Sri Lanka ETA: Check Whether Your Fee Is Zero Before Paying (2026)

First check what your ETA costs

Since 25 May 2026, 40 named nationalities plus Maldives, Seychelles and Singapore receive the tourist ETA free of charge.

Two things follow from that page, and travellers often get one of them wrong:

1. If your passport is in the free scheme, the correct amount to pay anyone is zero.
2. The free scheme does not remove the ETA. Those passports still apply; the fee is what changed.

Maldivian nationals in the free scheme receive 90 days. Other free-scheme tourists receive 30 days and double entry.

What everyone else pays

For passports outside the free scheme, the published online tourist ETA fee is USD 20 for SAARC nationals and USD 50 for other nationalities. Children under 12 and two-day transit are free.

The same table shows why the online route is the one to use: applying on arrival costs more, and it can end in return travel if a referral is issued at the port.

The official application

The Department of Immigration and Emigration site links to eta.gov.lk, and the live ETA terms name the Department. The host sits under the government .gov.lk suffix.

A 2024 attempt to move the ETA onto a commercial outsourcing portal is not the route described here. Reach the application by following the link from immigration.gov.lk rather than from a search advertisement, then check the address bar before entering passport details.

What the application checks

The published requirements are short and specific:

• a correct passport number;
• nationality exactly as written in the travel document;
• date of birth;
• the same travel document for the application and at arrival;
• a passport valid at least 6 months;
• a confirmed return ticket;
• sufficient funds for the stay.

The field guide walks through each one.

→ Prepare the application, field by field

An ETA is not the border decision

The approval lets you board and present yourself at the port of entry. Passport validity, the return ticket and funds can still be checked when you land. Keep the approval and its reference number available, and carry the same document you used to apply.