He said the department was hoping to implement the e-passport project soon with an electronic chip that carries the owner's bio data“Most Sri Lankans who have passports valid only for 'Middle East Countries' have to obtain another passport when they need to travel for jobs in countries like South Korea and Cyprus. We have placed orders for only 'all countries passports' to be issued until the implementation of the e-passport project,” Mr. Ranasinghe said.
However, the department had earlier reported a shortage of new passports because of the delay in implementing e-passports scheduled for early this year.