Sri Lanka Rolls out Visa Free entry for 35 countries, including India and the US, ahead of schedule

Sri Lanka has been experiencing financial difficulties; however, it is a lovely country for tourists to visit, and I love heading over from time to time.

Sri Lanka’s “visa-free tourist entries” to 35 nationalities live now.

In August 2024, Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers approved a new plan to let in visitors from 35 countries, effective October 1, 2024. The plan was to grant a 30-day visa to tourists when they arrived at the border under a six-month pilot programme. The following countries’ passport holders get to travel to Sri Lanka without a visa.

  1. United Kingdom
  2. Germany
  3. Netherlands
  4. Belgium
  5. Spain
  6. Australia
  7. Denmark
  8. Poland
  9. Kazakhstan
  10. Saudi Arabia
  11. UAE
  12. Nepal
  13. China
  14. India
  15. Indonesia
  16. Russia
  17. Thailand
  18. Malaysia
  19. Japan
  20. France
  21. United States
  22. Canada
  23. Czech Republic
  24. Italy
  25. Switzerland
  26. Austria
  27. Israel
  28. Belarus
  29. Iran
  30. Sweden
  31. South Korea
  32. Qatar
  33. Oman
  34. Bahrain
  35. New Zealand

A visa-free regime was earlier approved for citizens of China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan, valid until April 30, 2024. Subsequently, Sri Lanka transitioned to a new e-Visa system, which cost about 26 USD, and the Sri Lankan Supreme Court temporarily halted this after many graft cases were filed.

A friend who visited Sri Lanka a few weeks ago already saw entry into the country without a visa and with an Indian passport. He was stamped in and out without the need for a prior Visa on his passport.

The new system has been implemented immediately, rather than waiting for the October 1, 2024 deadline, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka announced.

The requirement was brought forward because Visa Stamping at the border led to long queues. What is unclear, though, is which three countries were added to the list, as they have not been put on the website where these announcements need to be carried.

Bottomline

Sri Lanka has put in motion a plan to offer entry to visitors from 35 nationalities into Sri Lanka, without the need for a visa. The plan went live effective September 2, 2024 and visitors from these countries can just walk in with their passports and be welcomed into Sri Lanka.

What do you make of the new expanded version of the Visa Free Regime of Sri Lanka?


Liked our articles and our efforts? Please pay an amount you are comfortable with; an amount you believe is the fair price for the content you have consumed. Please enter an amount in the box below and click on the button to pay; you can use Netbanking, Debit/Credit Cards, UPI, QR codes, or any Wallet to pay. Every contribution helps cover the cost of the content generated for your benefit.

(Important: to receive confirmation and details of your transaction, please enter a valid email address in the pop-up form that will appear after you click the ‘Pay Now’ button. For international transactions, use Paypal to process the transaction.)

We are not putting our articles behind any paywall where you are asked to pay before you read an article. We are asking you to pay after you have read the article if you are satisfied with the quality and our efforts.

About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

More articles by Ajay »

Comments

  1. HI,

    Does VISA Free means we can just buy flight tickets and enter Sri-Lanka without any prior application for VISA online or offline? Is this similar to Thailand?

    Thanks,
    Tanmay,

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *