Asia - Sri Lanka now requires ETA from many (Jan 2012)

Sri Lanka now requires an ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) in procured advance of arrival; the processing cost is (in USD, non-refundable and not required for Singapore or Malaysia residents):

a single entry ETA with maximum stay of two days is free, most others are $10 (7 days) - $20 (30 days). The initial ETA is generally granted for 30 days but may be extended up twice up to 90 days each time.

Use www.eta.gov.lk and click on "How to Submit an ETA".

Citizens of US, Canada and the UK and 76 other "Schedule A" countries will not need visas; others will need a visa.

All tourists / business travelers from SAARC countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan) are not required to obtain prior visas and may obtain visas for 30 days on arrival in Sri Lanka. See www.slembassyusa.org/consular/issue-of-visas-to-travel-to-sri-lanka.

Those with ETAs will need to present their passports and ETA letter (plus visa where required). Limited possibilities at POE will be offered for securing an ETA on arrival, and the cost will be $25 when available.

Sri Lanka now requires an ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) in procured advance of arrival; the processing cost is (in USD, non-refundable and not required for Singapore or Malaysia residents):

a single entry ETA with maximum stay of two days is free, most others are $10 (7 days) - $20 (30 days). The initial ETA is generally granted for 30 days but may be extended up twice up to 90 days each time.

Use www.eta.gov.lk and click on "How to Submit an ETA".

Citizens of US, Canada and the UK and 76 other "Schedule A" countries will not need visas; others will need a visa.

All tourists / business travelers from SAARC countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan) are not required to obtain prior visas and may obtain visas for 30 days on arrival in Sri Lanka. See www.slembassyusa.org/consular/issue-of-visas-to-travel-to-sri-lanka.

Those with ETAs will need to present their passports and ETA letter (plus visa where required). Limited possibilities at POE will be offered for securing an ETA on arrival, and the cost will be $25 when available.

Going on discussion on the Sri Lankan forum on Trip Advisor there apears to be a fair bit of change still happening with this requirement. As an Aussie travelling there in Feb 2012 it seems that if our travel was booked prior to 31st Dec 2011 we are eligible for a free on arrival visa and no need to fill out the online ETA-it certainly hasn't been a smooth implementation

Looks like if one is only transiting thru for a max. of 2 days, no visa is required..??

Hi. In September I booked and paid for a return flight to Sri Lanka departing UK on 23rd Feb & arriving @ 0545 on 24 Feb.
My return flight home to the UK is on 26 March dep @ 0500.

At the time I was unaware of the new ETA requirements + I wasn't aware either of the 30 rule.This year is a Leap Year so Feb. has only 29 days which has also led to confusion for me.
So.....I'm in a muddle and would appreciate your help. as I've booked my stay for 31/32 days...just a couple of days over!

Immigration tell me I will have to apply for an extension once I'm there.
Can this be done immediately on arrival...before I leave the airport?
I'm staying right down South so it will be a real expedition to return to Colombo.
Do you know the cost of extensions?
If I change my flight it will cost me an enormous amount.
I look forward to some help.
Thankyou.

Hi. In September I booked and paid for a return flight to Sri Lanka departing UK on 23rd Feb & arriving @ 0545 on 24 Feb.
My return flight home to the UK is on 26 March dep @ 0500.

At the time I was unaware of the new ETA requirements + I wasn't aware either of the 30 rule.This year is a Leap Year so Feb. has only 29 days which has also led to confusion for me.
So.....I'm in a muddle and would appreciate your help. as I've booked my stay for 31/32 days...just a couple of days over!

Immigration tell me I will have to apply for an extension once I'm there.
Can this be done immediately on arrival...before I leave the airport?
I'm staying right down South so it will be a real expedition to return to Colombo.
Do you know the cost of extensions?
If I change my flight it will cost me an enormous amount.
I look forward to some help.
Thankyou.

I am travelling to Sri Lanka in Feb. From my searches there does not seem to be a lot of info on FT re Sri Lanka. However there are many posts in the Trip Advisor forum where there are some " destination experts"- perhaps they can be more specific with your question. I was able to apply prior to 31/12/11 & get an approval but I am travelling for less than 30 days.

I want to confirm that I have the proper understanding. I am a US citizen, traveling to Sri Lanka for tourism of less than 30 days. If I have read the Embassy information properly as well as that posted above, I need to do nothing in advance of arrival. Right?

I want to confirm that I have the proper understanding. I am a US citizen, traveling to Sri Lanka for tourism of less than 30 days. If I have read the Embassy information properly as well as that posted above, I need to do nothing in advance of arrival. Right?

Early this year some things changed in Sri Lanka. When I travelled in December no VISA was necessary, the last time I went a few months ago a VISA was required, but is available on arrival.

In my case I never have had to do anything prior to my trip, all was handled at CMB.

Thanks, whimike, much appreciated. I continued to research while you were posting and found indeed that rules have changed.

Citizens of US, Canada and the UK and 76 other "Schedule A" countries will not need visas; others will need a visa.

The current rules for those of us traveling on US passports is as follows:

Please note that after 31st December 2011, all U.S. nationals expect to visit Sri Lanka have to apply visa online through ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) system. A processing fee of $ 20 will be charged from the applicants.

<snip>

The 30-Day Free Visa on Arrival granted for the U.S. nationals as mentioned in the below sections will only be issued up 31st December 2011.

It's quite a quick process. I filled out the form online & submitted the same and the visa was granted in about 10 mins or so.. worked pretty easy at the end of it all..

I believe one can buy the same on landing into CMB, but costs a little bit more.

It's not that efficient, and still has bugs. I applied for a group visa for the 4 of us traveling. 2 cleared with no issues, however, I along with a friend had to stand in 3 different lines while they manually cleared us. It was all very strange as we were on the same application. An interesting note is that they didn't charge the $20 fee to my credit card until we arrived Sri Lanka.

Looks like the fee now is 30 US$ per person -that was for a 3 day visit for a German and a US citizen.
The website is a bit buggy - had to restart two times.