19 March 2020 12:00 am
By Chaturanga Samarawickrama
The Department of Immigration and Emigration has decided to extend the validity period of all types of Visas issued to all foreigners who are currently in Sri Lanka, due to spread of the COVID-19 virus in the country, the Government Information Department said.
It said the validity period of all types of Visas would be extended for a period of 30 days with effect from March 14 to April 20.
Therefore, the Department has requested foreigners to visit the visa Divisions of the Department of Immigration and Emigration on either April 8 and 9 to pay the relevant fee and to get the visa endorsed in the passport.
“If a tourist wanted to leave the country during the aforementioned period, his/her journey would be facilitated after paying the relevant visa fee without any penalty at the airport,” the Department said.
The validity period of the acknowledgement issued for the applications already submitted to the Department of Immigration and Emigration to obtain visas will also be extended for a period of 30 days with effect from March 14 to April 12.
“If a person intended to leave the country during this time, a request to obtain the required passport from the Department should be sent to the following email addresses along with a copy of the flight ticket. Necessary advises in this regard would be communicated through email correspondence,” the department said.
piyumee@gmail.com, sanjaya7777@gmail.com, bgayanmilinda@yahoo.com, hamarathunge@gmail.com and jithanieathukorala@gmail.com. For any clarification, please contact: 0771588724