On this page First: free is not the same as visa-free · What you must be able to show · Which visa, and transit · What to have with you · Where you apply, and where you pay · While you are there
Step 1 of 6
First: free is not the same as visa-free
🔴 Sri Lanka costs Indian travellers nothing, and that is not the same as needing nothing. Since 25 May 2026 India is one of 40 countries whose nationals get a tourist ETA free of charge — India is thirteenth on the list, and it covers ordinary passports as well as diplomatic, official and service ones. But the same announcement says, in the very next paragraph, that all foreign nationals INCLUDING those 40 must still obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization before arriving. Every headline calling Sri Lanka “visa-free for Indians” drops that sentence. You apply online, you pay nothing, and you must not turn up without it.
The free ETA is valid for 30 days and gives you a double-entry facility — you can leave and come back once, and the window is measured from the date you first arrive, not from the date the authorization was issued. So a trip that dips into India or the Maldives in the middle still fits, provided both arrivals fall inside the same 30 days.
If you paid for an ETA before 25 May 2026, that money is not coming back. The department states plainly that fees paid before the free scheme began are non-refundable. It is worth knowing before you go looking for a refund you will not get.
Source: the Department of Immigration and Emigration
Step 2 of 6
What you must be able to show
Your passport must be valid for at least six months from the day you arrive in Sri Lanka — counted from arrival, not from the day you apply.
The department has to be satisfied of two separate things, and people usually think of only the first: that you have adequate funds to support yourself while you are in Sri Lanka, AND that you can pay for your return passage to the country that issued your passport. No amount is published for either.
As a visit visa holder you need a written assurance that you are leaving — in practice a return ticket — or a visa for wherever you are going next. This is a condition of the visa itself, not just something an airline asks for, so a one-way booking is a real problem rather than an inconvenience.
Source: the Department of Immigration and Emigration
Step 3 of 6
Which visa, and transit
A tourist visa covers more than sightseeing. The department lists holidaying, visiting friends and relatives, medical treatment, taking part in art, music and dance events, and taking part in sporting events — so travelling for treatment or to play in a tournament is a tourist visa, not a special one. It is issued as single or double entry. Business is a separate visa, and that one can be single, double or multiple journey.
Connecting through Colombo is only an issue past a certain point: if you will be in Sri Lanka for more than 24 hours waiting for your onward flight, you need a transit visa, which you can get at the port of entry on arrival or from a Sri Lankan mission before you travel. It is valid for 48 hours and no longer.
Source: the Department of Immigration and Emigration
Step 4 of 6
What to have with you
Everyone brings these
- Your passport, valid at least six months from the date you arrive in Sri Lanka
- A return ticket, or a visa for your next destination — written assurance that you are leaving
- Evidence of funds for your stay AND for the journey home. No minimum amount is published
Build these files with the checklist above
Step 5 of 6
Where you apply, and where you pay
🔴 Pay on the official ETA site and nowhere else. The department warns specifically that applicants who go through third parties can end up paying a second time at the port of entry, and tells you to make sure the payment was made through the official website precisely so that does not happen. If someone offers to arrange your free ETA for a fee, they are selling you something the government is giving away.
If you do need the High Commission in New Delhi rather than the online system, its consular section takes submissions Monday to Friday between 09:00 and 12:00 and hands documents back between 15:00 and 17:00, and it is explicit that late arrivals are not accepted at either. You may send an agent instead of going yourself, provided they carry an authorisation letter from you.
Source: the Department of Immigration and Emigration
Step 6 of 6
While you are there
Two conditions attach to every visit visa. You may not take up employment of any kind, paid or unpaid, and you may not carry on a trade or business other than the one your visa names. And the visa has to be USED before the expiry date printed on the approval notice — that date is about when you may enter, not how long you may stay, and letting it pass wastes the authorization even though you never went.
🔴 You can stay longer than 30 days by applying for an extension and paying the fee that then applies — but look at what the extension turns your visa into. An extended visa is SINGLE ENTRY, and it is cancelled the moment you leave the country. The double-entry facility you started with does not survive the extension, so a plan that involves extending and then hopping out and back does not work. Business visas cannot currently be extended online at all.
Source: the Department of Immigration and Emigration
Each section names its source underneath it. Where a line came from the agent channel rather than the authority, or from a single filing, it says so on that line — those are not the same kind of fact and this page does not blur them.
Frequently asked questions
Sri Lanka visa from India — what documents are needed?
Less than most countries, because the ETA is an online authorization rather than a document upload — there is no form to print and nothing to attach. What the department says it must be satisfied of, and what you can be asked for at the border, is: a passport valid at least six months from arrival, enough money for your stay and for the journey home, and a written assurance that you are leaving — a return ticket, or a visa for your next destination. Accommodation details are asked for on the application. No funds figure is published anywhere.
Sri Lanka visa — where do I apply?
Online, on Sri Lanka's own ETA site, before you travel — and for Indian passport holders it is free. Do not read “free” as “not needed”: the same announcement that grants the concession says all foreign nationals must still obtain an ETA before arrival. Pay nothing to anyone else; the department warns that going through third parties can leave you paying again at the airport. The High Commission in New Delhi handles anything the online system cannot.
Can I print my visa documents from here?
Yes — print any document individually, print the whole set as one PDF, or print a blank checklist to tick off. For Sri Lanka the pack is for the border rather than for an application: your ETA approval, the return ticket and proof of funds are what you may be asked to show on arrival, so they are worth carrying rather than leaving on a phone.
Are my documents uploaded anywhere?
No. The checks, the merged PDF, the ZIP and printing all happen in your browser. Your passport and bank statements are never sent to any server.
A PDF was skipped when building.
Password-protected PDFs (like some bank statements) are no longer skipped — the pack asks for the password while it builds. A file is only skipped if the password was not given.