Frequently Asked Questions
Sri Lanka visa
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General information
What is an e-visa (eTA) for Sri-Lanka?
All travelers with Dutch and Belgian nationality must have a visa to travel in Sri Lanka. If travelers plan to stay in Sri Lanka for business or tourism, less than 30 days, the e-visa, also known as ETA, will suffice. You can easily apply for this e-visa / ETA here.
After the visa / e-visa / ETA has been granted, the traveler must print it out and have it with him when traveling.
Do I need a visa for Sri-Lanka?
Travelers with Dutch nationality require a visa, both tourist and business, in Sri Lanka. You can easily request this online via our website.
Do I have to do anything after submitting my order?
After submitting we receive a message within 24 hours, in practice this often happens the same day. Once your application has been approved, we will send you the confirmation by email.
It is useful to print out this visa and take it with you on your trip (in your hand luggage), because it may happen that the immigration service of Sri Lanka, at passport control, asks for this. However, this rarely happens because the customs officer can already see that you have a visa through the digital linking of the passport number and the e-visa.
Do I need a visa if I arrive in Sri-Lanka by boat/cruise?
Yes, you also need a visa if you arrive in Sri Lanka by boat.
What types of visa are available?
Sri Lanka has various types of visas. For example, there are:
• Visa on arrival can be obtained on arrival at Colombo Airport for an amount of $ 40 USD. However, there are long waiting times involved
• E-visas (ETA) can be obtained completely digitally in advance. This is possible up to 90 days before departure. With the electronic visa you can travel in and out of the country twice, within 30 days after first entry. Do you want to leave the country and return again after 30 days? Then you need to apply for a new visa.
• Regular visa can be obtained at the embassy. This visa is intended for travelers who want to stay longer than 90 days or who are not eligible for an electronic visa for any other reason. Traveldocs can help you with this process. Contact us for the possibilities.
Which type of visa for Sri-Lanka do I need?
Tourist travelers who stay in Sri Lanka for a maximum of 30 days can apply online for a tourist e-visa on this website. This costs € 12.95 per person.
If you want to travel to Sri Lanka for business and do not want to join an organization based in Sri Lanka, you can apply for a business e-visa online on this website. With this visa you can also stay in Sri Lanka for 30 days. There is a surcharge of € 10.00 per person for this visa.
There is also an emergency procedure for travelers who already travel to Sri Lanka within 3 days. This applies to both the tourist visa, the business visa and travelers who make a transfer in Sri Lanka. For this you can fill in the normal application form and check the option “urgent application”. There is a surcharge of € 17.50 per person for this procedure.
In case you wish to stay in Sri Lanka for more than 30 days, you can request one of the regular variants mentioned above. After your arrival in Sri Lanka it is possible to extend this visa to a maximum of 90 days. You can report to the Immigration Services Center (No. 330, Galle Road, Colombo 03 Sri Lanka, tel: + 94-727-591-591).
Here you can read more about how to extend the e-visa for Sri Lanka.
If you intend to live, study or join an organization based in Sri Lanka, you cannot use the e-visa, but you must apply for a physical visa. In that case, please contact us for the possibilities.
How long is my Sri-Lanka visa valid?
Both the tourist visa and the business visa are valid for 30 days, the transfer / transit visa is valid for 48 hours. Read more about the validity here.
Would you like to stay longer than 30 days in Sri Lanka? Then you can ask for a Visa Extension at the local Immigration Office. This can be extended to 90 days. More information can be found at www.immigration.gov.lk
An extension request must be submitted to the Visa Section of the Department of Immigration (head office) or must be provided by an Authorized Agent in Sri Lanka.
Do you wish to stay longer than 90 days in Sri Lanka? Then you must apply for a regular visa in person at the embassy of Sri Lanka in The Hague.
Do children need to have their own visa?
If the child is not older than 12 years, he does not need to have his / her own ETA. If the child is 12 years or older, he / she must apply for his / her own ETA.
How much does the Sri-Lanka visa cost?
The costs for the visa for Sri Lanka for the tourist e-visa are € 12.95.
For the business visa we ask € 76.95.
This includes processing costs, consular costs, transaction costs (with iDeal / bancontact payment) and VAT. You can also use an urgent procedure where a surcharge will also be charged. The amount of these surcharges depends on the desired delivery time and visa type. Information about the surcharges and rates can be found on the page costs of the visa Sri Lanka.
Application related questions
My application has been processed, but I still haven't received an email.
If, after paying your visa, you have not received an email from us within an hour, first check the junk mail folder (spam box). Didn’t receive an email there either? Please contact us by phone or e-mail via the contact page.
How does the visa procedure for Sri-Lanka work?
The visa application procedure for Sri Lanka begins online. To do this, open the online application form. After filling in all the details of the traveler (s) concerned, the application can be paid very simply. That is possible with iDeal, Bancontact, Paypal or with Credit Card. When the payment has been completed you will receive (within a maximum of 1 hour) an email from us with instructions on how to deliver the required documents. After you have filled in and signed the form, you send it back to us together with a scan of your passport. We will submit the application for you on the basis of your data. After submitting we receive a message within 24 hours, in practice this often happens the same day.
After granting the visa, you will receive an email from us containing the e-visa, which you must print out and take with you on your trip to Sri Lanka.
How far in advance can I apply for a Sri-Lanka visa?
You can apply for the e-visa for Sri Lanka before you have booked your flight tickets or accommodation. Usually you will receive the e-visa within a few days. To be sure, we recommend that you submit your application at least one week before departure.
If you are already leaving to Sri Lanka in the short term, you can also use our urgent procedure, which is awarded on average within an hour. However, there can never be a guarantee on delivery times, as the government of Sri Lanka reserves the right to manually check applications before approving them, which in rare cases (including urgent requests) can lead to some delay.
Is there an urgent procedure available?
If you are already leaving to Sri Lanka in the short term, you can also use our urgent procedure, which is awarded on average within an hour. The surcharge for this urgent procedure is € 17.50 per person. However, there can never be a guarantee on delivery times, as the government of Sri Lanka reserves the right to manually check applications before approving them, which in rare cases (including urgent requests) can lead to some delay.
Is it possible to apply for others?
Yes, it is possible to add multiple travelers on one application form who travel to Sri-Lanka together. For this you only need to have the travel information and passport details of the traveler (s) concerned. Because a lot of data only has to be entered once, this can save a lot of input.
Can I apply and obtain the visa fully online?
Yes, visa for tourist and business trips with a maximum stay of 30 days and visa for transfer in Sri Lanka can be applied for completely online. You therefore do not have to send documents or travel to the consulate yourself. The visa is processed completely digitally and delivered to you by e-mail, you only need to print this visa and take it with you on your trip. It does not have to be pasted in your passport as with regular visas
Required documents
Do I need to book a flight and a hotel in advance?
You can apply for the e-visa for Sri Lanka before you have booked your flight tickets or accommodation. However, when entering Sri Lanka, you must be able to show a ticket for your return or flight to another country.
Which documents and information do I have to provide?
In order to submit your application, you need the passport details for the traveler (s) for which you are applying for a visa. You should also have an emergency contact, who may be a family member or friend staying at home. Furthermore, no documents are required to submit the application, nor do you need to have airline tickets and it is not necessary to provide a passport (copy) or passport photos.
Does my passport state the letter O or the number 0?
Document numbers in the Netherlands never contain the letter “O”, but they can contain the number “0”. Even though it seems that there is a letter O in your passport, it will be the number 0. It is also important to know that document numbers in the Netherlands are 9 characters long.
Belgian document numbers may include the letter (s) “O” and / or the number “0”. Belgian document numbers are 8 characters long and always start with 2 letters followed by 6 numbers.
Which conditions apply to my passport?
All passports issued by the Dutch or Belgian government meet the conditions set by Sri Lanka. However, the passport must be valid for at least six months from the moment the traveler arrives in Sri Lanka.
Here you can read more about the conditions that you must meet to submit an application.
Do I need a new visa if I have a new passport?
If you have received a new passport after granting your visa, you will have to apply for a new visa application. The visa and passport are linked to each other by means of the passport number and must therefore correspond.
A visa applied for with your old passport is therefore no longer valid, if you are using a new passport for your trip.
Which conditions apply to my photographs?
For the e-visa, the scan must be sharp and legible, the information page must be fully displayed.
The passport photo / scan for both e-visa and physical visa must be of high quality and in color with a white background. Headwear is only allowed in the passport photo if this is for religious reasons: The visibility of the entire face is then a requirement.
For the physical visa, the passport photo must be hardcopy (on paper and not digital), taken in the last 3 months in the format 35x45mm. to be delivered.
The passport photo must be loose (so not attached to the application form in any way) and free of any glue / staple remnants.
Canceling and changing existing applications
I made a mistake on my application and/or documents. Can I correct this?
In this case, please contact us as soon as possible to indicate what is not in order. Whether your visa application can still be corrected depends on the nature of the error and the status of your application. If we have not delivered your application to the embassy yet, it is possible to make changes. If your applicaiton is already in the hands of the embassy, there is nothing we can do. You must obtain a new visa with the proper information and cancel the existing one.
My application is rejected. Do I get my money back?
No. We must pay in advance for both an e-visa and a regular visa. If the government of Sri-Lanka decides that you cannot enter the country for any reason, we will not be able to recover these costs.
Can I still cancel my application?
Cancellation is only possible before payment is completed. As soon as we have received the payment of your e-visa application, we will process it immediately and refund of your payment is no longer possible from that moment.
If you made a mistake with the application, you can submit a new application. Costs for this new application are entirely at your own expense.
I will no longer make use of the visa. Can I get my money back?
If your e-visa application is approved, you will in no way get your money back. Not even if you do not use your e-visa.
Additional questions
Is it possile to get help with my application?
Always try to find your question on this page first, in almost all cases you will find the answer to your question about your visa application here.
In the unlikely event that you find no or insufficient answer to your question, we will of course be happy to help you, click here to contact us.
How do you handle my personal data?
We will only use your data to process your visa application. In doing so, we respect the privacy of every user of our site and will ensure that all personal information you provide to us will be treated confidentially. We strongly inform you that your data will not be sold or used for any other commercial purposes.
If you have any further questions about your privacy, please view our privacy policy or contact us.