Sweeping visa policy changes to attract professionals and investors

Sri Lankans who have obtained citizenship in other countries will be able to obtain a life time permanent resident visa in Sri Lanka for US$ 1,500, with permission to work.

This will be one of the features of a new visa policy effective from next month, Immigration and Emigration Controller General S. Ranasinghe told the Sunday Times.

The sweeping changes aimed at attracting Sri Lankan professionals living overseas and bringing in more foreign investments would be imple- mented in three stages starting from April 2, he said.

He said Sri Lankans now living overseas with foreign citizenship would benefit from the scheme while Sri Lanka would be able to attract professionals to serve here for short periods. The conditions regarding employment would be announced soon.

Under the new visa policy, those bringing in investments of at least US$ 500,000 would be offered a 10-year resident visa while those making an investment of US$ 300,000 would be able to obtain a five-year resident visa.

The Controller General said the Government would also permit foreign spouses of Sri Lankans to obtain ‘Employment Resident Visa’ under certain conditions. The couple should have been married for 10 years and have children under the age of 18 to obtain such visas. These visas could be extended every two years for a payment of US$ 200. The employment categories will be restricted.

According to the Controller General, the Government is relaxing its online visa regulations by extending the one month visa to three months for citizens of 28 countries on additional payment of US$ 100.

The visa fee for other countries is to be reduced to US $ 60.

Meanwhile, the penalty for overstaying visas have been increased. Those overstaying visas more than one day will be charged US$ 500. At preset those who overstay their visas for more than a month are imposed a fine of US$ 25, while those who overstay for more than two months are required to pay US$ 50.

To attract more foreign students, the visa policy for them also has been relaxed. Accordingly, student visas will be issued for the full duration of the course instead of getting the visa extended periodically.

The Government will also be charging all visa fees based on US dollar rates to reduces losses caused by the depreciation of the rupee.