Colombo: The first consular section and visa issuance centre outside UAE was inaugurated yesterday in a ceremony in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.
The centre was inaugurated by Mohammad Mir Al Raisi, Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the presence of Gamini Lakshman Peiris, Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs.
Al Raisi expressed appreciation for the efforts to develop bilateral relations in various spheres, and emphasised that the opening of the consular section and the visa issuance centre is aimed at strengthening cooperation on consular affairs, improving customer service, facilitating procedures for workers’ entry to UAE through eGates at entry points, as well as following the best practices in this field.
The new visa centre serves 500 customers every day and uses passport authentication and biometrics such as fingerprints, eyeprints and faceprints, and medical tests conducted at 15 Sri Lankan centres accredited by the UAE Ministry of Health, in order to identity and prevent entry of individuals with contagious diseases.
The procedures will save costs of recruitment, quarantine and deportation, and improve customer service as they are aimed at providing excellent consular services fulfilling internationally recognised standards as well as the UAE Cabinet’s seven-star service standards.
Through the new visa issuance centre, the UAE Foreign Ministry will provide all related administrative services in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior using a fully integrated electronic system within an advanced framework of security controls aimed at achieving maximum protection for visa and entry procedures.
Peiris described the opening of the facility as an historic moment in bilateral relations and as a positive initiative that is nothing new for the UAE with which Sri Lanka has close and long-standing relations.
He thanked the UAE for its position on regional and international issues and its support to Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan minister also praised the system used in the visa issuance centre as one of the most efficient in the world as it saves time.
Dilan Perera, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare, Athauda Seneviratne, Minister of Rural Affairs, Abdul Fattah Kazim Al Mulla, UAE Ambassador to Sri Lanka, and other officials attended the inauguration ceremony.
