Over 17,457 Overseas Sri Lankans (OSL) had by Saturday noon (28 March), registered on the ‘Contact Sri Lanka’ Online Portal of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. Of these, 6773 are from the Middle East region, 1892 from Europe, 1302 from South Asia, 1028 from North America and over 6000 from other parts of the world.
In view of the present circumstances of the rapid spread of COVID-19 globally, the issuance of all categories of Sri Lanka visas for all foreign nationals will be suspended until further notice.
All types of Electronic Travel Authorizations (ETA), Entry Visas, Landing Endorsements, Multiple Entry Visas and Residence Visas that have already been granted will also be temporarily suspended and all foreign nationals holding such visas will not be allowed to enter Sri Lanka until 2359 hrs (Sri Lanka time) on 31 March 2020.
The Sri Lanka Embassy in Berlin has informed the Ministry that the Swiss authorities have confirmed that the Sri Lankan aged 59 years who died in Switzerland on 25 March had tested positive for COVID-19.
The deceased was from Punkuduthivu in Northern Province and held residence permit in Switzerland
Ministry of Foreign Relations
Colombo
27 March 2020
The Government has decided to indefinitely extend the closure of the arrival terminal at the Airport
– Flights with passengers will continue to leave Sri Lanka
– Ports operations continue uninterrupted
With a total of 48 Buddhist pilgrims returning in the last SriLankan Airlines dedicated flight that departed New Delhi at 05:10 hrs. today (22) before India closed its airports for inward commercial passenger flights, all Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrims who were stranded in India have now returned to Sri Lanka.
Arrangements are being made for the smooth return of foreign nationals who are presently in Sri Lanka on tourist and other visa categories. This will be done using both regular flight movements operating through Sri Lanka and also charter flights that may be deployed, as the airport remains open for outbound passenger movements.
Due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus in Sri Lanka, it has been decided to extend the validity period of all types of visas issued to all foreign nationals who are currently staying in Sri Lanka.
Such foreign nationals are kindly requested to proceed as advised below:
Foreign nationals who wish to get their visas extended should visit the Visa Division of the Department of Immigration and Emigration at Battaramulla on either 08th and 09th of April 2020 to pay the relevant fee and to get the visa endorsed on their passports.
This High Commission is at present in the process of collecting the details of Sri Lankan students studying in the UK. The purpose of having such details is to reach out to them in a situation such as the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Therefore, Sri Lankan students are requested to provide the following details via education@slhc-london.co.uk enabling this High Commission to update its database.
Moreover, Sri Lanka students Associations at UK Universities are also requested to inform the High Commission their details including the names of the office bearers and their contacts.
