Five named ordinary passports: sponsor-submitted ETA
Afghanistan, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria may apply for ETA through a Sri Lankan sponsor at the Department head office, rather than receiving an unrestricted online ordinary-visitor outcome.
- A Sri Lankan sponsor must submit the request, sponsor affidavit, certified sponsor ID/passport copy, applicant police-clearance report, applicant passport copy, and accommodation proof to the Department head office for consideration.
- This is an advance, sponsor-mediated ETA route. The alert identifies this special process but does not independently state the nationality scope of the BIA limited facility.
- The Department states that all foreign nationals, including the 40 fee-waiver nationalities and Maldives, Seychelles, and Singapore, require an ETA before arrival; this policy therefore does not treat a waived fee as visa-free entry.
- The sponsor-submitted ETA must be used to enter within three months of issue; tourist ETA is initially up to 30 days from arrival and may be extended up to six months.
- At entry, ETA holders need a passport valid at least six months from arrival, a confirmed return ticket, and sufficient funds. ETA is not admission; false information, security/admissibility findings, or a referral can result in refusal.
- ETA holders must not undertake paid or unpaid employment, trade, or business beyond the granted ETA purpose. Residence, work, longer stay, transit, crew, diplomatic, official, service, UN, special-document and diplomatic-mission rules are separate.
- The official application page retains a limited BIA-only, additional-fee ETA-on-arrival facility for travellers without prior approval. It remains an approval-contingent airport fallback, not a nationality-wide visa-free rule; the published standard is ETA before travel.
Official sourcesDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: ETA portal: current nationality alertsDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: Electronic Travel Authorization official overviewDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: Special Notice to Short-Term Visitors: free Tourist Visa (ETA) for 40 countriesDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: How to submit an ETA applicationDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: ETA application terms and conditions