High Commission of Sri Lanka in India

The Sri Lanka Missions in South Asia, in collaboration with the Foreign Ministry, have been closely engaging with the Sri Lankan communities overseas and are working towards assisting and facilitating the many Sri Lankan expatriates in the region in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic. Mission wise, databases of Sri Lankan students and other expatriates are being compiled by the Missions with a view to keeping in close contact and ensuring their welfare at all times.  

The Government of Sri Lanka with its recent announcement requesting all Sri Lankan expatriates to remain in their current locations until the risk of COVID-19 is minimized, has further assured that requests for return of Sri Lankans will be considered once the spread of the virus is contained in the country.  

The Government of India has conveyed the following notice to the Diplomatic Missions in India with regard to the extension of the validity period of the visas of foreign nationals who are stranded in India due to COVID-19:

“Regular Visa, e-Visa or stay stipulation, of such foreign nationals who have been stranded in India because of spread of COVID-19 in many parts of the world and due to consequent travel restrictions imposed by the Indian Authorities and whose Visas have expired or would be expiring during the period from 01.02.2020 (Midnight) to 30.04.2020 (Midnight), would be extended till midnight of 30.04.2020 on ‘GRATIS’ basis after making online application by the foreigner. Exit of such foreign nationals, if so requested by them during this period, will be granted without levy of overstay penalty” 

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.  

This portal jointly created by the Ministry of Foreign Relations and the Information & Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) for the benefit of Overseas Sri Lankans, was launched on Thursday (26 March 2020). It is hosted on the Ministry web page www.mfa.gov.lk and can also be accessed at www.contactsrilanka.mfa.gov.lk. A dedicated team of officials have been assigned by the Ministry of Foreign Relations to respond to queries.

The Government urges Sri Lankan expatriates who wish to return to their Motherland to safely remain where they are now until the risk of COVID – 19 virus minimized.

The Government has taken several effective initiatives to prevent the spread of the pathogen. In order to stop the virus coming into the country and its spread, the Government had completely banned overseas arrivals.