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By Charumini de Silva
Passport issuance in the first half of the year has increased sharply by 289% to 437,382 from 109,789 in the same period last year, as a result of the ongoing economic crisis.
The race to migrate has seen a significant uptick of 221% to 122,491 passports being issued in the month of June — the highest outcome in any month during the first half of the year.
As per Immigration and Emigration Department statistics, over 72,000 passports were issued monthly during the first six months of the year.
In January 52,278, February 55,381, March 74,890, April 53,151 and May 52,945 passports were issued.
The passports issued in the first half of this year is 14% increase compared to 382,506 passports issued for the entirety of 2021.
As per the department's history, the highest number of passports issued was in 2016 at 658,725. Thus, the, 437,382 in the first half clearly indicates the high demand for passports and is likely to break that record.
The pent-up demand for passports has increased significantly since the latter part of 2021 with the ongoing economic crisis and multiple other challenges faced by the public on a daily basis.
“Currently, the department receives over 4,000 appointments daily,” Immigration and Emigration Department Deputy Controller and Media Spokesperson Piyumi Bandara told the Daily FT yesterday.
She also said the Department has requested the Public Administration Home Affairs, Provincial Councils, and Local Government Ministry to extend more manpower to meet the pent-up demand. The new request was made despite the recently introduced two separate work shifts in place. The department staff begins the first shift from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the second shift from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Overcapacity has exhausted the staff, as the department has stepped up its daily issuance of passports from 2,000 to 3,500 at present.
Immigration and Emigration department has been in the media spotlight, as thousands of people who visit its head office in Battaramulla have faced multiple problems and undue delays in services over the last couple of months.
Given recent long queues and backlog of applications, the department decentralised its one-day passport service to Kandy, Matara, and Vavuniya regional offices from early this week (4). In the beginning, the decentralised one-day passport issuance service will be given to only 100 applicants who have already reserved a date and time at the specific regional offices.
Previously, the issuance of passports under one-day service was only possible at its head office in Battaramulla.
The move to decentralise the one-day passport issuance service was a result of business leader turned Investment Promotion Minister Dhammika Perera’s directive to streamline operations of the department during his visit last week. Perera also announced another series of measures to ease the congestion of passport issuances.
These include the setting up of a fully-fledged office in Vavuniya, and additional offices in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura, and Kurunegala.
As per the Minister, the proposed offices will be set up in existing State-owned buildings that are already available with an Rs. 100 million donation.
He also said a 24-hour operational passport counter will be established in the Kurunegala office. The city is considered to have sent the highest number of people for foreign employment annually via a large number of agencies as well.
Sri Lanka’s demand for foreign employment has increased significantly over the past two months, as the hardships faced by all walks of life are escalating by the day.
As per the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment over 120,000 people have gone abroad for employment in the first five months, whilst only 122,000 people had left for employment opportunities overseas for the entirety of 2021.
