New digital platform to obtain documents from abroad

On January 6, Vijitha Herath, Minister of Foreign Affairs, launched the initiative that is part of the digitalization process initiated by Dissanayake. A pilot project implemented in seven embassies, including Japan, Qatar and Kuwait. Jasintha Subasinghe, a Sinhalese living in Italy, says that visits to her country were races to obtain documents. In some countries there have been cases of abuse of power by officials.

Colombo () – “This online system is very valuable for those of us abroad. We are very grateful to have such an effective measure. Until now we had to run and waste time. “It helps us a lot because we go to our country on vacation for a short period of time.” has collected the opinions of some Sinhalese living abroad on the digital platform that has just been inaugurated. This allows citizens to quickly obtain birth, marriage and death certificates through their embassy, ​​without any delay.

The initiative is part of the ambitious digitalization program launched by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. In this context, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath on Monday launched the new platform: a website managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Labor and Tourism. The pilot project is being implemented in seven Sri Lankan embassies, in Japan, Qatar and Kuwait, as well as in Milan, Toronto, Melbourne and Dubai. The project aims to cover all embassies in the future.

“This opportunity for Sri Lankans abroad is the result of the efforts put in by Presidential Secretariat officials over the past two months,” Minister Herath said. “Although officials could have implemented it sooner, they did not have the necessary leadership. However, with the new political leadership, officials were able to make it a reality in two months. “This is the first successful initiative in the president’s digitalization process.” Herath believes the new service will also be economically useful, because Sri Lankan citizens outside the country can obtain documents for a fee of approximately $22.

The minister also announced that a tender has been launched for the printing of new passports. “With the same technology you can manage passports or renew them, and also obtain other documents,” he added. “With more than three million Sri Lankans currently living abroad, this is an important step.” Lester Jans, resident in Los Angeles, United States, explains to that the system should be implemented as soon as possible to enable Sri Lankan citizens living abroad to obtain documentation online. Also in his case, visits to Sri Lanka turned into runs from one public office to another.

“The little time we have to be with our families at home, we have to dedicate to obtaining documents. That is why my friends and I appreciate these new measures. Those of us who live outside the country are very grateful to the new government for this progress,” he tells Jasintha Subasinghe, representing herself and her friends living in Breccia, Italy.

Philippe Ratnayake, a resident of Brussels, Belgium, considers this measure from two perspectives. “Firstly, we congratulate the government for reaching out to Sri Lankans abroad. Because some had to wait a long time to obtain the necessary certificates through the embassies and offices in their respective countries,” he explained to . He then adds that he knows of cases in which officials in some countries have extorted people to provide them with those documents in a short time.

He explains that “when we go to request documents they give us a yellow sheet. That yellow paper indicates that we are citizens of Sri Lanka, and the officials try to trick us and get money from us by telling us that it is a long process. Several friends of ours have faced similar situations.” Another thing that Philippe explained is that this procedure can only be done by migrant workers or people who have a visa, but those who are abroad under political protection cannot access it. Everyone considers that this new step must be kept under control to avoid deviations, because it is still a pilot project.