The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Defence agreed to present the Immigrants and Emigrants (Amendment) Bill, for the Second Reading in Parliament.
The Bill seeks to encourage foreign investors to extend the validity of visas to five years, the Information Department stated.
The Consultative Committee on Defence is chaired by Minister of Irrigation and State Minister of National Security and Disaster Management, Chamal Rajapaksa.
The other members, Parliamentarians Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Major Pradeep Undugoda, Charles Nirmalanathan and Tiran Allas were also present.
Officials including the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, U. V. Sarath Rupasiri joined the committee meeting via zoom technology.
According to the Bill, Section 14 of the Immigrants and Emigrants Act No. 20 of 1948 will be amended to increase the current visa issuance from two to five years, said Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, Rupasiri.
He said that the period for which visas can be granted with the approval of the Minister will be further increased from five to 10 years.
The Amendments in the Bill will pave the way to introduce a Permanent Resident Visa status and regulations will be formulated in the future.