According to the Controller General of Immigration Harsha Ilukpitiya, a new seal was introduced in Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport from the 1st of June in accordance with international standards, using security measures, so that it cannot be imitated, and to create tourist attraction.
After 75 years, under the guidance of the Minister of Public Security, Mr. Tiran Alas, these reforms were carried out in the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
The Controller General of Immigration and Emigration also said that he had received reports of cases where the old seal used since 1948 had been used by many fraudsters imitating fake seals.
He said that this new stamp, which was created based on the concepts of immigration officials, was delayed for many years and under the leadership of Minister Tiran Alas, the stamp was quickly unveiled.
With the use of the new seal at Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport on the first of this month, this new seal has also been used at other international airports in Sri Lanka. Here, the arriving seal is in blue and the departing seal is in green.
In the meantime, the Department of Immigration has decided not to issue passports for unclear national identity cards that cannot identify the individual.
Mr. Harsha Ilukpitiya, Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, says that the passports will not be processed in any way considering the national identity cards that were issued a few decades ago.
For the issuance of air tickets, the applicant’s application form, color photograph valid for six months, national identity card, birth certificate must be submitted and according to the recently taken color photograph and national identity card submitted by many applicants, the applicant cannot be identified as the genuine applicant, the Comptroller General of Immigration said.
Thus, people who have such unrecognizable photos, numbers and letters of national identity cards must first prepare the national identity card to apply for a flight permit. Accordingly, the Controller General asked that a national identity card with a clear identity be presented when applying for air tickets.
Also, according to the existing system, a flight permit will be valid for ten years and in the future, through the modernization of the immigration system, licenses will be issued by receiving only the application when renewing the expired flight permits, said the Immigration Controller General and further said that the photograph, birth certificate etc. will be scanned and updated in the immigration system.
Flight permits? For pilots or private aircraft?