According to a report in the Indian Express, the Sri Lankan Department of Immigration and Emigration will begin to issue biometric passports next year in an effort to to prevent document forgeries.
The initiative is taking place under the directions of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The existing visa issuance system will be replaced by machine readable visa (MRV) technology in compliance with the Immigrants and Emigrants Act.
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“Introduction of MRV, which incorporates security features with high technology while complying with International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) standards 9303 is a great milestone,” commented a government spokesperson.