Advice7 min read10 views
Updated 7 November 2026 · Written by the Wahanaya.lk team
Yes, but most leasing companies need you physically present for signing and KYC, so the practical route is a Power of Attorney to a trusted family member in Sri Lanka, or the Manusavi bank loan scheme for registered migrant workers (up to Rs 2 million at 8% interest).
Yes, but not directly and not easily by yourself. Sri Lankan leasing companies run their Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and get the lease agreement signed in person, so if you're working in the Middle East, Korea, Italy or anywhere else, you can't simply email in an application and have it approved. The two realistic paths are: give a trusted family member a Power of Attorney to act for you, or have that family member be the actual named applicant, with your income (your foreign salary and remittances) used as supporting proof rather than you being the signatory.
For most families, making the resident relative the named applicant is simpler than running a full POA process. The leasing company will assess that relative's NIC, income, bank statements, and CRIB record exactly as it would for any other customer, and your remittances into their account can help show they can afford the instalments. A Power of Attorney makes sense when you specifically want the lease, and later the vehicle, to be in your own name — for example, if you plan to return to Sri Lanka and want the car already registered to you. In that case your attorney holder signs the lease documents and takes delivery of the vehicle for you.
You sign it at the Sri Lankan Embassy or High Commission in the country where you're working, in front of an authorised consular officer, with two witnesses present, as set out under the Powers of Attorney Ordinance. The document should clearly state what your attorney is allowed to do — apply for and sign a lease, take delivery of the vehicle, register it, insure it, and deal with the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) on your behalf. A vague or overly narrow POA can get rejected by the leasing company's legal team, so it helps to have a lawyer in Sri Lanka draft the wording with the specific transaction in mind, rather than reusing a generic template.
Your attorney holder (the relative you've nominated) takes the signed POA to the Registrar General's Department for registration. If you signed it abroad, it must be submitted within 3 months of the date you signed it; if you'd signed it in Sri Lanka instead, the deadline is 1 month. You'll need the original POA, a notary-certified copy, and certified copies of the NIC or passport of both you and your attorney holder — including the passport bio-data page, certified by you. Skipping registration, or registering late, is a common and avoidable mistake: an unregistered POA can be refused by banks, leasing companies and the DMT alike.
If you're a registered migrant worker, the Manusavi loan scheme is worth checking before you go to a leasing company. It's a bank loan, not a finance-company lease, and it's specifically built for people in your situation: you must have a valid overseas employment contract of at least a year, be registered with the SLBFE, and hold a Personal Foreign Currency Account into which your remittances arrive. As of November 2026, DFCC Bank lists the scheme at up to Rs 2 million, fixed 8% interest, repayable over as long as 3 years, and vehicle purchase is one of the approved uses — alongside things like home improvements and land. The loan is repaid through remittances into your PFCA, and you nominate an immediate family member by POA to handle the paperwork in Sri Lanka. The cap is modest, so it suits a smaller or mid-range vehicle rather than a brand-new SUV; for anything bigger you'll likely still need a normal lease or loan on top. Terms on schemes like this change, so confirm the current rate and cap with the bank, or with any licensed bank running a similar facility, before you commit.
Whether they're applying as the named lessee or acting as your attorney holder, they'll need their NIC, proof of address, and the usual lease paperwork — bank statements, income proof, and possibly a guarantor, since leasing companies assess the actual signatory's creditworthiness. If they're acting under your POA, they'll also need the registered POA itself, and the leasing company's legal department will usually want to see it before finalising anything. Have them check vehicle listings on /vehicles and compare asking prices on /price-check before you settle on a model, so the loan or lease amount you're applying for is realistic.
The most common mistake is sending a vague, generic POA that doesn't specifically authorise vehicle leasing, registration and insurance — leasing companies and the DMT can reject it and send the family scrambling for a corrected version while a good deal slips away. Another is forgetting the registration deadline after the embassy signing, which leaves the POA legally unusable. People also sometimes let the relative sign a lease informally "for" the person abroad without any POA at all; if something goes wrong — a missed payment, a dispute, or the vehicle being repossessed — there's no clear legal basis for who's actually responsible. Finally, some families assume Manusavi-style schemes work like an ordinary lease and are surprised by the loan cap or the requirement to channel repayments through a PFCA.
If you're unsure which route fits your situation, ask in the Wahanaya forum — other Sri Lankans working abroad who've been through the same process can tell you what actually worked for them.
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