Since 27 September 2024, travellers have to apply for an ETA or a visa again to be allowed to travel to Sri Lanka. Earlier, the Sri Lankan government announced that nationals of 35 countries, including the United Kingdom, would be allowed to travel to the country without an ETA. This decision now appears to be overturned.
Visa waiver will not come into effect for now
At the end of August, Sri Lankan authorities announced that travellers from 35 countries, including many European countries, would be allowed to travel to Sri Lanka visa-free between 1 October 2024 and 31 March 2025. Sri Lanka’s government wanted to use this measure to find out what effect a visa waiver would have on the number of international tourists arriving in the country. However, this measure has not come into effect yet. A little more than a month after the announcement, it is unclear whether the visa waiver will actually be implemented.
Changing visa policy in Sri Lanka
The visa rules in Sri Lanka have been adapted multiple times in the past 6 months. The Sri Lanka ETA was abolished in April 2024 and replaced by a new e-visa. This e-visa was unexpectedly suspended only a few months later, following a decision by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The decision was connected to claims of corruption against the company that processed visa applications for the Sri Lankan government.
Since the e-visa was suddenly no longer available, travellers had to apply for a visa on arrival at the airport in Sri Lanka. This led to long waiting times at the visa desks at the airport. Therefore, the government decided to allow nationals of 35 countries to enter Sri Lanka without a visa for six months. This measure should have made the immigration checks at the airport more straight-forward, and it should have given a boost to tourism.
However, the newly installed parliament in Sri Lanka overturned this new measure. The previously announced visa waiver, which should have come into effect on 1 October 2024, is temporarily suspended. Instead, the government reintroduced the Sri Lanka ETA, which is a travel authorisation that was used until April 2024.
ETA reintroduction
Sri Lanka moves back to the ETA that was offered before the introduction of the e-visa. The previous immigration service portal for ETA applications came back online at the end of September. The ETA is electronically linked to an applicant’s passport. Officially, it is not a visa, but a digital travel authorisation. Since 27 September 2024, an ETA or a visa is mandatory for travellers from most countries. This applies to British and Irish travellers, as well as travellers from other European countries. Only travellers from a few Asian countries are eligible for a visa waiver.
Exception for a few Asian countries
Travellers with a Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Russian, Thai, Malay or Japanese passport are eligible for a free Sri Lanka visa. They must submit an ETA application, but do not have to pay for it. Nationals of these countries may use the free ETA to enter Sri Lanka twice and spend up to 30 days in the country. Travellers from China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan who wish to spend more than 30 days in Sri Lanka, can apply for an extension of the permitted duration of stay for a surcharge.