Idiocy of new visa arrangements

by Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This is very sound advice to be followed at this time of distress in Sri Lanka, as there are many things that are broken and need fixing urgently. Some may say our ruling politicians are not smart enough to grasp the validity of such truths but delving into the chaos created by the new visa arrangements, one is left with the inevitable conclusion that the truth is just the opposite. Our politicians are far from being daft, rather arrogant enough to fix things that are not broken as long as there is something in it for them! In spite of all the problems facing Sri Lanka, international travel organisations have been very supportive and Sri Lanka has recently been designated as the best country for single female travellers. It looks as if the resultant accelerating tourism, which may help us to solve our foreign exchange problems, has incentivised politicians to make a killing. They seem to be interested in “making hay while the sun shines” even if it means “killing the goose that lays golden eggs”!

The excellent editorial “Chaos at BIA” (The Island, 4 May) states the problems in BIA very eloquently but there is another side to the story; perhaps, even more important. That is the further mess created with on-line visa applications. Up to mid-April both on-line visa applications as well as visa-on-arrival at BIA were ably handled by the Department of Immigration utilising a system set up by SLT-Mobitel. I have neither heard of anyone complaining nor seen any adverse correspondence in any newspapers. Having travelled very widely, I can vouch for the fact that Sri Lanka Immigration services is among the best, without a shade of doubt. One of the worst is in the US, where I missed a couple of flights due to totally unacceptable queues in US airports. Perhaps, the US based company now handling visas in BIA did not consider the long queues anything unusual!

When the government announced a new visa system everyone expected an improvement although improvements were hardly necessary as the system was functioning very well. On the few occasions I helped others to get a visa-on-arrival, it was done within minutes, with no fuss. On-line visas were applied through the platform run by the Immigration Department “eta.gov.lk”, with no need for uploading any documents, and applications were processed within 24 hours. A 30-day visa, which allowed two entries, cost $50 and there were no additional fees. It was very simple. With the new system, there is no 30-day visa but there is a 60-day visa, which needs uploading of documents making it very cumbersome. Travel experts opine that most of this is unnecessary as all data can be obtained from the airline booking systems. It costs $75 and there is a processing fee of $18.50. This must be one of the highest processing fees for any service, anywhere in the world!

According to a front-page news item in The Sunday Island of 5th May, the new service provider “GBS Technology Services and IVS Global – FZCO and VFS VF Worldwide Holdings Ltd.” stands to gain $42.5 million within a 12-month period, in addition to another $17.25 million by way of “convenience fees” (charged for using credit cards), based on the government’s projection of 2.3 million foreign visitors entering the island this year! How wonderful! If there are no back-handers involved, wonder who the genius who devised this scheme to enrich a foreign firm!

The lame excuse given is that this company operates worldwide and thus will make travel to Sri Lanka more attractive. A cynic may say that it is only attractive to corrupt politicians’ pockets! In this age of Internet booking of everything, does it matter whether a company is global? What is wrong with local providers with excellent service? It has been reported that SLT-Mobitel requested a service charge of $1, to upgrade the platform which could have been done even without an increase of visa fees. Instead, Mahadenamuttas in our government has decided to hand over the entire operation to a foreign firm and allow valuable foreign exchange to be siphoned out!

The video that went viral, of a frustrated Sri Lankan condemning the inefficiency of the new system will not help our tourist industry. Worse still, is the financial impact of the new fees, a family of four from a Western country having to pay nearly $500 as visa fees, for a holiday. Some argue that as Western countries charge high visa fees, this is justifiable which is taking things out of context. Most Western countries do not depend on tourism whereas we are dependent. Further, we are in competition with other countries who vie for tourists. Therefore, if we are to use increasing tourism as a means to overcome our foreign exchange problems, we ought to make things simpler, not cumbersome as had been done with these idiotic changes.

The government has created yet another chaos by this hare-brained scheme and has appointed yet another committee to sort it out! When will they learn? Perhaps, never and they do not care as long as their pockets bulge. The two ministers involved are not renowned for their honesty and integrity. After all, President Ranil Wickremesinghe handed over Sri Lanka Cricket to the Minister of Tourism and since, all the exposes made by the Auditor General about malpractices seem to have been forgotten! The same minister had the audacity to say that Sri Lanka was a part of India and his excuse was that he was encouraging Indians to visit Sri Lanka. The Minister of Internal Security had the audacity to state that a tender process was not necessary as the company concerned was the only global visa provider! Why are services provided by local tech companies of no importance to him and his inability to grasp the concept of openness is bewildering!

We have had many scams including the bond-scam, which was done twice. Now comes this visa scam. In an era where scammers are constantly trying to dupe, the Sri Lanka government too has joined the lot. Our politicians are only interested in feathering their own nests and may I repeat that they are “making hay while the sun shines” and are prepared to even “kill the goose that lays golden eggs”!