The Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) expressed strong displeasure regarding the absence of officials from the Ministry of Public Security and the Department of Immigration and Emigration during discussions concerning the recent issues pertaining to the process of issuing online visa for foreigners visiting Sri Lanka.

The committee chair Harsha de Silva noted that officials from the Public Security Ministry and the Immigration Department had previously committed to attending the committee meeting but failed to do so, which was viewed as disrespectful to the committee. The late notice provided the evening before the meeting was deemed unacceptable, the Parliamentary Communications Department said.

As a result, it was decided to summon representatives from the relevant ministry and the department once again for further discussions regarding the appointment of GBS-IVS and VFS Global as authorized agents for online visa applications. 

Sri Lanka Mobitel (PVT) Ltd. and the National Data Protection Authority was also summoned to the CoPF meeting which was held in the Parliament premises today (14), in order to inquire regarding how the visa issuing process has been functioning under their institutions until 2023 and on making necessary updates in this regard.

After thorough deliberations, it was agreed to revisit the matter in the future. 

State Ministers (Dr.) Suren Raghavan, Dr. Sita Arambepola, and several other Members of Parliament participated in the committee meeting held.