Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2012-05-16

Amendment of the Citizenship Act No.18 of 1948 and the Immigration and Emigration Act No.20 of 1948 with a view to formalizing the grant of Dual Citizenship and the Establishment of the "Overseas Sri Lankans" Scheme

- the Government has decided to amend the above Act so as to make room for pre-examination to satisfy that a person applying for dual citizenship in Sri Lanka has fulfilled the requirements to make him eligible for such dual citizenship. The main amendments to be made will touch on the following:

* to establish a new scheme called "Overseas Sri Lankans" with a view to affording facilities to persons who have terminated citizenship in Sri Lanka, and their under aged children to enter Sri Lanka and to stay in Sri Lanka; and
* to afford the opportunity of applying for dual citizenship to those who have registered under the above scheme, only after being subjected to a pre-examination after being placed in a state of probation for a period of 05 years.

The proposal made by H.E. the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence and Urban Development, to make necessary amendments to the above Act and to instruct the Legal Draftsman to prepare amending legislation accordingly, was approved by the Cabinet.