To travel to Sri Lanka as a tourist, you must apply for a Tourist Visit Visa. This can be done online through eta.gov.lk, which costs $50, and you can choose between 90 and 180 days of validity. There is also a visa on arrival possible at the airport in Sri Lanka. This costs slightly more at $60 and gives you a 30-day tourist visa. Extending your visa can be done online through https://eservices.immigration.gov.lk, at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramula, Colombo, or through a visa agent.
Till June 2023, the Sri Lanka tourist visa you can apply for only is up to 180 days! This is currently a temporary measure. We will update the blog once this changes.
Apply for Sri Lanka Tourist Visit Visa
There are two ways to apply for your Tourist Visit Visa for Sri Lanka, either through the official government website or on arrival at the airport (not available for all nationalities).
Apply for Tourist Visa to Sri Lanka online.
Applying for your tourist visit visa to Sri Lanka can easily and quickly be done online,
Fill in all required details on the official website and wait for the confirmation to come in. This generally takes about 2 hours. First, you will receive an email that your online application has been received, and a little bit later, you will receive an email confirming your ETA. This could take a bit longer during weekends or public holidays. Make sure you check your email spam box.
When asked to fill in a flight number and an address in Sri Lanka, fill in your flight into Colombo and the address of your first accommodation. If you do not have anything booked yet, fill something random in, as we have never heard that they check this.
Your ETA/visa is linked to your passport and in the system. But just in case, do bring a printout or have the email ready on your phone.
Visa Validity
Since October 2022, applying for either a 30-day or a 180-day Tourist Visit Visa has been possible. However, this is temporary and will currently be possible until June.
Sri Lanka Tourist Visa on arrival
This process takes a little bit longer because there is an extra queue at the airport you will have to wait in, and they aren’t as efficient. Also, this option is more expensive. Thus, we recommend that everyone apply for their ETA/visa online.
You can get a visa on arrival at the following ports:
- Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake (near Negombo)
- Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana (15km south of Colombo)
- Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, Hambantota
- Cruise Terminal, Colombo
Sri Lanka Tourist Visa Costs
The Sri Lanka Tourist Visit Visa costs $50 when applied online and $60 when bought on arrival at the airport in Colombo.
Proof of onward flight for Sri Lanka Tourist Visa
Before travelling to Sri Lanka, make sure you have (proof of) an onward flight stating that you will leave the country again. For most travellers, this will be a return ticket with the same airline back to your home country. But for long-term travellers with no fixed plans, this can be an issue. They could ask for this document at the Sri Lankan border or sometimes even before check-in from your departure airport and refuse you on the flight if you do not have this. This is always the case when travelling from India, for instance.
For travellers with no fixed plans, there are some options:
- Onwardticket.com
- Or be creative and make your ticket or change an old one.
Sri Lanka Tourist Visa Passport Validity
Ensure your passport is valid for a minimum of six months from your arrival in Sri Lanka. If your passport is too old, apply for a new one before expiry, as your ETA/visa is linked to your passport number!
Apply for Sri Lanka Tourist Visa in Advance
You can apply for your ETA/visa for Sri Lanka up to 90 days before your intended arrival in Sri Lanka.
Extending your Sri Lanka tourist visa
There are a few ways to extend your stay in Sri Lanka longer than the standard 30-day visa.
(Partial) online Tourist Visa Extension for Sri Lanka
Applying for an Online Application for Visa Extension in Sri Lanka should be a relatively easy online process. See the steps on the official website here.
How to apply for an online tourist visa extension in Sri Lanka
- Go to the official website here: https://eservices.immigration.gov.lk/vs/home.php
- Register yourself by providing your details in the online form. After this, you can log in to this system using your email and password.
- Fill in your details. Details requested with * are mandatory.
- Upload requested files. Uploading a photo of your passport data page is mandatory. Other files should be uploaded if available. Providing as much details as possible will make it easier for the immigration department to grant the visa extension.
- Confirm and save your details. You can use the same login to apply if there are other applicants in your group (max 10 per login).
- Next, you make an appointment to visit the Head Office of the Department of Immigration and Emigration to pay for and get the tourist visa extension in your passport. On the appointment page, you select a date and time.
- You will receive a confirmation email, which you need to take to the appointment (printed). Without this, you cannot enter.
- You visit the Visa Division at the “C” Wing, 4th Floor, on the appointment day. You can enter 15min before your timeslot. If you’re 10 minutes late, you’ll need to make a new appointment.
Apply for a Sri Lanka Tourist visa at your home-country Embassy
You can already apply for a 3-month visa at the Sri Lankan Embassy in your home country (if you have one). This is a straightforward procedure, and we recommend calling the Sri Lankan mission abroad closest to you beforehand for more information.
Extending your Sri Lanka Tourist visa at the Immigration Department
When in the country, you can extend for an additional two months to a total of 3 months. After this, you extend for 3 months, giving you six months. So for the six months in total, you will have to visit the office of the Department of Immigration and Emigration twice or arrange this through a visa processing agency. In some cases, we have heard you can even extend your Sri Lankan Tourist Visa to 9 months!
If you want to extend your visa yourself, you will have to make your way to the office of the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla, Colombo. This is the official government office where you can extend your visa in Sri Lanka. The office is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm, with an hour-long break for lunch in the middle.
How to get to the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Sri Lanka
The easiest way to get to the office is using a tuktuk from Tuktuk Rental! But otherwise, a taxi service like Uber or PickMe will work too. If you are thinking of going by bus, check out the app Colombo Bus Routes or ask around the bus station for the bus to Battaramulla or Passport Office. Depending on traffic and where you are coming from in Colombo, this will take from 30min to an hour. Remember if you are asking locals to use your best Sri Lankan accent when saying “passport office”.
Before you go, make sure you have all the necessary documentation filled out and ready. This will save you time at the visa extension office!
Documents and other things to bring to the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Sri Lanka for your visa extension:
- Print out the visa extension form and have it ready.
- If you do not have access to a printer, you can get one at the small shops outside the office for Rs. 50 or get the document from the counter inside the office.
- Make sure you have a passport-size photograph pasted on the visa extension form.
- If you don’t have a photo, you can have one made. You can do this outside the office or inside the office (on the first floor) for about Rs. 250.
- If you don’t have any glue to paste the photo on the visa extension document, there is some inside the office on level C (where you will need to go to pick up the forms, which is also the waiting room).
- Cash/credit card for visa extension fee, please check this website for the fee per country.
- An official requirement is ‘proof of onward flight’ and ‘sufficient funds’. However, in our experience, they never really ask for this. When getting the first two extra months (to a total of 3) extension, make sure you don’t look like a beggar when you are at the office.
- If you want to play it safe, check out the ‘proof of onward flight’ section above and print out a bank statement.
- Snacks/drinks, something to do like read a book or like too many photos on social media. Of course, you will need some patience 😉
- Last but not least: YOUR PASSPORT, with more than six months of validity!
NOTE: In the street where the office is located, many shops can help you with this process. The same shops where you can get a passport-size photograph and a print-out of the visa extension document. The people outside these shops will try to convince you that they can do the visa extension for you faster and that it takes a very long time. However, they are just trying to make an extra buck, and it takes just as long as you would do it yourself but is more expensive.
Steps to take to extend your Sri Lanka tourist visa at the Department of Immigration and Emigration
- Make sure you have all documents ready.
- Get over to the office of the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
- The actual office where you can extend your visa is not the one you enter. You walk through the busy waiting area to the opposite left side, cross a small road and then enter the office in the back. That’s where you take the elevator to the 4th floor and turn right towards the first counter.
- Try to get here by 8 AM, the first of the 5 counters are already open so you can start the process.
- On the 4th floor turn right towards a room with a C on it and a sign that says Welcome To The Visa Division. Hand in your completed application and passport to the person sitting at the desk right after you enter this area. They will hand you a number token and ask you to sit in Wing C nearby and wait for that number to be called.
- Take a seat at Wing C and keep an eye out at the screen for your number to be shown. At the bottom of the screen are the numbers that are due to be called so you can see how far back in line you are.
- Once your number is called, hand over your token to the clerk behind this desk who will scan it and then tell you to proceed to Area B. Which is located in another area, head outside the doors and walk straight along the hallway to a door labelled B called Visa Application Acceptance Unit and walk-in.
- This area opens at 8.30 AM, be prepared to stand up when the Sri Lankan National Anthem is being played!
- In this room, again there will be screens on the wall where you will see your number appear. Take a seat and wait for your number to be called. When you see your number, head into one of the four small offices (labelled A – D) indicated for your number.
- Go into the office and hand over your documents and passport to the visa officer who will inspect them.
- Head back to Area C, where you started, and wait at the Payment Counters which are located behind the desk that issues number tokens in step 3, on the right side. Again wait for your number to appear on the screen or to be called.
- Once called, hand over your token number. The person behind the desk is going to quote you a price of Rupees after conversion from USD. You can either pay in cash in Rupees or hand them a Visa or MasterCard and be charged in USD.
- After you make the payment, get your receipt and head over to the waiting area behind Wing C in step 4. Which is located to the left of the payment counters.
- Once your number is called, head to the counters at the front and hand over your number, sign the sheet, and get your passport back. Always check whether the visa extension sticker is in your passport with a new expiry date.
The record by following these steps for your visa extension is currently set at 1 hour and 50 minutes, arriving at 8 AM and leaving at 9.50 AM!
Extending your Tourist Visa to Sri Lanka through an agency
If you’re short on time and have extra money, you can go to one of the extension agencies. These legal entities can arrange your visa with less hassle (they do all the work for you). You need to hand in your passport and fill out some forms at the start of the day, and then you can collect it again at 5 pm, usually on the same day. The one we would recommend and which our customers have used before is Immigration Services Centre. Another option is Island Visa Services.
Overstaying your Sri Lanka Tourist Visa
The penalty for overstaying your visa in Sri Lanka is $600! We have not heard of anyone who has actually got fined this amount.
There is no official information online on overstaying your visa in Sri Lanka. However, from travellers and reports on various online portals, we can conclude there is a minimal chance you will not have to pay a fine.
There is a 7-day grace period for overstaying, an agent like Immigration Services Center can help you obtain your visa when still in this grace period.
When your Sri Lanka Tourist Visa is expired, you have 24 hours to leave the country without being fined.
If you overstay, you can be escorted into the interrogation room, where you must explain yourself. This will cost some time which results in people missing flights. We have heard of other people placed on a 5-year blacklist and could only enter Sri Lanka with a special visa (source: TripAdvisor).
Most overstayers leave the office, losing more money than they want.
Experiences from people overstaying their visa in Sri Lanka
Dengue/hospitalization
We have heard of someone hospitalized for dengue and then overstayed for 21 days. Finally ended up paying just $25 to immigration and had a small talk with the officer before leaving the country.
1,5-week overstay
Another person we spoke to had overstayed 1,5 weeks. They ended up paying 14,000 LKR to the immigration officer.
Eight days overstay
An elderly couple overstayed their visa in Sri Lanka by eight days, ended up having a serious conversation with the immigration officer and paid $67 in extension charges. Their excuse was that they thought they had applied for a 3-month visa but only had one month.
