Sri Lanka to introduce on-line visas for tourists

The Sri Lankan government is in the process of introducing an on-line facility for foreigners to obtain visas to enter the country.


President Mahinda Rajapaksa today held a discussion at the Temple Trees with the relevant ministers and officials to introduce a simplified on-line method for the visitors to obtain visa without having to visit the Sri Lankan missions overseas.


The Department of Immigration and Emigration is already working out the modalities of the new online visa regime, which will replace the current system of visas on arrival in the country, the government said today.
Additionally, visitors to Sri Lanka from Singapore and the Maldives, which grant Sri Lankan passport holders landing permits on arrival, would be reciprocally exempted from having to obtain a visa before reaching the island.
The new measures being introduced aim at providing conveniences to the tourists and promoting tourism in the country. Since the end of the war in May 2009, the number of tourists arriving in the country has doubled and surpassed 600,000 visitors this year.
Ministers Prof. G. L. Peiris and Basil Rajapaksa, and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa were also present at the discussion.