From October 1, 2024 and for 6 months, citizens of 35 countries will no longer need a visa to travel to Sri Lanka.
The ETA portal has been reactivated (details here), but the free visa policy announced by the previous government did not come into effect on October 1 (details here).
Recently faced with problems managing its electronic visa service, Sri Lanka has suspended its e-Visa system since August 2, 2024…
Since this date, travelers can no longer apply for visas online via the government portal www.srilankaevisa.lk and are issued visas on arrival on the island.
Today, Sri Lanka announces a temporary resolution that will delight tourists who have been reluctant to travel to the country since the cancellation of the e-Visa service.
“Cabinet decides to allow visa free access to Sri Lanka for citizens of 35 countries including the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Russia, South Korea & Japan from October 01, 2024, for a period of 06 months”, announces Ali Sabry, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
A few months ago, Harin Fernando, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Tourism, had submitted a proposal for visa-free entry for tourists from 67 countries, in order to compete with regional neighbors and reach the target of 2.3 million tourists by 2024.
The 35 countries covered by the Sri Lanka visa waiver
According to the latest data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), over 1.3 million tourist arrivals have been recorded since the beginning of the year.
“First steps towards a visa free regime !”, enthuses Ali Sabry on X (formerly Twitter), who unveils the list of countries whose citizens will be able to travel visa-free to Sri Lanka from October 1, 2024:
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Canada
- China
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Malaysia
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Oman
- Poland
- Qatar
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
I’m from the US and the Sri Lanka e-visa site still charges $50 as of today Nov 2024. It does not mention this free visa promotion that is being hyped up.
Do Sri Lanka have embassy in Nigeria
Why is Norway not in the list?
Why is Estonia not on the list ?
Why not Pakistan in the list?
It’s good idea charging 15 dollars all country’s and india free
I agree
Long live friendship Srilankan people and Pakistan 😝
Philippines not included? I don’t get the logic of what is the problem of Sri Lanka to our Philippines?
Why is Finland not on the list ?
Because Finland don’t have any embassy in Srilanka also We Srilankan can’t get visa to Finland. It’s very hard.
If the eta was canceled then the cashier will be crowded and we may miss the Flight so ..be flexible ..its a nice country to visit ..I want to visit again although I have no company 😕
The best thing is the electronic visa. Please come back instead of the heavy crowding at the cashier.
South Africa not on list why?
Since 1 St of October we.can get e-visa….
Having visited Sri Lanka 10 times before on holiday and always obtained our ETA visas on-line without any problems I ask this question:
If in future we have to obtain our visa on arrival there is no mention of accepted currencies to do so. When you arrive at immigration control you obviously you will not have any SL rupees. All the exchange banks etc. are outside… after collecting your baggage.
Coming from the UK we will only have pounds sterling, not US dollars which seems to be the preferred currency accepted worldwide. So will they accept £, and if so how much ?
There seems no guidance at all about accepted currencies from the Sri Lankan authorities.
Yes pound is acceptable no worries all are most welcome
Don’t worry about your visa online you can check about your visa
Why is Ireland not on the list ?
We don’t have Ireland embassy in Srilanka