The following information was provided by an official of the High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in Ottawa during a 12 December 1995 telephone interview.

The annotation "ceases to be valid on return to Sri Lanka" on a Sri Lankan passport means that the passport is valid only for a single trip.

Passports that contain the phrase "ceases to be valid on return to Sri Lanka" are issued to Sri Lankan citizens who could not submit in time one of the documents they are required to produce to obtain a passport (the birth certificate, the National Identity Card (NIC), a letter from the employer, and the marriage certificate if the applicant is a female).

A passport bearing this phrase ceases to be valid when the holder returns to Sri Lanka. To renew them, holders of these passports must submit to the passport office the document they failed to produce before their trip. The annotation "ceases to be valid on return to Sri Lanka" would be erased upon the presentation of the document.

According to the official, passports that bear the annotation "ceases to be valid on return to Sri Lanka" because the applicants could not submit in time their national identity card will contain a blank space or a mention "Non NIC" under the section reserved for the NIC number.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Ottawa. 12 December 1995. Telephone interview with an official.