Visa policy of Sri Lanka

Most travellers visiting Sri Lanka for short-stay purposes (tourism or business) are required to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) before arrival to Sri Lanka, unless they are exempt from obtaining one. ^{[1] [2]} However, citizens of some countries must obtain a visa in advance before being allowed to enter Sri Lanka. All visitors must hold a passport valid for 6 months. ^[3]

Visa policy map

Visa policy of Sri Lanka

  Sri Lanka

  Visa not required

  Free Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) / Visa on arrival (30 days)

  ETA / Visa on arrival (30 days)

  Visa required in advance

Visa exemption

Citizens of the following countries can enter Sri Lanka without a visa (they will receive a gratis visa on arrival) and do not need to apply for an ETA for stays up to the duration indicated below: ^{[3] [4]}

90 days Maldives 60 days Seychelles 1 30 days Singapore

_{1 – Sixty days at each visit and cumulative duration of ninety days in a year}

Electronic Travel Authorisation / Visa on arrival

Citizens of the following countries are eligible to obtain a free ETA to enter Sri Lanka, for stays up to the duration listed below: ^[2]

30 days China 1 Hong Kong [5] 1 India Indonesia 1— For Chinese citizens with People's Republic of China passports and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports only. Japan Malaysia Russia Thailand

Citizens of other countries, except those from Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, North Korea and Syria, can obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) for a fee. ^[2]

As of March 2026, according to IATA Timatic, an ETA is not mandatory before departure, as travelers from all countries except the six listed above can still obtain a visa on arrival. This also applies to citizens of countries that can obtain a free ETA; however, it is not certain whether the visa on arrival will also be free for them. ^[3]

The Sri Lankan government recommends that citizens of eligible countries obtain an ETA before departure to ensure smoother entry.

Non-ordinary passports

Holders of diplomatic, official, service or special passports of the following countries do not need a visa to enter Sri Lanka, for stays up to the duration listed below: ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Bahrain 2DSp Bangladesh 2DOS Belarus 2DO Benin 2DOS Brazil 2DOS Cambodia 2DOS Chile 2DO China 2DOSPA Cuba 2D

Czech Republic 4DOS Georgia 4DOS Hong Kong 2DOS India 2DO Indonesia 2DOS Iran 2DOS Kazakhstan 2DS

Maldives 1DOSSp Myanmar 2DOS Oman 2DSSp Pakistan 2DO Philippines 2DOS Qatar 2DO Romania 4DOS

Russia 2DOS Seychelles 3DOSSp Singapore 2DOSSp Thailand 2DOS Ukraine 5DOS Vietnam 2DOS

_{D – Diplomatic passports
O – Official passports
S – Service passports
Sp – Special passports
PA – Passports endorsed for "public affairs".
1 – 90 days
2 – 30 days
3 – 60 days, 90 days within any 1 year-period.
4 – 90 days within any 180-day period.
5 – 30 days within any 60-day period.}

• Holders of a United Nations Passport, regardless of nationality, do not need a visa to enter Sri Lanka for a maximum stay of up to 90 days.
• Holders of a Interpol Passport, regardless of nationality, do not need a visa to enter Sri Lanka for a maximum stay of up to 90 days.

Visa required in advance

Citizens of the following countries are ineligible to apply for ETA independently, ^[3] and thus must obtain a visa in advance from one of the Sri Lankan diplomatic missions around the world: ^[9]

Cameroon Côte d'Ivoire Ghana

Nigeria North Korea Syria

When obtaining a visa at a Sri Lankan diplomatic mission, they must present the following documents: ^[9]

• Police clearance report
• If the applicant is coming from another country after staying for more than 6 months, are required to provide Police clearance from that country and copy of the Visa
• Certificate from a Sri Lankan guarantor & a photocopy of the guarantors NIC
• Affidavit from a Sri Lankan JP (justice of peace) or a Lawyer
• Accommodation information (place of stay)

Entry restrictions

Mandatory yellow fever vaccination

Citizens of the following countries must present a yellow fever vaccination certificate upon arrival in order to enter Sri Lanka: ^[9]

Angola Argentina Benin Bolivia Brazil Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Central African Republic Chad

Colombia DR Congo Ecuador Equatorial Guinea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau

Liberia Mali Mauritania Niger Nigeria Panama Peru Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal

Sierra Leone Somalia Sudan Suriname Tanzania Togo Uganda Venezuela

History

In 2012, Sri Lanka launched an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, created and operated by Mobitel, a state-owned enterprise. ^[10]

On 17 April 2024, Sri Lanka replaced its previous Electronic Travel Authorisation system with a new e-Visa system, ^[11] operated by VFS Global. ^{[12] [10]}

On 2 August 2024, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka issued an interim order, which suspended the e-Visa system operated by VFS Global and ordered the restoration of the previous ETA system operated by Mobitel. ^[13]

On 4 August 2024, Ada Derana reported that the Ministry of Public Security would make a final decision the next day, and noted that the suspension of the e-Visa system meant that tourists needed to obtain their visas on arrival. ^[14]

On 5 August 2024, the Department of Immigration and Emigration notified the Sri Lankan diplomatic missions around the world of the discontinuation of the e-Visa system. ^[15] According to Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles, the old ETA system has yet to be reinstated due to changes made to the Department of Immigration and Emigration's computer system. ^[16]

On 2 September 2024, Sri Lanka decided to implement visa-free access for citizens of 38 countries, including India, China, Thailand, the UK, the USA, and Indonesia. Although it was initially planned to be implemented on 1 October 2024, the decision was advanced due to the inconvenience caused to tourists at the visa-on-arrival counters, where overcrowding was a significant issue. ^[17]

The ETA system is experiencing constant problems. The most recently reported issue occurred on 4 March 2026. Until the note is removed from the IATA Timatic system, travelers can still obtain a visa on arrival. ^{[18] [3]}

Visitor statistics

This section is transcluded from Tourism in Sri Lanka. (edit | history)

Most visitors arriving in Sri Lanka on a short-term basis were from the following countries: ^{[19] [20] [21]}

Foreign visitors to Sri Lanka

Country	2026 (Jan)	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
India	52,061	531,511	416,974	302,844	123,004	56,268	89,357	355,002
United Kingdom	29,540	212,277	178,339	130,088	85,187	16,646	55,455	198,776
Russia	27,134	186,580	201,920	197,498	91,272	16,984	49,397	86,549
Germany	17,776	147,966	136,084	102,539	55,542	12,442	34,507	134,899
China [22]	14,003	132,035	131,681	68,789	4,715	2,417	26,147	167,863
France	13,569	109,041	88,775	56,251	35,482	6,549	24,838	87,623
Australia	11,172	109,487	89,573	67,436	30,924	4,421	20,283	92,674
Netherlands	7,107	64,164	50,116	29,056	11,987	2,422	8,656	38,993
United States	7,373	65,973	59,532	46,344	22,230	6,124	16,842	68,832
Bangladesh	4,102	59,563	39,555	17,846	3,817	1,496	1,986	8,261
Poland	10,334	49,989	44,165	17,946	15,195	2,110	11,908	20,896
Italy	5,840	50,430	38,709	22,242	7,449	1,309	8,603	36,147
Spain	3,008	46,038	37,928	23,905	12,895	2,015	3,385	24,489
Canada	5,048	46,133	42,212	43,944	26,845	5,079	12,346	48,729
Japan	2,896	38,153	30,429	19,583	3,087	392	6,644	30,079
Maldives	4,789	37,165	47,222	37,298	18,880	6,272	9,407	60,278
Switzerland	4,146	33,624	29,829	23,556	13,260	2,974	6,389	29,981
Malaysia	1,566	23,684	18,259	10,940	2,779	323	3,494	16,861
Israel	3,455	24,591	24,845	19,517	9,326	1,724	3,556	14,770
Pakistan	1,584	22,296	13,451	10,744	6,260	7,520	3,065	14,655
Belgium	1,915	21,056	17,219	10,667	6,164	1,283	3,371	14,948
Czech Republic	3,265	19,082	19,279	12,056	7,350	1,864	7,599	19,204
Austria	2,811	18,188	17,103	10,594	5,541	1,502	4,300	14,713
Denmark	3,372	17,378	14,952	10,346	7,278	1,302	4,905	16,869
Singapore	1,138	15,086	12,591	9,551	3,770	557	2,545	13,871
New Zealand	1,103	13,456	11,282	7,913	2,866	325	2,324	12,463
Norway	1,717	13,032	11,399	8,747	5,983	1,141	3,019	13,446
South Korea	1,898	12,169	10,800	7,298	1,843	389	2,499	12,195
Sweden	2,605	14,863	8,643	5,097	1,601	7,061	22,464
Ireland		9,388	8,747	5,136	3,056	559	2,294	8,254
Iran		9,143	10,858	10,322	4,301	397	648	3,249
Kazakhstan		8,510	11,383	5,130	8,068	5,754	2,333	2,399
Belarus		8,497	10,933	10,969	3,621	646	2,638	4,796
Thailand		7,812	7,246	4,922	1,725	247	1,880	9,861
Ukraine		7, 515	7,099	5,082	14,917	7,037	17,169	35,051
Turkey		7,434	6,673	3,739	1,514	309	2,121	4,972
Portugal		7,281	6,489	3,943	1,906	372	1,602	5,193
Slovakia		6,346	6,710	4,464	2,432	664	1,513	4,944
Philippines		6,269	5,267	4,164	1,961	529	4,249	14,590
Lithuania		5,855	6,395	2,722	2,115	383	1,054	2,793
Saudi Arabia		5,785	5,887	6,797	5,952	1,596	4,755	15,707
Hungary		5,455	6,580	3,786	2,324	445	1,588	4,091
United Arab Emirates		5,275	4,296
Nepal		5,182	4,463	4,750	1,065	325	1,384	5,414
Romania		5,036	6,407	4,092	3,313	820	1,724	5,463
Indonesia		4,599	3,744
South Africa		4,427	4,872	3,444	1,502	272	1,364	7,132
Finland		4,249	4,276	2,287	1,500	341	2,298	7,028
Egypt		3,877	4,069	3,091	2,340	400	956	3,708
Greece		3,813	2,853
Bulgaria		3,638	3,699
Vietnam		3,462	2,963
Estonia		3,445	3,800	1,808	978	376	1,185	2,516
Slovenia		3,234	3,477	1,927	602	91	800	2,926
Lebanon		3,085	3,438	3,347	1,606	547	483	4,304
Latvia		3,021	3,570
Seychelles		2,890	2,691
Jordan		2,704	2,823
Oman		2,473	2,775
Myanmar		2,410	1,515
Armenia		2,067	2,634
Serbia		2,034	2,015
Brazil		1,847	1,945
Croatia		1,741	1,859
Kuwait		1,739	1,885
Iraq		1,560	1,012
Azerbaijan		1,252	2,035
Bahrain		1,229	1,169
Sudan		1,178	941
Cyprus		1,132	1,194
Cambodia		1,121	1,183
Kenya		1,052	807
Mexico		1,031	1,068
Morocco		1,021	1,042
Taiwan	n/a	n/a	4,999	363	42	1,985	7,127
Countries below 1000		22,248
Total		2,103,593	2,053,465	1,487,303	719,978	194,495	507,704	1,913,702

See also

• Sri Lanka portal

• Visa requirements for Sri Lankan citizens
• Tourism in Sri Lanka
• Foreign relations of Sri Lanka
• Sri Lankan passport

References

1. "IMPORTANT NOTICE". immigration.gov.lk. Department of Immigration and Emigration. 14 October 2025. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
2. "SL ETA".
3. "Visa and passport". Timatic . International Air Transport Association through Emirates . Retrieved 1 April 2017.
4. "Gratis Visa". immigration.gov.lk. Department of Immigration and Emigration. 14 October 2025.
5. "Visa-on-arrival access to Sri Lanka for HKSAR passport holders". HKSAR Government Press Releases. 13 April 2026.
6. "Gratis Visa".
7. "Visa fee".
8. "Diplomatic & Official Visits".
9. "Information".
10. Pethiyagoda, Rohan David (4 August 2024). "The VFS Visa Fraud in Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka Guardian". slguardian.org. Sri Lanka Guardian . Retrieved 4 August 2024.
11. "Sri Lanka implements new online visa system from today". Travel Trade Journal. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
12. "Sri Lanka opposition leader questions visa fee hike". EconomyNext. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
13. Padmanabhan, Keshav (3 August 2024). "Sri Lankan Supreme Court suspends controversial e-visa scheme run by consortium including Indian firm". ThePrint. ThePrint.
14. "Sri Lankan e-visa issuance suspended; final decision tomorrow". www.adaderana.lk. Ada Derana. 4 August 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
15. Samath, Feizal (6 August 2024). "Sri Lanka reverts to old visa scheme". TTG Asia. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
16. "Sri Lanka online tourist e-visa resumption date uncertain: Minister". EconomyNext. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
17. "Sri Lanka to implement "One Chop" visa-free system for 38 countries". NewsWire. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
18. VisasNews. "Sri Lanka: ETA system back up and running". VisasNews.
19. "TOURIST ARRIVALS BY COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE 2016" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
20. "Tourist Arrivals by Region – December 2016 & December October 2018" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
22. Including Hong Kong and Macau. Taiwan possibly also included from 2024.

External links

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Department of Immigration and Emigration
• Official Sri Lanka eVisa