The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the publication of a new Immigration Bill in the Government Gazette, clearing the way for it to be submitted to Parliament.
The legislation is intended to replace the Immigrants and Emigrants Act No. 20 of 1948, the law that has governed entry to and exit from Sri Lanka since the year of independence.
A bill that lapsed with the last Parliament
An earlier attempt at the same reform reached Parliament but did not survive it. That bill was before the House when the Ninth Parliament was dissolved on September 24, 2024, and proceedings on it stopped there.
After the dissolution the government reviewed the legislation in the light of a Supreme Court determination on the earlier bill. Cabinet then approved the preparation of a fresh Immigration Bill on August 18, 2025.
Electronic passport provisions
On December 10, 2025, Cabinet approved the inclusion of provisions covering the country’s forthcoming electronic passport system.
Under those provisions the Secretary to the Ministry in charge of Immigration and Emigration would be designated the Country Signing Certification Authority, the office responsible for the mechanism that writes biometric data to the chip in an electronic passport. The role is a standard requirement of internationally recognised e-passport schemes, which depend on a national authority to sign and vouch for the data stored on each chip.
The e-passport procurement has been contested. The Public Security Ministry recommended a Thales/JIT consortium for the contract in May despite a warning about vendor lock-in, and Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala earlier denied claims that the tender had already been awarded.
The bill was drafted by the Legal Draftsman. Cabinet approved the proposal to gazette it and then place it before Parliament on the submission of the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs.
The decision comes on the same day the Department of Immigration and Emigration’s passport issuance system went down for about an hour before being restored.
Source: Cabinet approves new Immigration Bill to replace 1948 law — Ada Derana, August 11.
