SL rolls out biometric passport system to Sri Lankan expats
In a major digital transformation of its consular operations, the Sri Lankan government has given the green light to a project to facilitate faster, secure passport delivery to Sri Lankans overseas through the use of biometric technology.
The programme will be piloted at 20 missions globally, significantly streamlining the passport application process for members of the diaspora.
This was published in the cabinet memorandum submitted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, and the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs.
The project is to be financed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in terms of money, technical assistance, and equipment.
These involve the establishment of biometric points of capture, furnishing the necessary hardware, and establishing secure digital connections between foreign missions and Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration.
‘This project will improve the provision of our services to our expatriates and eliminate administrative backlogs through digital passport processing at foreign missions, a senior official of the Foreign Ministry said. Cabinet Paper 22/2025 enables biometric kiosks at selected missions to enable Sri Lankan nationals to submit applications and take biometric data such as fingerprints and photos at the mission.
The platform will interface with the online passport application system of the immigration department as part of a broader digitalisation of government services.
While the precise locations of the 20 diplomatic posts have not been made public, government sources indicated missions in countries with large expatriate Sri Lankan populations will be given priority. The move follows the global trend where countries are adopting biometric systems for improving security and efficiency of citizens’ services as well as border management. Other countries such as Switzerland already employ such systems.
The Cabinet announcement called the project as one towards offering faster, more secure, and more reliable consular services to Sri Lankans abroad. It also ensures that the biometric data collection process would be according to international privacy and security standards, as recommended by IOM.
The technical infrastructure and the operational processes will be dealt with by the department coordinating data capture, verification, and issuing of secure documents.
This phase is expected to rationalise administrative processes, promote digital identity administration, and bolster Sri Lanka’s international transition towards smarter, technology-driven governance.
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