# Visa policy of Sri Lanka

Visitors to Sri Lanka must obtain a visa, either on arrival to Sri Lanka or in advance, unless they are a citizen of one of the visa-exempt countries. Most visitors entering for tourism purposes are required to obtain a visa on arrival, unless they are exempt from obtaining one. 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.

## Visa exemption
### Ordinary passports

Citizens of the following countries do not need a visa to enter Sri Lanka, for stays up to the duration listed below:
| Maldives (90 days) | Seychelles (60 days, 90 days within any 1 year) | Singapore (30 days) |
* Alternatively, citizens of visa-exempt countries who choose to apply for a "Standard tourist visa" online are exempt from paying visa fees.
* 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.

#### Planned pilot visa-free program

On August 21, 2024, a cabinet decision was made to allow visa-free travel to 35 countries, including the USA, UK, Canada, Russia, Thailand, and Indonesia, from October 1, 2024. This pilot program to last for 6 months. On 1 October 2024 it was announced that the plan did not come into effect and that it needs to go through parliamentary approval process which needs to await for the new parliament to convene.
| Australia  Austria  Bahrain  Belarus  Belgium  Canada  China  Czech Republic  Denmark  France  Germany  Hong Kong  India  Indonesia  Italy  Israel  Japan  Kazakhstan | Malaysia  Nepal  Netherlands  New Zealand  Oman  Poland  Qatar  Russia  Saudi Arabia  South Korea  Spain  Sweden  Switzerland  Thailand  United Arab Emirates  United Kingdom  United States |

### 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:
| Bahrain$^2$ $^D$ $^{Sp}$  Bangladesh$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Belarus$^2$ $^D$ $^O$  Benin$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Brazil$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Cambodia$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Chile$^2$ $^D$ $^O$  China$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$ $^{PA}$  Cuba$^2$ $^D$ | Czech Republic$^4$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Georgia$^4$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Hong Kong$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  India$^2$ $^D$ $^O$  Indonesia$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Iran$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Kazakhstan$^2$ $^D$ $^S$ | Maldives$^1$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$ $^{Sp}$  Myanmar$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Oman$^2$ $^D$ $^S$ $^{Sp}$  Pakistan$^2$ $^D$ $^O$  Philippines$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Qatar$^2$ $^D$ $^O$  Romania$^4$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$ | Russia$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Seychelles$^3$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$ $^{Sp}$  Singapore$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$ $^{Sp}$  Thailand$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Ukraine$^5$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$  Vietnam$^2$ $^D$ $^O$ $^S$ |
$_{D–Diplomaticpassports}$ $_{O–Officialpassports}$ $_{S–Servicepassports}$ $_{Sp–Specialpassports}$ $_{PA–Passportsendorsedfor"publicaffairs".}$ $_{1–90days}$ $_{2–30days}$ $_{3–60days,90dayswithinany1year-period.}$ $_{4–90dayswithinany180-dayperiod.}$ $_{5–30dayswithinany60-dayperiod.}$

## Visa on arrival

Citizens of all other countries except the visa-exempt countries and countries whose citizens require a visa in advance may obtain a visa on arrival which is good for double entry for tourist or good for multiple entries for business, valid for a maximum stay of 30 days. Visas obtained on arrival are generally discouraged as such visas are not automatically approved for entry into Sri Lanka.

### Gratis visa on arrival

Due to the discontinuation of the e-Visa system, citizens of the following 7 countries may obtain a gratis visa (single entry) upon arrival in Sri Lanka for tourism purposes only, valid for a maximum stay of 30 days.
| China  India  Indonesia  Japan | Malaysia  Russia  Thailand |

## Electronic Visa

Citizens of all other countries except the countries whose citizens either require a visa obtained on arrival or in advance may also obtain an e-Visa online. The system was suspended in mid-2024 but restarted in September 2024.
Prospective visitors can apply for the following types of tourism/business e-Visas (unless otherwise noted):
| Validity | Number of entry | Duration of stay$^*$ | Visa fee | Note |
| 30 days | Single | up to 30 days | Gratis | Only tourists who are citizens of China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Russia or Thailand may obtain this type of visa. For more details see below. |
| 6 months | Double | up to 60 days | 35 or 75 USD | SAARC member states: 35 USD Non-SAARC member states: 75 USD |
| 1 year | Multiple | up to 90 days | 200 USD | People who engage diplomatic or consular activities may get visa fee waived. |
| 2 years | Multiple | up to 180 days | 300 USD | |
| 5 years | Multiple | up to 180 days | 500 USD | |
| 10 years | Multiple | up to 180 days | 1000 USD | |
$_{*-Durationofstaydemonstrateshowmanydaysvisitormaystayineachentry.}$
Moreover, a US$18.50 service fee as well as a US$5 "convenience fee" is charged by VFS Global for each visa application, regardless of the type of e-Visa.

### e-Visa restrictions

| Taiwan | Citizens of Taiwan must select "China (Special Administrative Region of China)" as their nationality when applying for an e-Visa. |

## Visa required in advance

Citizens of the following countries are ineligible to apply for both an e-Visa and a visa on arrival independently, and thus must obtain a visa in advance from one of the Sri Lankan diplomatic missions around the world:
| 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:
* 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:
| 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.
On 17 April 2024, Sri Lanka replaced its previous Electronic Travel Authorisation system with a new e-Visa system, operated by VFS Global.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.

## Visitor statistics

Most visitors arriving in Sri Lanka on a short-term basis were from the following countries:
Foreign visitors to Sri Lanka :
| Country | 9/2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| India | 286,556 | 302,844 | 123,004 | 56,268 | 89,357 | 355,002 | 424,887 |
| United Kingdom | 136,464 | 130,088 | 85,187 | 16,646 | 55,455 | 198,776 | 254,176 |
| Russia | 127,232 | 197,498 | 91,272 | 16,984 | 49,397 | 86,549 | 64,497 |
| Germany | 99,571 | 102,539 | 55,542 | 12,442 | 34,507 | 134,899 | 156,888 |
| China | 97,267 | 68,789 | 4,715 | 2,417 | 26,147 | 167,863 | 265,965 |
| France | 71,090 | 56,251 | 35,482 | 6,549 | 24,838 | 87,623 | 106,449 |
| Australia | 62,004 | 67,436 | 30,924 | 4,421 | 20,283 | 92,674 | 110,928 |
| United States | 43,678 | 46,344 | 22,230 | 6,124 | 16,842 | 68,832 | 75,308 |
| Netherlands | 39,977 | 29,056 | 11,987 | 2,422 | 8,656 | 38,993 | 57,160 |
| Maldives | 34,457 | 37,298 | 18,880 | 6,272 | 9,407 | 60,278 | 76,108 |
| Canada | 33,007 | 43,944 | 26,845 | 5,079 | 12,346 | 48,729 | 52,681 |
| Poland | 30,636 | 17,946 | 15,195 | 2,110 | 11,908 | 20,896 | 20,378 |
| Italy | 29,346 | 22,242 | 7,449 | 1,309 | 8,603 | 36,147 | 38,379 |
| Spain | 28,014 | 23,905 | 12,895 | 2,015 | 3,385 | 24,489 | 29,208 |
| Switzerland | 22,277 | 23,556 | 13,260 | 2,974 | 6,389 | 29,981 | 33,965 |
| Japan | 22,260 | 19,583 | 3,087 | 392 | 6,644 | 30,079 | 49,450 |
| Israel | 20,515 | 19,517 | 9,326 | 1,724 | 3,556 | 14,770 | 13,833 |
| Czech Republic | 14,894 | 12,056 | 7,350 | 1,864 | 7,599 | 19,204 | 17,600 |
| Malaysia | 14,053 | 10,940 | 2,779 | 323 | 3,494 | 16,861 | 22,808 |
| Belgium | 13,645 | 10,667 | 6,164 | 1,283 | 3,371 | 14,948 | 17,519 |
| Austria | 12,080 | 10,594 | 5,541 | 1,502 | 4,300 | 14,713 | 19,320 |
| Denmark | 11,464 | 10,346 | 7,278 | 1,302 | 4,905 | 16,869 | 19,223 |
| Pakistan | 9,774 | 10,744 | 6,260 | 7,520 | 3,065 | 14,655 | 19,116 |
| Kazakhstan | 8,949 | 5,130 | 8,068 | 5,754 | 2,333 | 2,399 | 2,721 |
| Norway | 8,696 | 8,747 | 5,983 | 1,141 | 3,019 | 13,446 | 17,217 |
| Iran | 8,669 | 10,322 | 4,301 | 397 | 648 | 3,249 | 5,720 |
| Singapore | 8,666 | 9,551 | 3,770 | 557 | 2,545 | 13,871 | 19,861 |
| New Zealand | 8,025 | 7,913 | 2,866 | 325 | 2,324 | 12,463 | 13,825 |
| Sweden | 7,889 | 8,643 | 5,097 | 1,601 | 7,061 | 22,464 | 28,267 |
| Belarus | 7,592 | 10,969 | 3,621 | 646 | 2,638 | 4,796 | 4,621 |
| South Korea | 7,470 | 7,298 | 1,843 | 389 | 2,499 | 12,195 | 15,748 |
| Taiwan | 6,955 | 4,999 | 363 | 42 | 1,985 | 7,127 | 8,187 |
| Ireland | 6,248 | 5,136 | 3,056 | 559 | 2,294 | 8,254 | 10,830 |
| Thailand | 5,395 | 4,922 | 1,725 | 247 | 1,880 | 9,861 | 9,178 |
| Ukraine | 5,039 | 5,082 | 14,917 | 7,037 | 17,169 | 35,051 | 36,515 |
| Turkey | 4,841 | 3,739 | 1,514 | 309 | 2,121 | 4,972 | 4,262 |
| Slovakia | 4,822 | 4,464 | 2,432 | 664 | 1,513 | 4,944 | 5,289 |
| Lithuania | 4,755 | 2,722 | 2,115 | 383 | 1,054 | 2,793 | 3,386 |
| Saudi Arabia | 4,639 | 6,797 | 5,952 | 1,596 | 4,755 | 15,707 | 34,703 |
| Hungary | 4,523 | 3,786 | 2,324 | 445 | 1,588 | 4,091 | 4,514 |
| Portugal | 4,364 | 3,943 | 1,906 | 372 | 1,602 | 5,193 | 5,933 |
| Romania | 4,279 | 4,092 | 3,313 | 820 | 1,724 | 5,463 | 5,931 |
| Philippines | 3,977 | 4,164 | 1,961 | 529 | 4,249 | 14,590 | 19,303 |
| South Africa | 3,204 | 3,444 | 1,502 | 272 | 1,364 | 7,132 | 7,416 |
| Nepal | 3,076 | 4,750 | 1,065 | 325 | 1,384 | 5,414 | 5,302 |
| Estonia | 2,859 | 1,808 | 978 | 376 | 1,185 | 2,516 | 2,744 |
| Egypt | 2,840 | 3,091 | 2,340 | 400 | 956 | 3,708 | 3,854 |
| Finland | 2,753 | 2,287 | 1,500 | 341 | 2,298 | 7,028 | 8,888 |
| Lebanon | 2,575 | 3,347 | 1,606 | 547 | 483 | 4,304 | 5,521 |
| Slovenia | 2,370 | 1,927 | 602 | 91 | 800 | 2,926 | 3,902 |
| Total | 1,484,808 | 1,487,303 | 719,978 | 194,495 | 507,704 | 1,913,702 | 2,333,796 |