Cutting edge technology to fight visa frauds

By K.K. Kariyakarawana

The Department of Immigration and Emigration is to adopt a cutting edge technology to enhance its border control operations in future by introducing a Mobile Passport Reader (MPR).

The MPR will be used to swipe and scan any passport at any given time enabling the authority to get a full description of the passport holder instead of doing it at an immigration or emigration counter at an airport.

Controller Department of Immigration and Emigration Chulananda Perera told the Sunday Observer that a single unit which cost around Rs. 700,000 will be put into practice in few weeks time.

The Department has so far purchased eight units from the mobile technology and security specialist 3M, which had been imported from the UK.

The new equipment will help to achieve the full life cycle of border control which is arrival, departure and transfer passengers in no time.

"Earlier we could check a passport of a foreigner only at an immigration and emigration counter attached to an airport or a shipping port or the department head office. If a foreigner was nabbed on suspicion on the street he had to be brought to a nearest department branch. But because of the new mobile reader you can check the details of a passport holder anywhere," Controller Perera said.

It enables the department to conduct snap raids at any place especially popular tourist destinations to do random check ups on tourists and ascertain their state of visa. This will immensely help to improve the detections and minimise the number of tourists who overstay.

Tourists visit Sri Lanka for various purposes under various visa categories like visit visa, tourist visa or student visa. And some decide to remain in the country although after their permitted period of visa is expired.

This can become a serious issue and its the department's responsibility to carry out many detections as possible to apprehend the culprits and bring them before the law or deport them to their native countries. With the new unit implementing these constant detections will be efficient.

The unit which looks like a credit or debit card reader in a common supermarket at the first glance, contains a comprehensive circuit that works with data sim. The unit is linked to the department's main system of the database where you can obtain details of any passport holder who had entered the country from a legitimate point of entry.

It also has the facility to scan somebody's thumb and get the same details if that person fails to produce a valid passport at the time of the check.

The unit will scan the Machine Readable Zone, the two line code of digits and letters on the picture page of a passport and obtain the details.

The unit could be used as a mobile phone to make necessary calls and to connect to the nearest immigration and emigration point. It also has the ability to recognise internationally enlisted wanted criminals who might try to enter into the country as well as those who might try to leave the country whilst their passports being impounded.

The controller said that one of the chief benefits of the mobile reader is to check the passports of large numbers of tourists especially disembark at harbours that come from cruise liners. Instead of queuing up at entry points creating heavy congestions the officers can now check the passports at random points.