Sri Lanka will issue biometric passports with embedded electronic chips in January 2025, according to a statement from the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
A pre registration process for Sri Lankans applying for the new passports is now open. The Department has also introduced online passport applications to ease the process for people living outside of Colombo. A contract to issue five million biometric passports was tendered in January.
Air travel volumes in Sri Lanka are increasing, and a spokesman for travel technology company SITA said they will hit pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year.
SITA CEO David Lavorel told a forum in Sri Lanka that the Aviation and Airports Authority, Immigration Department and airlines are taking a unified approach to dealing with the higher volumes. Among the action taken so far, SriLankan Airlines has deployed self-service kiosks from SITA, and the company said the biometrics adoption will be one of the steps to speed up airport processes in the country.
Some of the upgrades could take two years, he said. Japan and the IOM are supporting Sri Lanka in acquiring biometric access control and ABC gates at seaports and airports. – Biometric Update
