International Driving Permit

Visit to www.aaceylon.lk for details

Claiming your EPF

EPF form should be taken from the Labour Department in Colombo-5 (Narehenpittya junction). You need to tell the person sitting at the "wall-counter" that you are migrating and give your NIC.
*Advice to those don't know Sinhala: Ask your friends to know how you can say the above in Sinhala!

Working Hours: Mon-Fri 8.30AM to 4.30PM

Documents to Submit:

• EPF Form (form K) filled by both employee and employer
• All your B-Cards
  
• NIC photocopy certified by the employer
• Visa photocopy and Passport photopage (& alteration page) photocopy. (You also need to take your Passport with you.)
  
• Birth certificate is NOT required for migration cases as you produce your passport. But better take an original and a photocopy of it.
  
• If your name is different in EPF documents, then a letter from the employer to certify all the different names. This needs to be done for each employer.
• Bank book or Bank statement photocopy to which account your EPF fund needs to be transferred.

Process:
You need to use the EPF entrance (opposite to Perera & Sons), where you will be asked to handover you NIC and a visitor card will be given.

Once you enter to the main building, you can see a worker arrange documents and file them and send you into the main office. You may be given a counter number; but not always. When you handover your documents and passport to the officer, he will get the approval from the assistant EPF payment officer and give you a receipt fully written in Sinhala. You may be asked to stay for a while for another officer to double check your documents since it's a migration.

Best Time to go: 12 PM (but I may be wrong here!)

Advice to those who don't understand Sinhala: You better speck in English than making a big mess with your poor Sinhala ;-) All the officers are very friendly, hence don't be scared!

Links:

• http://www.labourdept.gov.lk/lab_employees.htm
• http://www.epf.lk/M_Withdrawing.htm

Claiming your ETF

ETF claim form should be taken from the Labour Department in Colombo-5 (Narehenpittya junction). You need to get separate forms for each employer.

Working Hours: Mon-Fri 8.30AM to 4.30PM

Documents to Submit:

• ETF Form filled by both employee and employer
• NIC photocopy certified by the employer
• If your name is different in ETF documents, then a letter from the employer to certify all the different names. This needs to be done for each employer.
• Bank book or Bank statement photocopy to which account your ETF fund needs to be transferred.

Process:
You need to use the ETF entrance (behind 141 bus stand - strange entrance though!), where you will be asked to handover all your bags and a token will be given. You don't need to give you NIC here as you do for EPF. When you collect it again, you will be asked what you have given.
*I decided to write all these since everything needs to be done in Sinhala and if you don't understand, you better be prepared for all these!!

Once you enter to the main building, you can see two workers (sitting next to each other) to organize your documents. Once it is done, you will be asked to get to an office room behind them, where you will be given a card confirming your submission.

Best Time to go: 12 PM (but I may be wrong here!)

Advice to those who don't understand Sinhala: You better speck in English than making a big mess with your poor Sinhala ;-) All the officers are very friendly, hence don't be scared!

Link:

• http://www.lanka.net/etf/ (as of 2nd of April this link is broken!)
  

Pull Factors & Push Factors

Motives to migrate can be either incentives attracting people away, known as pull factors, or circumstances encouraging a person to leave, known as push factors. See the list of these factors at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_and_pull_factors