BOI launches five-year residence visa to entice foreign investors

Investment Promotion Minister Dhammika Perera hands over visa document to Unilever Sri Lanka Chairperson and Managing Director Hajar Alafifi Laadel in the presence of BOI Director General Renuka M. Weerakone (extreme left)

Investment Promotion Minister Dhammika Perera hands over visa document to Lanka IOC PLC Managing Director Manoj Gupta

• 10 investors received long-term visa yesterday
• Application process entirely online
• Initiative aimed at improving SL’s ease of doing business index

In an effort to step up the nation’s game in luring in foreign direct investments (FDI), Sri Lanka’s investment promotion agency, the Board of Investment (BOI), launched yesterday the five-year residence visa programme dedicated to investors.

The initiative has been launched by the newly-appointed Investment Promotion Minister Dhammika Perera to make Sri Lanka meet the international benchmark in terms of ease of doing business.

The long-term visa programme, a long-felt need, primarily aims to facilitate the investors, who wish to embark on a journey with the BOI.  

“Before the implementation of this programme, they (investors) had to go through a long documentation process every year to get these visas.

Having understood the prime need to provide a seamless and convenient service for investors, we have launched the new programme, albeit I have not officially assumed duties as the Investment Promotion Minister,” said Perera at the launch event held in Colombo yesterday. 

The visa application process is accessible online and the facility is also used for defence clearance. Plans are afoot to introduce the same mechanism with the Immigration and Emigration Department, the BOI said.

At the launch event, 10 investors received the five-year resident visa. Among the investors who received the facility were Unilever Sri Lanka Chairperson and Managing Director Hajar Alafifi Laadel, Ocean Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd Managing Director Dr. Austin C K Au, Taprobane Sea Foods Managing Director Timothy O’Reilly, Antwerp Plastic Merchandising (HK) Ltd Director Nancy Liu and Elegant Knitting Director Luke Holmick and Lanka IOC PLC Managing Director Manoj Gupta.

The agency annually issues 7500-8000 visa recommendations for investors, employees and dependents.
The BOI has granted visas for foreign nationals from 109 countries such as India, the United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Pakistan, which represent the most applicants based on last year’s statistics.