Sri Lanka Police has temporarily suspended the online issuance of Police Clearance Certificates because of system maintenance, the Daily Mirror reported on Tuesday evening.

During the suspension, members of the public can obtain their certificates in person from their respective police stations. Police advised applicants to contact their local station for further information on how certificates will be issued while the online route is unavailable.

Why this matters

Police Clearance Certificates are a routine prerequisite for overseas employment, migration and many visa applications, so outages fall hardest on people working to deadlines set by foreign employers and embassies. The United Arab Emirates made a police clearance certificate mandatory for Sri Lankan visa applicants — one of several destinations that require the document.

This is the second disruption to the service in under a month, but the two are different in kind. In August the computerised system of the Police Clearance Division suffered an unexpected technical failure, going down from noon on 20 August and forcing police to introduce an email-based workaround before the system was restored on 22 August. The current suspension is described by police as planned maintenance, and the fallback is the police station counter rather than an email submission.

Update (September 17): three 24-hour helplines opened

Police Headquarters has opened three dedicated 24-hour helplines for applicants, run through its Special Operations Room, Hiru News reported on Thursday:

NewsFirst reported the same measure, saying the numbers are for applicants facing difficulties in obtaining certificates.

A statement from the Police Media Division said the public has already been notified of the temporary procedures for submitting applications until the digital system is restored to full operation. Police urged applicants to use the numbers for any clearance-related queries.

The helplines answer the gap left open on Tuesday, when the suspension was announced with no alternative contact channel — but they are a support line, not a substitute route for applying. The in-person police station counter remains the way to obtain a certificate.

What is still not stated

Police have not said how long the maintenance will take, when the online service is expected to resume, whether applications already submitted online are affected or will need resubmission, or whether the maintenance is related to the August failure.

The updated reports add no restoration date. Standing up round-the-clock phone support on the third day of a planned maintenance window suggests demand that the counter fallback has not absorbed, though police have not characterised call volumes or said how many applicants are affected.