Almost every visitor to Sri Lanka needs permission to enter before they arrive, and for most nationalities that means an Electronic Travel Authorisation — an ETA — applied for online. It is straightforward, but there is enough misinformation around it that it is worth setting out plainly.
What an ETA is
An ETA is pre-approval to enter, not a visa in your passport. You apply online, you receive a confirmation by email, and the visa itself is issued at immigration when you land. Airlines increasingly check for it at check-in, so travelling without one is a genuine risk of being turned away at your departure airport.
A tourist ETA allows a stay of 30 days from arrival, with double entry within that period. It can be extended in-country.
What it costs
As of July 2026, a tourist ETA is USD 35 on the standard service, processed within about 48 hours, or USD 55 on the express service, processed within around 24 hours. A visa on arrival, if you have not applied ahead, costs USD 60 — so the ETA is both cheaper and safer.
Since 25 May 2026, nationals of around forty countries have been eligible for a free 30-day tourist ETA. The list has changed more than once and is the sort of thing that gets out of date in a blog post, so check your own nationality against the official list rather than taking anyone’s word for it.
Where to apply
eta.gov.lk is the only official site. Search results are full of agent sites that look official, charge a service fee on top of the government charge, and are entirely unnecessary. The official application takes about ten minutes and asks for your passport details, flight details and an address in Sri Lanka — your first night’s hotel is fine.
If your booking is with us, we send you the first night’s address before you apply so the form is quick to complete.
Timing it
Apply at least a week before you fly, even on the express service. The standard service is quoted at 48 hours and usually beats that, but a query on your application can add days and there is no benefit to leaving it late. There is also no advantage to applying six months out: the approval is tied to your intended arrival date.
What immigration will ask for
At Bandaranaike International in Colombo, expect to show your ETA confirmation, a passport valid for at least six months beyond your arrival, proof of onward travel and, occasionally, evidence of where you are staying. Queues at the main morning arrival bank can be long; the process itself is quick.
Extending your stay
A 30-day ETA can be extended to 90 days, and then in some cases further, at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla, on the edge of Colombo. Go early, take your passport, a photograph and proof of funds, and expect it to take most of a morning. Overstaying carries a fine and is not worth the risk.
The short version
Apply on eta.gov.lk, at least a week ahead, on the standard service unless you are genuinely short of time. Check whether your nationality qualifies for the free ETA before paying. Print the confirmation, because airline check-in desks sometimes want to see it and airport wifi is not something to rely on.
