Upgraded system for Immigration and Emigration Dept
by L.S. Ananda Wedaarachchi
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Chulananda Perera
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The Immigration and Emigration Department will launch a new system to
electronically scan and store documents, said Controller General of the
Department Chulananda Perera.
He said the present system of storing and maintaining official
documents has posed a challenge to the Department. Under the proposed
system, passport and visa applications and the supporting documents
furnished along with the application for passports would be returned to
the applicants. The Attorney-General has approved the new system, the
Controller General said. The new system will ensure the safety of vital
documents, preventing the loopholes inherent in the old system, he said.
Perera said the online Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) will also be
introduced soon. ETA is an automated system which could determine the
eligibility of those wishing to travel to Sri Lanka and whether their
travel poses any security risk to the country, he said.
The Department has issued over 484,967 passports in 2009 and over
500,000 passports in 2010.
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