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Sri Lanka visa requirements

Current entry categories for 199 passport nationalities, paired with official evidence as it is reviewed.

Access data checked August 24, 20268 official sources collected
Citizenship1ETA196Visa on arrival1Visa required1
Passport directory

Access by passport

Open any status for its canonical passport–destination page, evidence timeline, official sources, and application route where available.

199 passports

Citizenship

1

ETA

196

Visa on arrival

1

Visa required

1
Policy history

Official evidence timeline

One group agreement or destination policy can support many passport relationships. Dates are recorded only when an official source establishes them.

  1. ETA

    43 named ordinary passports: fee-waived Tourist ETA

    From 25 May 2026, 40 named nationalities plus Maldives, Seychelles, and Singapore receive a fee-waived Tourist ETA. It remains an ETA requirement, not visa-free access.

    • The 40-country scheme expressly covers ordinary passports as well as diplomatic, official, and service passports. Singapore, Seychelles, and Maldives have reciprocal arrangements; ordinary Maldivian passports receive 90 days, while the other named free-ETA passports receive 30 days.
    • The free Tourist ETA permits double entry from first arrival within the 30-day validity period; on a second entry, only the balance of the 30 days is granted. A fee is due for an extension beyond 30 days.
    • 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.
    • Apply electronically through the official ETA portal. The 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.
    • A different live ETA subpage still says Singapore, Maldives, and Seychelles are ETA-exempt for short visits. The current Department notice and current ETA overview expressly say these same nationalities require ETA, so this policy follows the later current notice/overview and records the disagreement for review.
    43 passport nationalities covered

    Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, Seychelles, Maldives

    Official sourcesDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: Special Notice to Short-Term Visitors: free Tourist Visa (ETA) for 40 countriesDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: Electronic Travel Authorization official overviewDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: How to submit an ETA applicationDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: ETA application terms and conditionsDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: ETA exemption page (conflicting live portal content)
  2. ETA

    Taiwan ordinary passports: Sri Lanka pre-arrival ETA

    Sri Lanka Immigration's current universal short-term visitor instruction requires a pre-arrival ETA for foreign nationals, including ordinary Taiwan passport holders.

    • Taiwan is not in the named 40-nationality free-ETA cohort, so the ordinary Taiwan-passport visitor remains subject to Sri Lanka's general ETA rules and applicable fee.
    • Obtain the ETA before arrival for an ordinary short visit; work, residence, special documents and final admission remain separate.
    1 passport nationalities covered

    Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)

    Official sourceDepartment of Immigration and Emigration, Sri Lanka: Special Notice to the Short Term Visitors to Sri Lanka
  3. Current official routeCitizenship

    Sri Lankan citizenship is outside foreign visitor-visa scope

    A Sri Lankan ordinary passport belongs to a Sri Lankan citizen and is not classified through the foreign short-visit ETA or visa framework.

    • Does not decide a dual national's document choice, departure, residence, security screening, or individual admissibility treatment.
    1 passport nationalities covered

    Sri Lanka

    Official sourceDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: General Information on Passports
  4. Current official routeETA

    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.
    5 passport nationalities covered

    Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana

    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
  5. Current official routeETA

    Other ordinary passports: standard short-visit ETA

    The current Department default requires a standard ETA for every other catalog foreign ordinary-passport code; the source does not create a nationality-wide visa-free complement.

    • 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.
    • Apply electronically through the official ETA portal. The 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.
    147 passport nationalities covered

    Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Greece, Malta, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Croatia, Iceland, Bulgaria, Monaco, Romania, Cyprus, Chile, Hong Kong (SAR China), Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, San Marino, Brunei, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, The Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, Mexico, Antigua and Barbuda, Vatican City, Mauritius, Costa Rica, Grenada, Panama, Paraguay, Macao (SAR China), Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, St. Lucia, Ukraine, Peru, Serbia, Solomon Islands, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Honduras, Samoa, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Tuvalu, Nicaragua, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kiribati, Micronesia, Palau Islands, Moldova, Venezuela, South Africa, Belize, Ecuador, Timor-Leste, Fiji, Guyana, Vanuatu, Jamaica, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Botswana, Bolivia, Namibia, Suriname, Lesotho, eSwatini, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda, Tanzania, Azerbaijan, The Gambia, Philippines, Tunisia, Uganda, Armenia, Cape Verde Islands, Zambia, Benin, Mongolia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo, Cuba, Gabon, Madagascar, Mauritania, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Niger, Guinea, Mali, Tajikistan, Comoro Islands, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Liberia, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo (Rep.), Egypt, Vietnam, Bhutan, Cambodia, Jordan, Haiti, Djibouti, Congo (Dem. Rep.), Laos, Turkmenistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Lebanon, Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, Eritrea, Palestinian Territory, Bangladesh, North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq

    Official sourcesDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: Special Notice to Short-Term Visitors: free Tourist Visa (ETA) for 40 countriesDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: Electronic Travel Authorization official overviewDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: How to submit an ETA applicationDepartment of Immigration and Emigration: ETA application terms and conditions