Applicants decry delay in dual citizenship
1,000 applications at final stage: Immigration and Emigration Dept.
Applications up to March 2025 to be cleared by year-end: MFA All dual citizenship applications submitted up to March 2025 will be completed by the end of this year, with applicants already being notified to make payments as the final step in the approval process, according to the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
Over the last week, The Sunday Morning learnt that there are dozens of Sri Lankans who have applied for dual citizenship and paid the relevant fees for it last year, with little communication from the Government since. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Department of Immigration and Emigration Citizenship Division Deputy Controller E.H.G. Prasanga confirmed that all applications submitted in 2024 and January this year had been fully processed, and that emails requesting the relevant payments had already been sent to the applicants concerned. He said nearly 1,000 applications that were pending were now in the final stage of processing, adding that applicants would be notified within the next week to make the required payments. The department expects to complete all applications registered up to March by the end of December this year.
Prasanga said the current processing time for dual citizenship applications was around 7–8 months, adding that steps were being taken to reduce this timeframe to 5–6 months. He explained that applications extending beyond one year were generally those requiring extended security clearances or those with missing documentation, and that applicants were informed when such issues arose. He further stated that once payment was made, a confirmation was issued on the same day, and the dual citizenship certificate was finalized within 6–7 weeks following the completion of ministerial approvals and official signatures. Prasanga stressed that only eligible applicants were requested to make the payment, noting that paying the fee marked the commencement of the final step of the process.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) stated that Sri Lankans living overseas could submit their dual citizenship applications through Sri Lankan diplomatic missions in their respective countries. When contacted, MFA Spokesperson Thushara Rodrigo said Sri Lankan missions overseas accepted applications within 1–2 hours once all required documents were submitted, adding that the necessary requirements were publicly available on the websites of the ministry and the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
He explained that once submitted, completed applications were sent to Colombo via the diplomatic bag system and transferred to the Department of Immigration and Emigration, which then carried out the full verification process. Rodrigo argued that diplomatic missions did not cause delays, stating that what applicants often perceived as delays were actually the procedural time required by the current system. He said that all waiting periods arose from internal administrative and verification processes carried out in Sri Lanka, not from the missions abroad, adding that processing times varied depending on the nature of individual cases and whether applications contained errors or incomplete documentation.
Rodrigo pointed out that a common misconception among applicants was that their application had already been approved once they were informed to make the payment, emphasising that they needed to wait for the physical certificate to exercise their rights and privileges as dual citizens.
