Sri Lanka ETA for Indians in 2026: Online Application and Free 30-Day Stay
By Ananya Singh (Ananya Singh writes step-by-step first-international-trip guides for Indians — passport rules, visa cascade timing, immigration walkthroughs, and the unglamorous logistics that separate a smooth trip from a stranded one.) · Published · 11 min read
Sri Lanka ETA for Indians in 2026 — apply at eta.gov.lk, free for tourist stays since April 2024, 30-day double-entry, instant approval, plus how to avoid fake third-party sites that charge USD 50+.
Sri Lanka ETA — what changed in 2024 and the rules for 2026
The Sri Lanka Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) has been the standard tourist entry permit for Indian passport holders since 2012 — applied online, approved within hours, valid for short stays. In April 2024, the Sri Lankan government made a major pricing change: it scrapped the USD 50 tourist ETA fee for citizens of 7 nations — India, China, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, and Indonesia — making the 30-day tourist ETA free of charge through 2026. This was a deliberate move to boost tourism arrivals from key source markets after the country's 2022 economic crisis.
For Indians in 2026, the Sri Lanka tourist ETA is therefore one of the cheapest international visas available — USD 0 government fee, instant or near-instant approval, applied at eta.gov.lk in about 10 minutes. Stay duration is 30 days with double entry permitted within those 30 days (useful if you're planning a side-trip to the Maldives in between).
Two important caveats: business and transit ETAs still cost money (USD 100 business, USD 50 transit), and the free fee applies only to the official eta.gov.lk portal — many lookalike sites still charge USD 30–50 in 'service fees' without telling you the underlying ETA is free.
Sri Lanka also has a separate visa-on-arrival counter at Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) for travellers who couldn't apply for ETA in advance — but this VOA still costs USD 60 (~₹5,100) and creates an unnecessary queue, while the ETA done in your living room is free. There's no scenario in 2026 where the VOA route is better for Indians than the eta.gov.lk online ETA.
Step 1 — Always use eta.gov.lk only
Open eta.gov.lk directly in your browser. The official portal is operated by the Sri Lankan Department of Immigration and Emigration. Verify two things before applying:
- The URL starts with eta.gov.lk, not eta-srilanka.com, srilankaeta.com, srilanka-eta.net, or any variant. These are scam or service-fee sites.
- The landing page mentions 'Department of Immigration & Emigration, Sri Lanka' with the official emblem. If you see Stripe, PayPal, or any third-party processing logos beyond a basic gateway, you're on the wrong site.
Google searches for 'Sri Lanka ETA' routinely show 3–5 paid ads from third-party sites above the official one in 2026. Type the URL manually or use a bookmark. Indian travellers paid an estimated ₹15+ crores in unnecessary service fees to these sites in 2024–2025 alone.
If you accidentally land on a third-party site and have already entered passport details and started a credit-card payment — stop immediately. The third-party site will still process a 'visa application' and charge you USD 30-50, but the ETA it eventually generates is the same free government ETA you could have applied for directly. There is no advantage. The only legitimate scenarios where paying a third-party makes sense: if your passport is non-standard (e.g., issued during travel, with non-MRZ formatting) and the site offers manual document review. For 99% of Indian travellers with a standard 10-year passport from Mumbai/Delhi/Chennai PSK, the direct route via eta.gov.lk works in 10 minutes.
Step 2 — Fill the online ETA application
Click "Apply Online" on eta.gov.lk. Select visa category — for a typical holiday, choose "Tourist ETA". Fill the form in one sitting (about 10 minutes):
- Personal data — name exactly as on passport (no abbreviations), date of birth, gender, marital status, nationality (India)
- Passport — number, issue date, expiry date, place of issue, issuing authority (Ministry of External Affairs)
- Travel details — date of arrival, port of arrival (Bandaranaike International Airport CMB is the default; Mattala MRIA for southern routes), purpose of visit, duration of stay (max 30 days)
- Accommodation — hotel name and address in Sri Lanka; "Cinnamon Grand Colombo" or "Heritance Kandalama" or any specific hotel works; Booking.com confirmation is not asked but useful to have
- Contact — your Indian address, phone, email; one Sri Lanka contact (hotel manager email works)
- Funding — source of funds (self / sponsor)
Re-check the form before submitting. The ETA, once issued, cannot be edited; misspellings on passport number or name mean re-applying. The email address you provide will receive the ETA PDF.
Step 3 — Documents to upload (minimal)
The Sri Lanka ETA is one of the lightest visas in terms of documents. For the standard tourist ETA, the official portal asks for:
- Passport bio-page scan — colour, PDF or JPG, under 5 MB
That's it. No photo, no bank statements, no employer letter, no return ticket upload required for the basic tourist ETA. However, you should still carry these documents physically for immigration on arrival in Colombo:
- Return or onward air ticket (mandatory at airline check-in)
- Hotel booking confirmation for at least the first 2 nights
- USD 200–500 cash or equivalent INR/LKR — random funds check at immigration
- Travel insurance policy (recommended, not mandatory)
- Yellow Fever vaccination certificate if you've travelled to a yellow-fever-endemic country in the last 6 days (most Indians won't have this, but ex-pat returnees from Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria etc. need it)
The Department of Immigration occasionally adds new fields to the ETA portal — for example, in 2024 they briefly required uploading a return-ticket scan. Always check the eta.gov.lk landing page for any 'New requirements' notice before starting your application. Children below 18 need a separate ETA each — they cannot be added as dependents under a parent's ETA, even if travelling on the same passport (rare; usually each family member has their own passport).
Step 4 — Pay (or don't pay) and receive approval
For Tourist ETA, Indian applicants in 2026 see 'Fee: USD 0.00' at the payment step. Click 'Confirm' — no card details needed. For Business ETA (USD 100) or Transit ETA (USD 50), pay via Visa, Mastercard, or American Express (HDFC, ICICI, SBI, Axis, Kotak cards all work).
You'll receive an ETA Approval Notice by email within a few minutes for tourist ETAs — most Indians get instant approval. In rare cases (mismatched passport details, prior overstay, security flags) the application is referred for manual review, taking 24–72 hours. Print two colour copies of the Approval Notice and save the PDF on your phone.
The ETA is valid for entry within 3 months of issue. Each entry permits a stay of up to 30 days, and double-entry is allowed within the 30-day window. The ETA is electronically linked to your passport — the printed Approval Notice is for backup.
If you do not receive the approval email within 24 hours, check your spam folder, then log back into the eta.gov.lk portal with your application reference number to check status. If the status shows 'Under Review' for more than 72 hours, email the Department of Immigration at controller@immigration.gov.lk with your reference number — they reply within 1-2 working days. Avoid re-applying for the same trip; a duplicate application triggers automatic refusal on both.
Step 5 — Arrival at Bandaranaike International (CMB)
At CMB Colombo (or MRIA Mattala if you're flying the southern route), follow signs for 'Foreign Passport / ETA Holders'. Hand over your passport and the printed Approval Notice. Immigration officer verifies the ETA against your passport in their system, asks 1–2 questions (purpose, accommodation, length of stay), takes a digital photo and possibly a thumbprint, and stamps your passport with the entry stamp and 30-day validity dates.
The whole process is usually under 10 minutes; queues at CMB are short. After immigration, collect baggage, clear customs (no declaration for personal items under USD 10,000 in value), and exit. The Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) is the local currency — exchange a small amount (USD 100 = ~LKR 30,000) at the airport for taxi and tip money, then use Visa/Mastercard cards inside the country for most expenses. Indian Rupees are sometimes accepted at hotels and major restaurants but at unfavourable rates.
Departure tax update: as of 2026, the international departure tax (USD 50 per person) is included in your air ticket, paid to the airline at booking. There is no separate departure-tax counter at CMB.
Common Indian routes to CMB are SriLankan Airlines and Air India non-stop from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kochi (1.5–3.5 hours flight time depending on origin). IndiGo runs Chennai-Colombo and Bengaluru-Colombo daily. Budget carriers like SpiceJet operate seasonal routes. Tickets from southern India are often available for ₹6,000–10,000 round-trip in off-peak months, making Sri Lanka one of the cheapest international destinations for South Indian travellers in particular. The pre-paid taxi counter at CMB charges ~LKR 4,500 (~₹1,400) to central Colombo; Uber and PickMe (local app) work at CMB and cost about 30 percent less.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
- Paying USD 30–50 to third-party sites — Indian travellers regularly find Google ads from sites like sriLanka-eta-online.com or visa-sri-lanka.net charging 'service fees' on top of a free government ETA. Always type eta.gov.lk manually. If you see any charge for a Tourist ETA, you are on the wrong site.
- Typing passport name wrong — the ETA is matched against your passport at the airline check-in counter and at Sri Lanka immigration. Even a single-letter typo means re-applying.
- Overstaying the 30-day limit — USD 25 per day fine plus a black mark on your record. Extensions are possible at the Department of Immigration in Colombo (Suhurupaya) for up to 60 additional days for ~LKR 15,000 (~₹4,500); apply at least 5 days before expiry.
- One-way ticket — Sri Lankan immigration and the airline both require a confirmed return or onward ticket within 30 days. One-way tickets cause denied boarding at Indian airports.
- Bringing prohibited items — drones above 250g require pre-permission, certain herbal medicines require declaration, e-cigarettes are banned outright. Check Sri Lanka Customs guidance before flying.
Suggested itineraries and what to budget for an Indian Sri Lanka trip
Sri Lanka is one of the most cost-effective international destinations for Indians given the free ETA, short flight times (1.5–3.5 hours from southern Indian metros), and a budget-friendly land cost. Three popular itineraries Indians follow:
- 5-day Sri Lanka taster — Day 1-2 Colombo (Galle Face, National Museum), Day 3 Kandy (Tooth Relic Temple, Royal Botanical Garden), Day 4 Sigiriya and Dambulla cave temples, Day 5 fly out. Budget per person: ₹35,000-50,000 including flights, mid-range hotels, transport, food, entry fees.
- 7-day Hill Country and beaches — Day 1 Colombo, Day 2-3 Kandy and Nuwara Eliya tea plantations, Day 4-5 Ella (Nine Arches Bridge train ride, Little Adam's Peak), Day 6-7 Mirissa or Bentota beach. Budget: ₹50,000-70,000 per person.
- 10-day full Sri Lanka loop — Colombo, Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Yala National Park, Galle, Mirissa, back to Colombo. Budget: ₹70,000-1,00,000 per person.
Costs per night: budget guesthouse LKR 4,000-6,000 (~₹1,250-1,800), mid-range hotel LKR 10,000-15,000 (~₹3,000-4,500), luxury hotel LKR 25,000+ (~₹7,500+). Meals at local eateries LKR 800-1,500 (~₹250-450) for a hearty rice-and-curry plate. Train fare from Kandy to Ella is LKR 250 (~₹75) for second-class reserved — the famous scenic train ride costs less than a coffee in Mumbai. Private driver-cum-guide for 7 days runs LKR 80,000-1,20,000 (~₹24,000-36,000) including fuel and accommodation for the driver, often the most efficient way to see the country.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Sri Lanka tourist ETA really free for Indians in 2026?
Yes — since April 2024, the tourist ETA fee was scrapped for Indian citizens (along with China, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, and Indonesia). The policy is in force through 2026 at eta.gov.lk. Business ETA (USD 100) and Transit ETA (USD 50) still cost money.
How long does the Sri Lanka ETA take?
Most tourist ETAs are approved instantly or within a few minutes of submission. Files flagged for manual review (rare — usually due to mismatched passport details or prior overstays) take 24–72 hours. Apply at least 3 days before travel to be safe.
How long can I stay in Sri Lanka on the ETA?
30 days per entry, double-entry permitted within those 30 days. So you can fly to Colombo, take a side-trip to Maldives or India, and return to Sri Lanka within 30 days without a fresh ETA. Extensions beyond 30 days possible at the Colombo Immigration Office for ~₹4,500.
Which is the official Sri Lanka ETA website?
Only eta.gov.lk is official. Sites like sriLankaeta.com, eta-srilanka.com, visa-sri-lanka.com and dozens of others are third-party services that charge USD 30–50 for a free government ETA. Always type the URL manually and check for the official emblem.
What documents do I need for the Sri Lanka ETA?
Just a passport bio-page scan for the online application. At arrival in Colombo, carry a return air ticket, hotel booking for first 2 nights, USD 200+ cash or equivalent, and travel insurance recommended but not mandatory.
Can I extend my stay beyond 30 days?
Yes — visit the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Suhurupaya, Colombo, with passport, ETA approval, hotel booking, and ~LKR 15,000 (~₹4,500). You can extend up to 60 additional days (90 days total). Apply at least 5 days before your current ETA expires to avoid overstay fines.