Anyone travelling on a South African passport will know full-well that it is one of the least useful passports available. The vast majority of countries require South African passport holders to complete complicated visa applications, often weeks in advance and at great expense. The good news is that Sri Lanka is not one of them! So if you’re desperate for some Sri Lankan food, surfing and temples, get packing because the Sri Lankan visa is one of the easiest for South African’s to obtain.
The definitive visa guide for South African passport holders travelling to Sri Lanka
As a digital nomad, finding out anything regarding international visas on a South African passport is difficult and confusing. Before coming to this page, for a South African passport holder even a question as simple as “do I need a visa to travel to Sri Lanka” is often tough to answer, with a myriad of conflicting information online.
We’re here to tell you that, while you do need a visa for travel to Sri Lanka, it is one of the quickest and easiest countries to get into with the lowly South African passport.
How do I apply for the visa?
There are plenty of visa application services, but it’s tough to know by looking at their websites whether they are legitimate or scams and whether you’re paying far too much for the visa. For this reason, our recommendation is that, if you’re looking to apply in advance, application for the Sri Lankan visa is best done directly with the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), which is an official website of the Department of Immigration & Emigration of Sri Lanka.
You’ll notice we specified “in advance” previously. This is because it is possible to get your Sri Lankan visa is by simply applying at the airport when you arrive. However, if possible, it’s always advisable to get the visa in advance if you can. Not only is it $5 cheaper per visa, you’ll have the peace of mind that the visa is in your passport and that there is no admin to take care of after a long, hot flight around the world.
How much does the Sri Lanka ETA visa cost?
That depends on whether you’re applying in advance or opting for the visa on arrival method. In advance will set you back $35, while applying for the visa on arrival in Sri Lanka will cost a cool $40.
Children under 12 travelling on a South African passport are not charged for the ETA visa.
What information do I need before applying for the visa?
- Your intended date of arrival
- Your contact details
- Address you’re staying at while in Sri Lanka
- Your passport number
- Your passport date of issue and expiry
- The passport details of any other travellers (if you are applying for a group of people in one go)
How long does the visa application take?
If you have all the above information to hand, it shouldn’t take very long at all. I applied online for myself, my wife and two kids (having to enter all of our information one by one) and the entire application process took 25 minutes.
The time it took me to find my passport, apply online and get the visa approval was about 40 minutes.Once I’d submitted the details (after painstakingly checking and rechecking to make sure there were no typos) and made the payment through their secure online payment portal, I was greeted with a friendly message confirming that the payment had been processed and that I would hear back from them within 24 hours.
I didn’t need to wait nearly that long, as our visas were approved within 5 minutes of submitting the application. All in, including the time it took me to find my passport, apply online and get the approval was about 40 minutes.
How can I get in touch with the Sri Lankan visa department?
Once I’d applied for the visa, I was provided with these contacts to get in touch with any queries (although they do ask that you only enquire if you’ve waited more than 24 hours for a response).
Telephone :0094 71 9967888
Fax :0094112674631
E-mail :eta@immigration.gov.lk
Top Tips
- Don’t leave it to the last minute if you can help it. Apply at least 48 hours before you have to travel (and more if possible) to avoid any last minute stress.
- Apply for the visa directly through the official Sri Lanka Department of Immigration & Emigration website.
