Visa policy of Sri Lanka

All visitors to Sri Lanka must obtain a visa either on arrival to Sri Lanka or in advance. Most visitors entering for tourism purposes are required to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) in order to receive a visa on arrival, unless they are exempt from obtaining one.[1] However, nationals of some countries must obtain a visa in advance instead of an ETA before being allowed to enter Sri Lanka. All visitors must hold a passport valid for 6 months.[2]

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Visa policy map
Visa policy of Sri Lanka
  Sri Lanka
  Free visa on arrival - 60 days (maximum 90 days/year)
  Free visa on arrival - 30 days
  Electronic travel authorization (visa on arrival - 30 days)
  Visa required in advance
  Admission restricted

Free visa on arrival

On the basis of reciprocity, citizens of the following three countries are exempt from the requirement to obtain an ETA for Sri Lanka.

They are entitled to receive a gratis visa free of charge upon arrival at any port of entry:[1][3]

  •  Maldives (30 days, extendable up to 180 days)
  •  Seychelles (60 days, up to 90 days per calendar year)
  •  Singapore (30 days, extendable up to 180 days)

The following countries have visa fee free until March 31, 2024.[4][5] It is not known whether these countries are exempt from ETA.

Electronic travel authorization

Nationals of most other countries except the ETA-exempt countries and countries whose citizens require a visa in advance may obtain an ETA either on arrival to Sri Lanka or online;[1] however, visitors are encouraged to obtain the ETA online in order to avoid lengthy delays at the port of entry.[6] Holders of an ETA can then obtain a visa on arrival to Sri Lanka by presenting their ETA and passport to a Sri Lankan immigration officer.[1] A visa obtained on arrival is valid for 30 days, but can be extended up to 180 days.[1] Business purpose ETAs can only be obtained from one of the Sri Lankan diplomatic missions around the world, as well as the head office of the Department of Immigration and Emigration.[1][2]

ETA restrictions

ETA applications lodged by nationals of  Pakistan are required to be subject to additional processing by the Department of Immigration and Emigration.[7]

History

The Sri Lankan Government announced a plan to allow citizens of certain countries to enter Sri Lanka without a visa for stays up to six-months from 1 May 2019, for a trial period of six months.[8][9] There was also a plan to extend the facility to countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and China in the future.[10] This program was suspended following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[11]

A modified version of the plan was implemented on 1 August 2019. From 1 August 2019 to 30 April 2020 (initially 31 January 2020), nationals of the following countries who were travelling as tourists were exempt from the ETA processing fee, and thus could have obtained an ETA free of charge:[1][12][13][14][15]

* — Singaporeans remain exempt from the requirement to obtain an ETA.

Non-ordinary passports

Holders of diplomatic, official, service or special passports of the following countries are granted a gratis visa free of charge, on arrival in Sri Lanka, depending on nationality:[3]

D — diplomatic passports
O — official passports
S — service passports
Sp — special passports
PA — passports endorsed for "public affairs"

Visa required in advance

Nationals of the following 9 jurisdictions are ineligible to apply for an ETA independently, and thus must obtain a visa in advance from one of the Sri Lankan diplomatic missions around the world:[7]

1 — May apply for an ETA at the head office of the Department of Immigration and Emigration through a Sri Lankan sponsor. [7]

Entry restrictions

Nationals of the following 7 countries are specifically required to hold return or onward tickets in order to enter Sri Lanka:[2]

North Korea

In addition, nationals of  North Korea are refused entry and transit, unless they have been approved or cleared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enter or transit in Sri Lanka.[2]

Statistics
Most visitors arriving to Sri Lanka on a short-term basis in 2018 were from the following countries:[17][18]
Rank Country 2016 2017 2018
1 India356,729 384,628424,887
2 China[19]271,577 268,952265,965
3 United Kingdom188,159 201,879254,176
4 Germany133,275 130,227156,888
5 Australia74,496 81,281110,928
6 France96,440 97,282106,449
7 Maldives95,167 79,37176,108
8 United States54,254 57,47975,308
9 Russia58,176 59,19165,497
10 Netherlands41,373 51,14857,160
Total Foreign Arrivals2,050,832 2,116,4072,333,796

See also
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Sri Lanka.

References
  1. "Online Visa Application". www.eta.gov.lk. Department of Immigration and Emigration. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  2. "Visa and passport". Timatic. International Air Transport Association through Emirates. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  3. "Visa fee".
  4. "Free visa to be rolled out to boost tourist arrivals".
  5. "Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka Twitter".
  6. "Sri Lanka". travel.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2014-03-30.
  7. "Applicant Information". eta.gov.lk. Department of Immigration and Emigration. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  8. "Multiple countries get visa free entry to Sri Lanka for six months". Colombo Gazette. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  9. "Sri Lanka to issue visa on arrival for free for some countries". 15 March 2019.
  10. "Sri Lanka to issue on-arrival visas from 1 May | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  11. "Visa on arrival for 39 countries on hold". Colombo Gazette. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  12. "Free visas from August 1 for Indians travelling to Sri Lanka".
  13. "Sri Lanka : Sri Lanka include 10 more countries for On Arrival Visa service stopped after Easter Sunday bombings". www.colombopage.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-24.
  14. "Free on-arrival visas for 45 nationalities". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  15. "Sri Lanka cancels visa fees for citizens of 48 countries, incl. Ukraine | UNIAN".
  16. See below in entry restrictions (North Korea)
  17. TOURIST ARRIVALS BY COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE 2016
  18. Tourist Arrivals by Region - December 2016 & December October 2018
  19. Including Hong Kong and Macau.


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