The Sri Lanka ETA, explained properly

With effect from 25 May 2026, nationals of forty listed countries can obtain the tourist ETA free of charge for thirty days, with double entry. That is the change, and it is a real one — for a British, Indian, German or Australian passport holder, entry to Sri Lanka now costs nothing.

Three things people get wrong about it. First, free does not mean waived: every foreign national, including all forty of those nationalities, still has to obtain an ETA before travelling. Second, the fee-free ETA is thirty days — if you want longer, you extend it in-country and you pay for that. Third, ETA fees paid before 25 May 2026 are not refundable, so if you paid in April you paid.

Reproduced from the Department of Immigration and Emigration notice of 24 May 2026. Diplomatic, official, service and ordinary passport holders of these countries all qualify.

Separately, Maldives, Seychelles and Singapore have bilateral reciprocal arrangements and also pay nothing. Maldivian nationals get ninety days rather than thirty.

Note the on-arrival premium. Turning up without an ETA costs you an extra ten dollars and a queue at two in the morning after a nine-hour flight. Apply online.

The ETA is valid for thirty days, whether you paid for it or not. Beyond that you extend at the Department of Immigration and Emigration head office in Battaramulla, on the outskirts of Colombo. It is a morning, not a five-minute job, and it is considerably easier if you go early.

Search for the Sri Lanka ETA and a good half of the first page will be commercial operators who take your details, submit the same free form on your behalf, and charge you forty to eighty dollars for it. They are not illegal and they are not scams in the criminal sense. They are simply selling you something the government now gives away.

• The only official site is eta.gov.lk. Type it directly rather than clicking an advert.
• The official site never charges a service fee, a processing fee, or an expedite fee.
• If a site quotes a price in euros or pounds, it is not the government.
• A genuine ETA approval usually arrives by email within twenty-four to seventy-two hours. Sites promising an hour are selling urgency.
• You do not need a printed copy. Immigration looks you up by passport number. Having the approval on your phone is enough, and having nothing at all is usually fine too, because it is in the system.

• A passport valid for at least six months from your date of arrival.
• Proof of onward or return travel. Rarely checked at Colombo, occasionally checked at the airline desk before you board.
• An address for your first night. Any hotel booking does. They want a line on the form, not an itinerary.
• Nothing about money. Sri Lanka does not ask for proof of funds for tourist entry.

Arrival at Katunayake is generally quick — twenty minutes through immigration on a normal night, longer if three wide-bodies land together, which between 01:00 and 03:00 they often do. There is a bank counter airside, and the rates there are better than the ones in the arrivals hall.