\u201cSri Lanka recorded over 2 lakh tourist arrivals every month until the shift to the new via system in April this year, after which numbers dipped, data published by the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority showed. Over 13 lakh tourists have visited Sri Lanka until August 2024, bringing in more than $2 billion in revenue. Indian tourists are among those exempted from a visa fee. They are expected to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) before arriving in Sri Lanka,\u201d a note on the visa portal said.
\n
\nCourtesy: The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka\u2019s newly elected government led byPresident Anura Kumara Dissanayake has restored the country\u2019s old visa system, adhering to a recent Supreme Court order that suspended a controversial new portal managed by a consortium including an Indian company. The announcement was made late on Thursday (September 26, 2024), almost two months after …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka\u2019s new Govt led by President Anura Kumar Dissanayake Restores Country\u2019s Old Visa System in Adherence to a Recent Supreme Court Ruling’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84810"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84810"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84813,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84810\/revisions\/84813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}