• Harsha calls for P’ment probe; queries rent justification, who specified contract TOR, actual service cost, options considered pre-contract award, & whither investment 
• Alles says agreement signed for 12-yrs for $ 200 m investment for equipment/software 
• Adds that Govt. must take formal policy decision on free visas over Rs. 24 b visa fee income; acknowledges error in non-addition of $ 50 30-days visa to system; defends VFS Global involvement

The Parliament unanimously approved the much-talked-about changes to the visa processes, which included the introduction of several new visa categories while the involvement of GBS Technology Services, IVS Global-FZCO and VF Worldwide Holdings Limited/VFS Global in managing online and on-arrival visas, was referred to the Cabinet of Ministers on two occasions.

This was informed by the Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles, under whose purview the Department of Immigration and Emigration comes.

Controversy flared up last week after video clips circulated on social media platforms showing an incoming passenger at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake claiming that ‘Indian’ personnel were handling Sri Lanka's immigration and emigration processes. It was subsequently disclosed that the Public Security Ministry had outsourced the visa processing to GBS Technology Services and IVS Global-FZCO, with VFS Global serving as the technology partner.

Meanwhile, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha de Silva urged the Parliament to investigate the issue. Taking to the social media platform 'X', Dr. de Silva called on the Parliament to investigate the visa controversy, raising questions about the justification for paying a monopoly rent allegedly amounting to Rs. 18 billion for the next 12 months, given the extra fee of United States Dollars ($) 25.77 charged by the said Company per visa. He also sought clarification on who specified the terms of reference (TOR) for the contract, what the actual cost of the service is, and which other options were considered before awarding the contract. He had also raised concerns over the sum of $ 200 million that GBS Technology Services and IVS Global-FZCO are said to have invested in commencing operations at the BIA. He posted the relevant Cabinet paper on ‘X’, which reads, "IVS-GBS Global Services has proposed to invest a sum of $ 200 million to provide the relevant technical equipment, software and knowledge for the system integration to be made with the Department of Immigration and Emigration in rendering the relevant services." "Can this be real - IVS-GBS Global to invest $ 200 million (tech for website and cameras?) as per the Cabinet memorandum justifying outsourcing at $ 18.50 per visa and VFS Global being added later to the original consortium? Where did this investment go? The Government must answer unless the Cabinet paper is fake," he queried on ‘X’.

Speaking at a press conference at the Public Security Ministry premises yesterday (6), Alles said that the said Company has invested $ 200 million in commencing visa issuance related operations at the BIA. "We have signed the agreement with them for 12 years. The reason being them investing $ 200 million on equipment and software. If they invest that much on a project, they should be given some time, shouldn't they?" He further said that there are clauses in the agreement that enable the Ministry to take action if the system operated by the Company does not perform as expected.

When the media pointed out that it is claimed that the two local Companies that the Cabinet approval had been granted for to operate the system previously were not given an opportunity to improve their systems, Alles said that they had four years to do so, but that they had not done so. "Even though there was an economic crisis, the responsibility to develop a platform that they were already managing was still vested with them. In this context, a local economic crisis shouldn't be an excuse for failing to advance the existing platform."

He explained that while only the one month single entry visa category had existed previously, the Government had, considering requests made by the relevant parties, recently passed new regulations with regard to visa processes, including several new visa categories such as six months, one year, five years, and 10 years visa. He said that the relevant proposal was first referred to the Cabinet, after which it was referred to the Parliament, where it was unanimously approved on 23 November of last year (2023). He added that the new regulations were gazetted and officially adopted, but that the outdated electronic travel authorisation (ETA) platform which was in use posed significant issues. "When it was passed in the Parliament, the issue that we had was that none of them could be implemented in our ETA system. Having passed this in November, we had to wait until VFS Global came in April to implement this. In our system, one couldn't even upload a picture. Some people just inserted their name and passport number, after which a visa would be issued. There was such a situation in our system." To address the technical issues in the former system and implement the new visa categories, he said that the Government enlisted the services of GBS Technology Services, IVS Global-FZCO and VF Worldwide Holdings Limited/VFS Global, which he pointed out have a robust presence worldwide. "VFS Global has 3,300 centres in 151 countries. They are number one in the world. Almost every country, Europe and Schengen countries, and even India, uses it”. He further explained that the need to bring in GBS Technology Services, IVS Global-FZCO and VF Worldwide Holdings Limited/VFS Global arose because the existing visa platform had been in need of an upgrade for four years. "A Sri Lankan company and a Chinese company tried to do this, but they couldn't. Given the requirement for new visa categories, VFS Global's proposal seemed viable, leading to further review. I looked at it. I then asked the Ministry Secretary to look at it, and we asked the Cabinet to appoint a committee to study their proposal," he said, adding that the relevant committee took three months to examine the proposal and had delivered a report in this regard in December, 2023. "We presented a Cabinet paper with that report on 4 December, 2023, and it was approved on 11 December, 2023. The agreement was signed on 21 December, 2023." Alles also addressed concerns about a lack of transparency, noting, "There are reports that this was done even without informing the Cabinet, but, no Cabinet Minister can say that they were not aware of us seeking VFS Global services and increasing the visa fees," he concluded, emphasising that the issue had gone to the Cabinet not just once, but twice, in order to ensure due process.

When the media queried as to why tenders were not called to select a company for the related process, Alles said that calling for tenders was not necessary for this particular case. "There are proposals, and there is a way to study them. It's an approach that's commonly taken in Sri Lanka. Even if tenders were invited, who would compete with VFS?" When queried as to whether there were other companies willing to take over the operations, he said that the Cabinet had approved two Companies for this purpose four years ago, but that despite that, no progress was made in all that time by the two said Companies.

Addressing allegations that an Indian Company is handling online and on-arrival visa operations, Alles clarified that it is not the case, and that the staff at their counters are Sri Lankan. "I must say that this Company in question cannot issue or deny visas," Alles remarked, explaining that they simply handle data collection while the local immigration and emigration authorities make the final approval or rejection related decision.

In response to a query by the media as to whether the said Company would be allowed to revise their service charge as they need, he said that they could not do so. "They cannot increase the service fee. There is no clause that enables such a revision." When queried as to whether the Company would operate with the same service charge for all 12 years during which the agreement will be in effect, he said: "Yes, they cannot change that fee."

Minister Alles also addressed criticisms from the Opposition, which arose regarding the fee of United States Dollars ($) 75 charged for a certain category of visa. "Many members of the Opposition (the main Parliamentary Opposition, the SJB), including SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, shouted about the $ 75 visa. However, it is the same members including the Opposition Leader who unanimously approved in Parliament the regulations which include these changes. This $ 75 visa is a six months double entry visa." However, he admitted that there was a mistake from their end, which led to confusion over the 30 days visa. "There was a small mistake. There was a 30 days visa for $ 50, but it had not been added to the system, and therefore, we will add it tomorrow (7 April)."

Concerns were raised by the media about the impact of increased visa fees on tourism. The media queried as to whether the visitors will not face significantly higher costs, citing an example where a family of four could be charged $ 400 in visa fees. However, Alles said that the actual increase is only about $ 25, raising the fee from $ 50 to $ 75 for a 60 days double entry visa. "A single entry 30 days visa remains at $ 50. These charges reflect standard adjustments seen worldwide." He noted that countries like Malaysia and Indonesia (Bali) have also made similar adjustments, requiring pre-visit visas instead of visas on-arrival, and increasing visa fees.

If the Government considers issuing visas for free, he said that it requires a formal policy decision. "I don't mind doing so, but, it has to be decided on by the Government. The country is currently earning approximately Rs. 24.8 billion from visa fees. Thus, a key consideration is whether waiving these fees would ultimately lead to increased revenue through tourism. The Government must weigh these factors and determine whether offering free visas would boost tourism enough."

Meanwhile, a private staff member of Alles sent a communication claiming that information had come to light that a Cabinet Minister, while watching the press conference held by Alles live, repeatedly referred questions to a journalist, to be referred to the Minister (Alles). The communication read that several journalists who attended the media briefing had informed Alles about this incident.