Sri Lanka introduces prior visa approval online, scraps on arrival system
Sept 28, Colombo: From next month, visitors to Sri Lanka including transit passengers will have to apply for travel authorization online prior to their travel to the country, the government announced Wednesday.
Sri Lanka's Immigration and Emigration Department announced today that a system called "Electronic Travel Authorization – ETA" will be introduced on September 30 to grant prior approval for visa via online for foreign nationals from 78 countries instead of the presently implemented 'on arrival visa' at the ports of entry.
"Accordingly, foreign nationals visiting the country on purposes of tourism affairs, medical treatments, sports, cultural shows, business conferences and discussions, training programmes and seminars can apply for the Electronic Travel Authorization via www.eta.gov.lk established in the Department of Immigration and Emigration," the authorities said.
The on-arrival visa system will continue as a reciprocal gesture for people travelling from The Maldives and Singapore, the two countries reciprocating the facility for Sri Lankans.
Also exempted from the new system are the air and ship crew since they are exempted from obtaining prior approval for the visa.
Primary information on the on line procedure will be available in nine international languages. However, applications should be forwarded only in English.
Applications for approval can be forwarded by the applicant or by a third party on behalf of the applicant. A registered agency can also forward application on behalf of clients and the applicants can also apply through the Sri Lankan embassies in their countries.
A foreign national who was unable to obtain prior approval, can visit Sri Lanka after obtaining prior approval by forwarding the application and making the relevant fee to the immigration counter at the entry point.
The authorization is not a visa. The visa will be stamped in the passport on arrival. "It is not a visa in itself, but an approval for travel," an immigration official has explained.
Overseas Mission ETA Processing Fee
Foreign currencies designated by CBSL
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The new system will be introduced on September 30, under the auspices of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa with the participation of several distinguished guests including foreign ambassadors and the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, the government announced.
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