According to the laws of Sri Lanka an NGO should be registered as per the procedure set out under the Voluntary Social Services Organization Act.
The government department overlooking the registration of NGOs is the National Secretariat for Non-Governmental Organizations (NS-NGO). It is however advisable that the entity is firstly incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee(CLG) and subsequently registering with the Ns-NGO.
When making an application for registration as an NGO an application in the prescribed form should be submitted to the NS-NGO along with the following supporting documents.
- Constitutional documents (Articles of Association)
- Registration Certificate of its Parent
- Authorization letter from its Parent
- Letter from the embassy of the country where the Parent is domiciled
- Letters of consent obtained from the relevant District Secretariat in Sri Lankan where the entity is situated and conducts its operations
- Funding Guarantee letter from donors
- Project proposals / Details of the projects that will be implemented within Sri Lanka
- Names and addresses of donor agencies, if any
- Bio data and passport copies of foreign expatriates
- Details of the Local staff including names, addresses, NIC numbers.
- Annual Progress Report of its Parent
- Audited Financial Reports, if any
- Minutes of Meetings
Subsequently the NS-NGO will forward copies of the application to the Ministry of External Resources and the Ministry of Defense for approval. Usually the NS-NGO will allow the NGO to be registered pending the approval of the Ministry of External Resources and the Ministry of Defense. This process may take a period of 4 to 5 months.
