The Government has decided to grant dual citizenship to more than 500 people, whose applications were pending for more than a year, Immigrations and Emigrations Chief Chulananda Perera said yesterday.
This would be the first time dual citizenship has been granted after the government put the scheme on hold last year pending a review.He said the 500 applicants included both Sri Lankans and foreigners and they were selected from about 1,000 applications.
The move came as the government was formulating new scheme on granting dual citizenship.
He said proposals for the new scheme had been handed over to the Attorney General for advice.
The scheme of dual citizenship had been put on hold to prevent the abuse this facility by people who might pose a threat to national security.
However, since the end of the war, a large number of Sri Lankans who have obtained citizenship in other countries had shown interest in gaining dual citizenship, Mr. Perera said.
The Sunday Times By Chris Kamalendran
