155 Indians working for IT firm caught overstaying visas in Colombo

A group of 155 Indian nationals who had violated their visa conditions by overstaying in Sri Lanka have been arrested by officials from the Department of Immigration and Emigration, it is reported. 

Following their arrest, the Indian nationals were made to pay a sum of Rs. 33,615,000 as settlement of their individual visa fee of US$200 and a fine of US$500 to the Immigration Department.

According to the Immigration Department, this detection is the highest valued in the history of Sri Lanka, earning a revenue income of Rs. 33.5 million from a single detection. 

It is reported that the Indian nationals were found during a raid conducted on a building in Colombo, utilised by a local company to run a back office for an international IT firm involved in online marketing and betting activities.

The group apprehended during the raid, aged between 25-54 years, had arrived in Sri Lanka on resident visas and had overstayed by one month to one year, to continue working for the local company. 

The Indian nationals have been instructed to leave the country immediately after settling the necessary fines due to a lack of space at the Immigration Department’s detention centre in Welisara. (Islandnews)