The island country of Sri Lanka is tourist-friendly and a delight to travel in. Its known for its tea gardens, sun-drenched beaches, and moody hillside getaways. In order to travel to this lovely sun-and-sand destination you need to procure a Sri Lanka Visa. The visa is a document which will seal your stay in the country so that you can witness its stunning scenery, hiking trails, and some extremely fun water activities. Plenty of Indian travellers visit Sri Lanka on their honeymoon, its even popular as a family holiday destination, and not to mention, a haven for backpackers and solo travellers. Ahead of planning your Sri Lanka trip, you need to consider how to get your Sri Lanka visa online, and what are the documents you need to prep for it.
| Type of Sri Lanka Visa | Sri Lanka Visa Fees |
|---|---|
| Tourist evisa (30 Days) | ₹ 2,200 |
| Business eVisa (30 Days) | ₹ 2,850 |
Sri Lanka Visa for Indians and How to Apply
An Indian citizen needs visa to travel to Sri Lanka. But the advantage is Indians can avail the Sri Lanka visa on arrival. ETA or Electronic Travel Authorisation is a document you need to ready beforehand, ahead of your travels to the country. In order to get your Sri Lanka visa application processed you need to ensure that your passport is valid for at least 6 months from your scheduled date of journey. You can attain the Sri Lanka eVisa online through an OTA like Trip Alive by filling up a basic form, uploading your documents online, paying the visa fee including the agent's commission online and then waiting for your documents to get processed. The Sri Lanka ETA is usually sent electronically to your email id within 3 days of filing your papers. It is mandatory to take out a print-out of this document and present it to the immigration officers at the airport when asked to submit. It is also suggested that you buy a travel insurance for your travels to Sri Lanka as the medical expenses in the country are mostly at par with India, and ensure that your insurance covers any sort of medical emergency. In addition to this, it offers you protection from loss of passport, loss of money, flight delay, delay in checked-in luggage, adventure sports among others.
While a visa is a legal document to enter any country, an eVisa is always for a short-term visit. The Sri Lanka eVisa for Indians is an Electronic Travel Authorisation or ETA which is meant for a short-term visit to the island country for the purposes of tourism, transit or for business. Also called a Visit Visa, this entry permit implies consent from the Sri Lankan government to let a foreign national visit the country. The visa mentions the details of your stay which comprises the time you are going to be spending in the country and the conditions of your stay.
In order to Sri Lanka eVisa apply online, you need to be apprised of the various types of short-terms visas you can apply for under eVisa on arrival.
Sri Lanka Tourist Visa: Such a visa is issued to bona-fide tourists whose sole purpose of a trip to Sri Lanka is tourism. A tourist visit visa is always a double entry visa. The purpose of a tourist visa can be sightseeing, holidaying, to meet friends and relatives, to seek medical treatment including yogic and Ayurvedic, and also to participate in sporting events, competitions, or to take part in a cultural performance.
Sri Lanka Business Visa: Such a visa is granted to foreign nationals who visit Sri Lanka for purpose of conducting his business, and for a short period of time. Though there are several variations to this type of visa; it could be single entry, double entry or multiple entry visas. The business visa entails participating in business meetings and negotiations, to take part in conferences, seminars and workshops, to take part in a short-term training programme, to take part in a music, dance or art-related event, to take part in a symposium, and also to take part in religious events.
Sri Lanka Transit Visa: This visa is issued to those foreign nationals who would be transiting through Sri Lanka. This type of visa is valid for up to 2 days.
You need an Electronic Travel Authorisation or ETA to visit Sri Lanka for a short trip. This is an online system where the Sri Lanka eVisa application is also downloaded and filled up and then uploaded along with the requisite documents. The Sri Lanka eVisa processing time is approximately 3 days from submitting the forms online either directly to the Sri Lankan high commission or through your OTA. An ETA allows you to stay in Sri Lanka for no more than 30 days. The Sri Lanka eVisa fees for Indians, when they opt for a tourist visa is INR 2200, and in case you wish to get a ETA for business purposes, the fee is INR 2850 which is inclusive of the agent commission and the visa fee charged by the consulate of Sri Lanka.
You can easily apply for Sri Lanka eVisa online. This facility is enabled by the Sri Lankan government which has put this system in place where an Electronic Travel Authorisation or Electronic Visa is issued for short stays in Sri Lanka. This document is issued to travellers to Sri Lanka visiting for business or for the purpose of tourism by the Department of Immigration & Emigration, Colombo in Sri Lanka. This also applies to those who are transiting through Sri Lanka by way of a transit eVisa. You can online visa apply Sri Lanka with the help of an OTA since it is completely an online process where you need to download a simple form and fill up your personal and demographic details and then upload scanned copies of the mentioned documents. Your agent will then check the accuracy of these papers and intimate you in case any additional document is needed. Following which they will submit the eVisa Sri Lanka application to the Sri Lankan high commission, and within 3 working days the approval comes through from them which is then sent to your registered email id. The ETA replaces the need for a Sri Lanka stamp visa. A Sri Lanka eVisa online for Indians is very simple a process. You just need to visit your OTA website, select the type of visa you are looking for whether transit, business or tourist visa, each of which are short-term visas and are offered through ETA. You can download the visa form online and fill it up from the comfort of your home or office and then upload all the mentioned documents on the agent's portal. The agent verifies your document and sends it for approval. Expect your documents to get processed within 3 days. These visas allow for a maximum of 30 days stay in any part of Sri Lanka. But you need to ensure that you apply for the visa at least 3 months prior to your date of travel to Sri Lanka. While it is possible to get a Sri Lanka visa on arrival, but an eVisa saves you the hassle of waiting in long queues at immigration, filling up forms, getting your documents verified before obtaining your visa.
An Indian citizen who is planning a trip to Sri Lanka can apply for his visa through Trip Alive. This short-term visa allows you a stay of up to 30 days in Sri Lanka, and is a double-entry visa. This is any day better than opting for a Sri Lanka visa on arrival as it eliminates the uncertainties involved in getting your visa form filled and documents submitted at the spot to get a approval. And then paying the visa fee too in local currency. By opting for an ETA, you can simply reach out to Trip Alive, choose the type of visa you wish to avail whether transit, business or tourist. Then go through the document requirement for each and submit a scanned copy of the originals online, post which you need to pay the visa fee which is inclusive of the agent commission. At Trip Alive for a tourist eVisa, the charges are INR 2200, whereas for a business eVisa the charges are INR 2850. Further to that, your documents are verified by the Trip Alive team for accuracy and then send off to the consulate for approval. You can expect your eVisa approval or ETA to come in within 48 hours on your registered email id. But you need to ensure that you apply for this document at least 3 months in advance of your scheduled date of departure.
The Sri Lanka eVisa validity is 30 days, and if it is a tourist visa then you can enter Sri Lanka twice and stay in the country for up to 30 days on each trip. The business visa, on the other hand, can be single-entry, double-entry and multiple-entry visas with the validity of Indian eVisa being a total of 30 days, depending on which option you choose. The ETA is offered to Indian travellers for a short visit to Sri Lanka and is an entirely electronic process, conveniently replacing the need for a stamp or sticker visa. An Indian passport holder needs to get an Electronic Travel Authorisation ahead of boarding his flight to Sri Lanka from India. The greatest advantage of this process is it saves time as you can apply for it online, submit your documents online, pay online and even receive the approvals online. The document is electronically linked to your passport number without providing any stamp on your passport. But you need to ensure you keep a clean print-out of this document to show it to the immigration officers upon arrival at the airport in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka tourist eVisa validity is for up to 6 months and the applicant can stay in the island nation for a period of up to 30 days on two different occasion. The processing time of this visa being up to 2 to 3 days. The Sri Lanka business visa validity is for 6 months, letting you stay in the country for a maximum of 30 days on each visit. This can be a single, double or multiple entry visa with the processing time being same as that of a tourist eVisa. A Sri Lanka business eVisa too can be procured online.
This applies to all international travellers entering Sri Lanka on a tourist visa. The new rule removes the minimum days of stay in Sri Lanka. Ahead of boarding your flight from India to Sri Lanka, these are the things you need to be apprised of.
- You need a valid eVisa ahead of boarding your flight. The facility of procuring a Sri Lanka visa on arrival is suspended for the time being.
- Ahead of applying for the visa you need to ensure you already have a confirmed booking at a level 1 âsafe & secure certified' hotel/s for a period of up to 15 days, depending on the duration of your stay and vaccination status. You are allowed to stay in the hotel and use all its facilities on providing a negative on-arrival PCR test. You need to pay your hotel or your OTA a mandatory COVID-19 local travel insurance for a policy of up to USD 50,000 for a period of up to 1 month. This includes children below 2 years. You need to pay your hotel or OTA for the PCR tests, depending on the status of your vaccination.
- You need to show a negative RT-PCR test done within 72 hours of your flight's scheduled departure. Children under 2 years are excluded from doing this.
- Your airport transfers need to be organised by your L1 Safe & Secure Certified hotel, or your travel agent.
- All travellers need to undergo COVID-19 PCR test on day 1 of arrival.
- You need to furnish a completed health declaration form.
- You need to furnish your original vaccination certificate or card on arrival at the airport in Sri Lanka. The rules are different for fully-vaccinated, partially-vaccinated or not-vaccinated travellers. A fully-vaccinated traveller needs to undergo a COVID-19 RT-PCR test upon arrival in Sri Lanka, and then children of these travellers need to undergo an RT-PCR test 7 days after arrival; this is for children between 0 to 18 years.
The Sri Lanka eVisa requirements for Indians is in fact very simple. Once you have reached out to your OTA and decided which eVisa or ETA you wish to opt for, all you are left to do is make the payment for the visa fee and the agent's commission online and then upload all the necessary documents so that the agent can further send them for approval to the high commission. The Sri Lanka eVisa processing time is 24 to 48 hours from the time of submitting your documents online to your OTA. Among Sri Lanka eVisa requirements you need to file scanned copies of the following documents:
- The ETA application form duly filled.
- Two recent coloured passport-size photographs.
- Confirmed return airfares from India to Sri Lanka and back.
- Proof of hotel accommodation during all days of your stay in Sri Lanka.
- A copy of the front and back pages of your passport. Your passport needs to have at least 6 months validity beyond your duration of stay in Sri Lanka, and have a minimum of 3 blank pages.
- Your travel insurance. This is an increasingly important document following the COVID crisis.
- The ETA application form duly filled.
- Two recent coloured passport-size photographs.
- Confirmed air tickets for the onward and return journey.
- A copy of the front and back pages of the passport. The passport needs to have no less than 6 months validity which is beyond the tenure of your stay in Sri Lanka, and comprise a minimum of 3 blank pages.
- A cover letter from the Indian organisation you are representing.
- Invitation from the Sri Lankan company needs to be attached to the visa application, and a copy of the same also needs to be sent to the Sri Lankan host company.
- Your travel insurance. A very important document considering the current COVID situation.
- A scanned copy of the first and last pages of your passport.
- Confirmed onward airfare.
- Your travel insurance, a very crucial document given the current COVID crisis.
- A copy of the visa to the final destination of your travel.
You can apply for an extension of your ETA before its expiry. The extensions are typically provided in 3 month blocks, and a maximum duration of a tourist visa is 6 months.
- Duly filled and signed tourist visa extension application form.
- Original passport of the applicant.
- A recent coloured passport-size photograph of 3.5*4.5 cm
- Proof of funds required to cover your expenses for an extended stay.
- Proof of return air tickets
- Other supporting documents to justify an extension request
You can apply for an extension locally at the Immigration Services Centre in Colombo. You need to either do it directly or through third party and hand over the completed application form along with the fee. Then your application is submitted to the Department of Immigration for processing, post which you are allowed to collect the processed passport. You have the option of picking up the passport directly from the service centre or you can have it couriered to you for a nominal fee.
The extension of a business eVisa is typically given in a 3 month blocks and allows for a maximum stay of 12 months for a business eVisa.
- Duly filled application form for business ETA extension.
- Original passport of the applicant.
- A recent coloured passport-size photograph of 3.5*4.5 cm dimensions.
- A visa request letter from the local business partner.
- The host Sri Lankan company's business registration documents.
You can apply for your business eVisa extension directly at the Immigration Services Centre located locally in Colombo. You need to hand over the application along with the fee, and you will be notified the approximate time required to collect your passport. The application is then submitted to the Department of Immigration for processing, and you can then collect your passport. You have the choice of collecting your passport directly from the centre, or you can get it delivered to you for a nominal fee.
The Sri Lanka eVisa fees for Indians depends on which category of eVisa or ETA you opt for. The Sri Lanka eVisa fee for a tourist visa if you get it done through Trip Alive is INR 2200. This Sri Lanka eVisa price is inclusive of the agent commission. The Sri Lanka eVisa cost in case you wish to get a business visa is INR 2850 which includes the visa fee charged by the Sri Lankan high commission and Trip Alive commission.
There are a number of benefits of getting an ETA to Sri Lanka. Here we list a few:
- The approval of such a visa comes through in 24 to 48 hours.
- It doesn't require a stamp on your passport from the immigration, just a copy of the ETA papers need to be displayed to the immigration at the airport and you are allowed entry.
- The ETA form can be filled up from the comfort of your office or home and filed directly to your OTA, who will check for its accuracy.
- For a Sri Lanka visa on arrival, you need to wait in long queues at the immigration where you need to fill up the form, submit the requisite documents, pay the fee. The ETA saves all this hassle and uncertainties involved with getting a visa on the spot, and you can simply show your ETA paper and cruise your way out of the airport.
- Since your documents are checked by the OTA before filing it to the high commission, in all probability your visa request would be granted.
- The process of payment too is an easy one. Just have to hop onto the agent's payment gateway and make payment using net banking or any major debit or credit card.
- You can apply for a tourist or business ETA anytime you wish to, and even get an approval within 48 hours. But ensure your hotels and flights are booked before you apply for your eVisa.
- And since you have already made the payment for your ETA, you no more have to arrange for sufficient local currency at the airport to pay the visa fee for a Sri Lanka visa on arrival.
- This is a very handy service as it helps those who are travelling at a very short notice or have an impromptu trip coming up in Sri Lanka.
- It saves the hassle of carrying too many original documents for verification at the airport. In this case only your original passport is enough along with your ETA papers. But make sure you have sufficient funds to support your stay in Sri Lanka.
Q. What are the documents required for getting a Sri Lanka eVisa on arrival?
A. This would depend on the category of eVisa or ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) you are applying for, whether business, transit or tourist. For a tourist eVisa you need the front and back cover of your passport, confirmed return air tickets to and from Sri Lanka, proof of accommodation/hotel, two recent coloured passport-size photographs, and your travel insurance. For business eVisa the requirement is pretty much the same though you additionally need a cover letter from the Indian company you are representing, and an invitation from the host Sri Lankan company.
Q. What is the fee for getting a Sri Lanka eVisa on arrival?
A. If you get your Sri Lanka eVisa done through Trip Alive then it will charge INR 2200 for a tourist ETA, and INR 2850 for a business ETA. This is inclusive of taxes and agent's commission.
Q. How can I apply for a Sri Lanka eVisa on arrival?
A. You can apply for the Sri Lanka ETA whether tourist, business or transit through an OTA. In order to apply with Trip Alive you need to provide all the requisite documents that includes accommodation proof, confirmed return air tickets, a copy of the front and back of your passport, coloured passport-size pictures, among other mandatory documents, and make the payment online using the site's payment gateway. The Trip Alive team will then fill up the application on your behalf after consulting with you and send your papers for processing. Once the consulate has processed your documents, the eVisa approval comes through and is sent by the Trip Alive team to your registered email id.
Q. What is the processing time for a Sri Lanka eVisa on arrival?
A. Once you have sent all your documents and paid the visa fee, your documents are sent to the Sri Lankan high commission who processes your papers and sends in the approval between 24 to 48 hours. It is your OTA who emails you your eVisa papers. You need to take a print out of the same and keep it handy on landing at the international airport in Sri Lanka for immigration check.
Q. What should be the validity of my passport to apply for a Sri Lanka eVisa on arrival?
A. When you apply for a eVisa or ETA whether tourist or business you need to make sure that your passport has at least 6 months validity beyond the duration of your stay in Sri Lanka, and it also needs to have a minimum of 3 blank pages.
