Technical article

Sri Lanka's Residence Visas: Deposits, Monthly Income and Health Insurance

They want to know what is true today.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Picture a couple named Paul and Janet. Both are 60. They have read that Sri Lanka once planned a residence scheme for foreigners with a US$500,000 deposit, and that health insurance is part of it. They want to know what is true today.

I went to the Department of Immigration and Emigration and the Treasury. The US$500,000 scheme is not on any official page in the sources. What I found are three schemes with other figures.

What the official pages say

All figures are in US dollars as the pages state them.

My Dream Home

This is the one made for older people. The page speaks of "senior foreign nationals" and gives no number for the age. The money sits in an approved Sri Lankan bank: the fixed deposit, and the monthly remittance in a savings or current account. Half-yearly bank statements go to the Controller (Visa). The page also says the holder may not work, paid or unpaid, and must pay applicable Sri Lankan taxes. A police clearance certificate is needed at renewal.

The page is not quite consistent on dependents. One part says "under 18 years and unmarried". The fees part speaks of children "over 16 years age". I do not pick between them.

Golden Paradise

The page asks for a deposit "of USD 200,000 in a local bank", and a visa fee of "USD 2000 payable for 10 years." It also asks for a medical report from an authorized local hospital and a police clearance from the country of domicile. Health insurance: not mentioned on the page.

Resident Guest Scheme

The immigration page says the visa is "valid for five years from the issuing date." It also says "Residence visa fee US $ 200 per person for 01 year period." Those two lines sit uneasily together, and the page does not explain how they fit. Another line says the visa on that page is for extensions only, for existing holders. So a new applicant should ask the department which scheme is open.

The 2017 idea

The 2017 national spending speech to Parliament, published by the Treasury, has one line on foreign investors. I quote it: "those foreign investors who bring an investment of USD 250,000 will be given residence visa for a period of three years." It says investors with USD 5 million would receive a permanent residence visa, with Cabinet approval. No US$500,000 deposit and no health insurance rule in that speech was found.

Whether a bill with a US$500,000 deposit was ever tabled: Not stated on an official page. I searched the Treasury and Parliament pages and the annual report of the immigration department, and none of them mentioned it. So I do not describe it as a rule or as a bill.

What is left open

• A US$500,000 deposit scheme from 2017.
• A minimum age for My Dream Home.
• Whether Golden Paradise or the Resident Guest Scheme require insurance in practice. The pages do not list it.
• The cost of a suitable medical policy. No official page gives one.