A ‘Security Clearance Report’ from the Defence Ministry must be obtained if any Sri Lankan citizen wants to marry a foreigner in Sri Lanka, according to a circular issued by the Registrar General’s Department.
Coordinating Secretary to the Prime Minister, Geethanath Kassilingham had posted the following clarification on why authorities have decided to take a ‘Security Clearance Report’ when marrying a foreigner.
Note from Geethanath Kassilingham
Following several queries over why Defense Ministry clearance is needed for a SriLankan to marry a foreigner, I was informed by Defence officials have that this is due to increasing reports of foreigners arriving in Sri Lanka to stay here on spouse visa to carry out illegal activities.
Some of these scams include drug rackets & fraud through social media. Often it is the poor women who are the target of such marriages. Even in the Easter Sunday attacks commission report it was recommended to get clearance for foreigners to marry locals to prevent extremists from entering Sri Lanka.
Therefore if a local intends to marry a foreigner a security document needs to be handed over to Registrar General’s Dept who will then hand it over to defence to get a clearance of a zero criminal record. A health certificate also needs to be handed over.
