(COLOMBO) – The Indian Government on Friday distanced itself from the controversy that has erupted over the issuance of visit visas at Sri Lanka’s main passenger entry port – the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Colombo by an Indian company saying that the referred firm does not belong to India.
A spokesman for the Indian High Commission office in Colombo said that the company VFS Global is not Indian or based in India but headquartered elsewhere,” he said
Meanwhile the Sri Lankan Government Information Department said it had outsourced the visa desk at the BIA to VFS Global, a company with 146 centres across the globe after a proper study into the matter and approval by the Cabinet.
A spokesman for the Department said that visa endorsement is always retained by Sri Lanka Immigration and that only document processing is done by VFS Global as in any other countries where it is in operation.
Further, he said the relevant visa fees charged from applicants are for the State coffers whereas the company will receive service charges for work done by it in processing documents for a visa.
In a related development tourism stakeholders said Sri Lanka now has the highest visa costs in Asia, creating a significant barrier for tourists compared to competing destinations like Thailand, Vietnam and many others that offer free visas or charge much lower fees.
In a letter to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, they urged him to intervene and restore a competitive and user-friendly visa process through a Government-operated website, similar to the previous ETA system, to enable a tourist to obtain the necessary 30 days, single entry visa with ease.
They said the tourism industry, a key pillar of Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, is aiming for 2.3 to 2.5 million tourist arrivals in 2024 and that these visa changes threaten this target.
“The abrupt fee increase and complicated process are likely to deter tourists, potentially reducing arrivals to below 2 million.
A recent study indicates that Sri Lanka now has the highest visa costs in Asia, creating a significant barrier for tourists.
“Moreover, as we go into the period of family travel in July and August, the current fees would require a family of four to pay US$ 400 just to enter the country”, a spokesman for the group said.
