Sri Lanka scraps long-term visa for Russians, Ukrainians

Sri Lanka scraps long-term visa for Russians, Ukrainians
Sri Lanka scraps long-term visa for Russians, Ukrainians

Hello and welcome to the details of Sri Lanka scraps long-term visa for Russians, Ukrainians and now with the details

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe (left) speaks with Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as they attend the annual Buddhist Navam procession to mark the Navam Perahera festival in Colombo. — AFP pic

COLOMBO, Feb 25 — Sri Lanka said today it had ended long-term tourist visa extensions for thousands of Russians and Ukrainians using the policy to live on the island since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The government is not granting further visa extensions,” Commissioner-General of Immigration Harsha Ilukpitiya told AFP, giving a March 7 deadline for departure.

“The flight situation has now normalised and they have no difficulty in getting back.”

Just over 288,000 Russians and nearly 20,000 Ukrainians have visited Sri Lanka in the past two years, according to official figures.

Advertisement

It is not clear how many stayed longer than the usual 30-day tourist visa.

But thousands of Russians and smaller numbers of Ukrainians are believed to have settled in Sri Lanka, some to avoid potential draft into the army.

Some who stayed have started restaurants and set up nightclubs.

Advertisement

The government decision coincided with a furious social media backlash against a Russian-run nightclub which had organised a “whites-only” party in the southern coastal resort town of Unawatuna.

Sri Lanka sought to boost tourism by granting 30-day visas on arrival, as the country desperately needed foreign exchange as it recovers from its worst economic crisis since mid-2022.

The country defaulted on its US$46 billion (RM219.8 billion) foreign debt in April 2022 and months of street protests led to the resignation of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa three months later.

An IMF bailout of US$2.9 billion has helped stabilise the economy and end shortages of essentials such as food, fuel and medicines. — AFP

These were the details of the news Sri Lanka scraps long-term visa for Russians, Ukrainians for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.

It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.

PREV UK hate preacher Anjem Choudary convicted for leading terror group
NEXT US military raises alert level for Europe bases: reports

Author Information

I have been an independent financial adviser for over 11 years in the city and in recent years turned my experience in finance and passion for journalism into a full time role. I perform analysis of Companies and publicize valuable information for shareholder community. Address: 2077 Sharon Lane Mishawaka, IN 46544, USA Phone: (+1) 574-255-1083 Email: [email protected]