From next week, foreigners will have to obtain a certificate certifying their good health, and undergo a security check before their wedding
Foreigners wishing to marry Sri Lankans will now have to obtain permission from the Defense Ministry, under new rules aimed at strengthening “national security” that have been ridiculed by the opposition.
From next week, foreigners will have to obtain a certificate certifying their good health, and undergo a security check before their wedding, according to these new rules. The Director General of Civil Status, WM Weerasekara, attributed the policy to “national security” concerns.
“We have seen (cases where) some foreigners want to marry Sri Lankans with ulterior motives, such as engaging in drug trafficking and money laundering,” he told the local Sunday Times newspaper. The new regulations aroused contempt from the opposition, who pointed out that several members of the head of state’s family held dual nationality.
“Why not a security clearance for foreign nationals who hold ministerial portfolios? MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam asked on Twitter. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa held U.S. citizenship until two years ago.
After coming to power, he removed a constitutional provision that prohibited people with dual nationality from standing for election. His brother Basil, the Minister of Finance, retains dual American and Sri Lankan citizenship.