Bangladeshi passport holders need an approved ETA before flying from Dhaka to Colombo. It gives 30 days with two entries, and as a SAARC member Bangladesh is charged a reduced government rate instead of the standard one.
30 days
Stay on a tourist ETA
Double
Entries permitted
6 months
Passport validity needed
3 options
Tourist, Business, Transit
100% online
No embassy visit
Overview
Colombo is a little over three hours from Dhaka, closer than most Bangladeshis realise and nearer than Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. That short hop across the Bay of Bengal has turned Sri Lanka into a regular choice for Bangladeshi families and honeymooners who want hills, beaches and wildlife on one trip, and for cricket supporters who follow the Tigers on tour to Colombo, Kandy and Galle.
There are older ties as well. Buddhists from Chattogram and the Hill Tracts travel to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and to Anuradhapura on pilgrimage, and the garment and shipping trades keep business travellers moving between the two countries. Both nations are members of SAARC, which matters directly for what a Bangladeshi pays.
Every Bangladeshi visitor needs an Electronic Travel Authorisation before departure. People in Bangladesh generally call it the Sri Lanka visa or e-visa, and travel agents in Dhaka use the same wording. It is an online approval tied to your passport number, and the airline at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport will want to see it before you check in.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes. A Bangladeshi passport does not exempt its holder from the ETA, and Bangladesh is not among the 40 countries whose government charge was waived in May 2026. What Bangladeshis do receive is the SAARC rate, a reduced government charge that applies to member states outside the waiver, alongside Afghanistan and Bhutan.
That distinction is worth understanding because neighbours are treated differently. Indian, Pakistani and Nepali travellers fall under the waiver, so a Bangladeshi comparing notes with friends in Kolkata will hear a different story. For a Bangladeshi the charge is lower than the standard rate, not removed, and the current amount appears in the live prices shown on this page.
Holidays, honeymoons, family visits, pilgrimage to Buddhist sites, medical treatment and travelling to watch a Bangladesh cricket series all sit within the tourist ETA. Buyers, merchandisers and factory owners coming for meetings or trade fairs need the business option, as do delegates at conferences and seminars.
One point needs saying plainly for the Bangladeshi market. A tourist ETA is not a route to a job. It does not allow paid or unpaid work in Sri Lanka, and anyone offered employment there through an agent on the strength of a tourist approval is being misled. Journalists and NGO workers need government clearance that is not issued through the online ETA.
Stay & validity
A Bangladeshi tourist is allowed 30 days from the day of first arrival and may enter twice within that time. The second entry is handy for travellers who add a few days in the Maldives from Colombo, though returning afterwards gives only the unused part of the first 30 days and never a fresh period.
After approval you have six months in which to make the trip. For a family waiting on Eid holiday dates or a cricket fixture list, that flexibility is useful: apply once the plan is firm and travel when the dates are confirmed. The wording on your own approval takes priority over any general description.
Passport validity is where Bangladeshi applicants need care. Sri Lanka requires six months remaining on the day you land, and Bangladeshi e-passports are issued for either five or ten years, with five-year books for children and older applicants. Renewal queues at passport offices can be long, so anyone close to the limit should renew first and apply for the ETA with the new number.
A stay beyond 30 days is possible only with an extension from the Department of Immigration and Emigration, whose head office is in Battaramulla outside Colombo. Bangladeshis visiting relatives or undergoing longer medical treatment should make that request before the first period runs out.
Pricing
Live fees for Bangladeshi passport holders, shown all-in — any government charge that applies to your passport and our service fee together, with nothing added later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Bangladesh
Requirements
Everything Bangladeshi passport holders need before starting an application. The first five items apply to every applicant; the rest are specific to your nationality.
Passport valid for at least six months from the date you arrive in Sri Lanka — the same passport you will travel on
A clear image of the passport bio-data page, with every corner visible and no glare over the photograph
A working email address, which is where the approval is sent and which you should be able to open while travelling
A credit or debit card for online payment
Your intended arrival date and an address in Sri Lanka, such as your first hotel
Simple process
Four steps, entirely online, with one form per traveller and a full review before you pay.
Pick the Tourist, Business or Transit option that matches the real purpose of your trip, and add every traveller in your party to the same application.
Give each traveller's details exactly as printed on the passport, plus the intended arrival date and an address in Sri Lanka. Entries are made in English.
Check every name, date and passport number on the review screen before paying. Corrections are simple at this stage and difficult afterwards.
The approval is linked electronically to your passport number. Keep a copy on your phone and a printout with your travel documents for check-in and arrival.
Most Bangladeshi applications are answered within a day or two. Dhaka is only half an hour ahead of Colombo, so an application sent in the morning is seen during the same working day, and there is no overnight gap of the kind European travellers face. Timing can still vary, and no particular turnaround is assured.
Give yourself three to five days before departure at the very least. A card payment blocked by a Dhaka bank or a typing slip in a passport number takes time to put right, and a traveller who applies the night before a flight has no room to do it. A week is a more comfortable margin if this is your first visit.
Plan further ahead for the days around Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha, the December school break after annual exams, and any period when Bangladesh are playing in Sri Lanka. Flights from Dhaka fill quickly on those dates and applications rise with them.
On arrival
An approved ETA gets you on the plane. This is what happens once you land, and how to make the arrival as quick as possible.
Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake, about 30 kilometres north of Colombo, handles nearly all international arrivals. Follow the signs to immigration and join the foreign passport queue.
The officer retrieves your ETA from the passport number. Have the approval email to hand as a backup, on paper or saved offline, since airport connectivity is not guaranteed.
You may be asked where you are staying, how long for and when you leave. A hotel confirmation and your return ticket answer all three in a few seconds.
Your passport is endorsed with the date you must leave by. Read it at the counter — that date, not the length of your booking, is what counts if your plans change.
Getting there
Bangladesh has a direct air link to Sri Lanka, which sets it apart from most markets. SriLankan Airlines flies between Dhaka and Colombo, and the Sri Lankan low-cost carrier FitsAir has also served the route. Travellers from Chattogram and Sylhet connect through Dhaka on a domestic flight, and Colombo in turn is a common stepping stone to Malé.
Best time to go
The Bangladeshi winter, from December to February, is the natural time to visit the south and west of Sri Lanka. Schools are closed after annual exams, the weather in Dhaka is cool and dry, and Bentota, Galle and Mirissa are in their best season. Nuwara Eliya will feel properly cold at night, so pack a jumper.
Eid holidays move through the calendar, so the right coast changes from year to year. When Eid falls between May and September, the south-west is in its monsoon, much as Bangladesh is, and the east coast around Trincomalee and Pasikudah is the better choice. Arugam Bay is in full swing in those months.
Pohela Boishakh on 14 April coincides almost exactly with the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. It is a fascinating time to be there, but Bangladeshis should know that shops, restaurants and transport in Sri Lanka largely shut for several days, just as Dhaka slows for its own celebrations.
Cricket shapes many Bangladeshi itineraries. Tours usually include matches at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Pallekele near Kandy and the ground beside Galle Fort, and following a series makes a ready-made route around the island. Remember that monthly Poya days are public holidays with quieter streets and closed offices.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Bangladesh — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Bangladeshi names are abbreviated inconsistently across documents: Md., MD, Mohammad and Muhammad may all refer to the same person. The ETA has to mirror the passport data page character for character. If the passport says MD without a full stop, that is what you enter.
Many Bangladeshi debit and credit cards are restricted to domestic use until the bank activates international transactions against your passport. A declined payment is the most common reason a Bangladeshi application stalls at the final step, so confirm with your bank first.
Friends and agents often quote what applies to other South Asian passports. India, Pakistan and Nepal are in the waiver, Bangladesh is on the SAARC rate. The requirement to hold an ETA is the same for all, but the charge is not.
Some Bangladeshis are sold a tourist approval by brokers promising work in Sri Lanka or onward travel elsewhere. Employment on a tourist ETA is prohibited, and a traveller whose answers at the border suggest a different purpose from the one declared can be turned back.
Passport number mistyped
The authorisation attaches to the number you enter. One wrong character produces an ETA that does not match the passport handed over at the counter, and a paid application cannot be edited afterwards.
Passport with under six months left
Sri Lanka expects six months of validity counted from the day you arrive, not the day you apply. A passport that falls short is refused at check-in regardless of the ETA.
The wrong ETA type
Attending meetings or a conference on a tourist ETA is outside its conditions. Choose the option that matches what you will actually do in the country.
Conditions
These conditions are set by Sri Lanka's Department of Immigration and Emigration and do not vary by nationality.
Sri Lanka requires an Electronic Travel Authorisation for short visits by all foreign nationals, and it should be approved before you travel. Even where the government charge is waived, the authorisation itself is still required.
The authorisation is recorded against the passport number you enter. If that passport is lost, replaced or renewed before you travel, the ETA does not move across and a new application is needed.
A tourist ETA allows two entries. The stay period runs from your first arrival, so a second entry is granted only the balance of that period rather than a fresh allowance.
A tourist ETA covers holidays, family visits, medical treatment and cultural or sporting events. Business meetings, conferences and short training need the business option, and a stopover of up to two days uses the transit option.
Immigration officers at the port of entry may ask for a confirmed return or onward ticket and evidence that you can support yourself for the length of your stay.
An approved ETA lets you travel to Sri Lanka. The decision to admit you is made by an immigration officer on arrival, and the conditions printed on your approval govern your stay.
Consular services
Sri Lanka maintains a High Commission in Dhaka's Gulshan diplomatic area. Bangladeshi tourists applying for an ETA do not have to go there or submit a passport, since the authorisation is granted online. The High Commission is where to turn for purposes outside the ETA, including media work and longer stays.
FAQs
The questions Bangladeshi passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Bangladeshi citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for Sri Lanka, the online approval usually referred to as a Sri Lanka visa. It must be obtained before you travel. Bangladesh pays a reduced SAARC government rate, and the ETA allows 30 days with two entries.
No. Bangladesh is not one of the 40 countries covered by the 2026 waiver. As a SAARC member it is charged a reduced government rate instead of the standard one, and a service fee for our assistance also applies. The live prices shown on this page give the current total.
Usually a day or two, though this is not fixed. Apply three to five days before your flight from Dhaka, and about a week ahead around Eid or the December holidays so that a payment or data-entry problem can still be fixed.
Yes. SriLankan Airlines operates nonstop between Dhaka and Colombo in a little over three hours, and FitsAir has also flown the route. Passengers from Chattogram or Sylhet take a domestic flight to Dhaka first.
Thirty days from the first arrival. The ETA allows two entries, but a second entry only uses the balance of those 30 days. Staying longer needs an extension approved in Sri Lanka by the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
No. A tourist ETA does not permit any form of employment, paid or unpaid, or running a business. Be wary of any agent who suggests otherwise. Business meetings and conferences are possible under the separate business option, which still does not allow employment.
Children under 12 are not charged the government fee for a tourist ETA of up to 30 days. They must still be included in an application with their own passport details, so a family of four with two young children lists all four travellers.
Yes, provided it is your second entry and you return inside the original 30 days. Many Bangladeshis fly Dhaka to Colombo, spend a few days in Malé and stop in Colombo again on the way home. Count the days from your first landing in Sri Lanka.
Your nationality is already set to Bangladesh. Complete the form in around ten minutes, review every detail, and receive your ETA by email.
Other nationalities
Charges, routes and the practical details differ by passport. Here are the guides for other nationalities.
