The new visa system
Beginning April 17, Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration directed travellers to a new visa portal, run by VFS Global, for online visa application under various categories.
The formerly used Electronic Travel Authorisation system, known for its speed and accessibility, was scrapped.
The move followed a Cabinet decision last year, based on a proposal from Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, to appoint GBS Technology Services & IVS Global-FZCO and VFS Global as authorised agents for the online submission of visa applications for foreigners visiting Sri Lanka.
Subsequently, the three companies formed a consortium and signed an agreement with Sri Lankan authorities
The new system, introduces a streamlined approach with updated requirements, fees, and validity periods for visas in Sri Lanka.
Controversy
With the introduction of the new system, Sri Lanka’s visa fee nearly doubled, along with the introduction of a $18.5 service fee and $5 convenience fee charged by VFS Global.
Even as users pointed to the absence of a single-entry, 30-day tourist visa option, a recent video recording of a visiting Sri Lankan complaining that “Indians” were handling visa issuance at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo sparked a fresh controversy
The video clip of the angry man went viral, prompting the Indian High Commission in Colombo to clarify that the companies involved are “not India-based or Indian and are headquartered elsewhere”.
“Any reference to India in this context is unwarranted”
GBS Technology Services is Singapore-based, and partners with IVS Global Services, a company incorporated in Maharashtra in 2010.
Now a global outsourcing and technology services provider, IVS also processes Indian visa applications of Sri Lankans.
VFS Global, founded in India in 2001, is currently headquartered in Zurich and Dubai, and was acquired by the American private equity firm Blackstone in 2021.
Impacts
Meanwhile, Indian tourists, who have consistently topped Sri Lanka’s arrival charts — 3,02,844 or 20% of total arrivals in 2023 — have encountered a peculiar problem navigating the new system.
In a bid to encourage tourism and revive the island’s crisis-hit economy, Sri Lanka in October 2023 waived visa fees for tourists from India and six other countries — China, Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan.
The arrangement has since been extended.
However, despite qualifying for a “free visa”, Indians are having to pay close to $23, towards service and convenience fee.
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