From October 1, 2024 and for 6 months, citizens of 35 countries will no longer need a visa to travel to Sri Lanka.
UPDATE 08/22/2024: the visa exemption will result in the free issuance of 30-day visas to tourists from 35 countries → more 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
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.
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.
Why is Ireland not on the list ?