Department of Immigration and Emigration:

Over 56 million documents under scanner

The Immigration and Emigration Department started a document scanning project on March 1 and computerizing all documents and data covering a period of 12 years scanning 56 million documents.

The documents to be scanned include the applications for passports and supporting documents including the birth certificates, NICs, photographs.

The project would be concluded by August 30. The total cost of the project would be Rs 25 million, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka said in a press release.

The Department has started scanning applications for passports as they were received from April 6, 2009 and the massive scanning operation was to computerize the applications and supporting documents received before that date. Once the entire number of documents are scanned office space of nearly 20,000 square feet now used by the department as document store could be utilized for some other public purpose effecting a saving for the Government, the release also said.

Under the provisions of the Electronic Transaction Act, No. 19 of 2006 the computerized copies of these documents could be produced in the courts of law when such documents are called for by the judiciary.

The new system obviates the cumbersome manual process of searching and obtaining past documents. The system was started on the direction of Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka, the release noted.