By Chaminda Silva

The Immigration and Emigration Department government last year issued an all-time high 874,955 passports, up from a previous high of 658,725 in 2016, department sources said, an increase of 33%.

Issues last year increased sharply by 492, 435, up 129 per cent from a year earlier. In 2020 the total number of passports issued was 209,411.An average of over 50,000 passports had been issued monthly in 2022 with June recording the highest ever issue of 122,491 passports, the figures reveal.

After the Government increased the passport fee from Nov 17, there was a slight slowdown in applications received, sources said.The revised price for a passport under the normal service is Rs. 5,000 while Rs. 20,000 is charged for the one-day service. In November (after the fee revision) 69,064 and in December 69,905 passports were issued.

With the sudden rise in demand for new passports, the department issues about 2,500 to 3,000 passports daily under one-day service, exceeding its normal capacity. Over 270,000 individuals have left the country through official channels to take up employment overseas in 2022.

“Total departures for foreign employment during January-November 2022 were recorded at 276,527 which exceeded the annual departures in the pre-pandemic period. Total departures for foreign employment were recorded at 25,376 during November 2022. Total departures of foreign employment comprised unskilled (9,337), skilled (7,334) and domestic aid (6,058) categories,” the latest Central Bank data showed.