On-Arrival Visa Scandal: MP Ranawaka demands action against politicos and officials responsible

URF leader MP Patali Champika Ranawaka last week in Parliament called on the government to hold accountable the politicians and officials involved in the on-arrival visa fiasco, suggesting they should face the same consequences as those involved in importing substandard human immunoglobulin.

Ranawaka stated that since 2012, the process of issuing on-arrival visas at the Bandaranaike International Airport has been managed by the Mobitel company. Mobitel indicated that after five or six years, the system should be upgraded. Since 2018, there have been proposals to upgrade this system, but the process was delayed due to the pandemic and associated health concerns.

Despite a comprehensive report by Mobitel on the on-arrival visa issuance, in September 2023, the Public Security Minister introduced a new proposal. Although the immigration authorities welcomed the Mobitel proposal, the minister pushed to assign the process to the IVS-GBS company. This decision contradicted the government’s procurement policies and IMF guidelines on good governance. It was considered an unsolicited proposal against government procurement practices.

Additionally, there are security and health concerns. There have been instances where COVID-infected tourists were brought into the country under the pretext of developing tourism, leading to thousands of COVID-related deaths.

Tourists’ data should be managed by the government, not a foreign company. The government needs to know the whereabouts of tourists and their departure details. This data collection process traditionally fell under the Immigration Department’s purview. When questioned, the minister argued that VFS is a reputed company operating in many countries. However, VFS does not issue visas in any country; only the relevant authorities do.

In this instance, the agreement was signed by the Public Security Minister with GBS-IVS and VFS Global to handle the on-arrival visa counter at the BIA. The minister misled the House when questioned about this matter.

Ranawaka revealed a massive scam involving excessive visa fees charged to foreigners, with each foreigner forced to pay an additional USD 26.50, negatively impacting tourism. He proposed to the House that the politicians and officials involved in this scam be brought before the law and face the same consequences as those who imported substandard human immunoglobulin to the country.