KAMALIKA PIERIS

The contract for issuing on-arrival visas at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) was  taken over by    VFS Global   on April 17, 2024. This matter had previously been satisfactorily  handled by the officers of the Sri Lankan Immigration Department , without any complaints.

After VFS Global  took over, those applying for e-visas had do so at the new online platform operated by IVS-GBS. This replaced the ETA system (Electronic Travel Authorization) created by Mobitel,  that was  used earlier.  Incoming tourists  were now forced to get their visas from the IVS-GBS-VFS site https://www.srilankaevisa.lk/..They were told all  visitors must complete an eVisa application prior to their arrival in the country”

Under this new arrangement, VFS  met the  arrivals and  entered the data of each visa applicant into a system that the Immigration Department accessed using a separate login. VFS collected the money from the passengers who thereafter went to the Immigration counters to have their passports stamped with the visas.

We had no prior knowledge of the new visa system, said immigration officials. It was implemented suddenly. There was no  proper coordination between VFS officials and Immigration officials . We should have been informed before VFS began  work. There should have been a trial period. There was no pilot project or system roll out for their ETA. Troubleshooting  was done as and when problems crop up .  

When wrong data such as a different passport number, nationality, name, birth date or gender of a passenger was entered at the VFS end,  the data did not show up on the  Immigration Department system. Immigration said they had encountered  many such issues and attributed these errors to VFS Global since they are the ones doing the data entry.

The  new visa process was chaotic from the start, said  Immigration . Applicants had  to upload their passport copies and photos.  The system  did not accept AMEX cards. It was not multilingual like the  Mobitel  ETA system and   it did not  have a hotline for inquiries.  The Mobitel system asked 10-11 questions   from applicants, the VFS system  asked around 30 questions.

The new system  had an immediate impact on the tourism sector.  There was chaos at the airport. The system was slow and  there were long queues of people waiting to obtain on- arrival visas  

 One visitor  said he had applied for a multiple entry visa in May and received an approval notice from VFS Global a few days later. It cost several times more than the US$ 50 single entry for tourists used to under the old system.

When he arrived in Sri Lanka immigration officials at the airport had told him that there was no record of his visa approval – even though he was carrying a printed copy of it. He had then been told to complain to VFS Global and pay US$ 50 for a new single entry visa. I called VFS Global and  was told that there was no problem with my visa application and I would get an email certifying this. No email arrived despite multiple calls,.

The Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority said they too had received similar complaints. Also that auto-generated messages had been sent to some tourists telling them to reschedule their visit.

The government including Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, who presented the new scheme, has vigorously defended the new scheme, accusing a few immigration officials of trying to sabotage it.

 Immigration Controller Harsha Ilukpitiya  made excuses.  He said some foreign travellers have been lured to fake sites . We have told those applying to make sure they access the genuine site,” he said.

Mobitel   had issued  two categories of visas for tourists , 30-day single-entry  visa at US$ 50  which  could be extended up to six months and a  double entry tourist visa at $ 75  which was valid  for six months.

VFS got rid of the 30 day visa. The   30-day single-entry $ 50 visa , the cheapest tourist visa option  and the most popular ,was  withdrawn  on April 17. The short-term visa is gone, announced the media. The  more expensive three-month visa is available. Even visitors wanting to stay for under a month  had to  take  the  180-day visa.  but  VFS had  reduced the validity period for   this visa to three months from the original six months.

The  fees also changed. Once  VFS came in, the price  for  double entry  visa surged to $ 100,  with a new charge of  USD 25.77 .This new charge  was composed of a service  charge of US$ 18.5 and convenience fee” of   US$ 7.00.   

All foreigners arriving in the country,  whether  from a  visa free  country or not, had to pay this  US$ 25.77 in  addition to the visa fee. We have seven countries that are supposed to be getting a free visa to Sri Lanka, but it is not free as the service providers fees have to be paid in spite of the visa being free,  said  officials.

Children under 12 used to receive free visas, but VFS had done away with this as well. Family groups now had to pay $ 500 or more .  One mother  had paid almost US$ 700 in total for visas for herself and her two children and was distraught at having to pay so much for visas alone.

There was ‘visa denial’ .Some  arrivals had been turned away at the airport  by VSF. A group of 35 Pakistani visitors were rejected  A family of six from Nepal were rejected on arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) as  officials had stated that the group cannot be identified as tourists.

The tourist industry   said that they were not informed of the new visa system until it came into operation on April 17, 2024. The tourism sector was  seething at the new system. It was  very unsatisfactory. There was much inconvenience to tourists.  Travelers are not keen on visiting the country again.  Tourists are deterred by the high cost and the inefficient system. Bookings were affected.    There was a drop in targeted arrivals. The island  has lost over 20-25,000 tourist arrivals by way of cancellations  for August . Most were   for the Kandy Perahera.( continued)