Barbadian passport holders must have an ETA approved before travelling to Sri Lanka. It allows a 30-day tourist stay with two entries, and Bajans can reach Colombo with a single change of aircraft in London.
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
Ask a Bajan about Sri Lanka and the answer will probably involve cricket. Generations of Barbadians have watched their own play at Galle, Kandy and Colombo on television, and a small but steady number now travel to see a series in person. Others are drawn by the scale of the place: an island more than a hundred and fifty times the size of Barbados, with jungle, highlands and two thousand years of recorded history.
Travel there begins with an Electronic Travel Authorisation, the document Barbadians tend to look up as a Sri Lanka visa or e-visa. It is requested online, approved before departure and stored against the passport number, so there is nothing to collect and nothing to post from Bridgetown.
Barbados enjoys one clear advantage over most Caribbean neighbours for this journey, which is its year-round nonstop link to London. This page explains what the ETA gives a Barbadian passport holder, the details that most often go wrong on the form, how to route the trip, and when Bajan holidays and Sri Lankan weather work together.
At a glance
Eligibility
Barbadians do need an ETA for Sri Lanka, however short the visit. Barbados does not appear among the countries whose citizens are excused the government charge, so an adult Barbadian is charged the standard rate. That figure and our own service fee appear in the live prices shown on this page.
A cricket tour is a tourist trip. Sporting events and competitions are among the permitted purposes, so Bajan supporters, club sides on a friendly tour and masters teams entering a tournament all use the tourist ETA, as do holidaymakers, people visiting friends and anyone booked into an Ayurveda or yoga programme.
The line is crossed when the trip becomes work. Barbadian coaches engaged by a Sri Lankan club, commentators, journalists and anyone paid locally are outside the tourist authorisation. Barbadians attending business meetings, a conference or a short course, for instance in the international business or rum trades, should pick the business option.
Children are not exempt from the requirement. A Barbadian child must be included in an application whatever the age, though for those under twelve the government fee is not charged on a tourist stay of up to 30 days. School cricket and netball tours should check every squad member's passport, not only the captain's.
Stay & validity
A tourist ETA allows a Barbadian visitor 30 days from the date of first entry. A typical Test series tour with some sightseeing runs to about two weeks, and an unhurried circuit of the island takes three, so few Bajan itineraries come close to the limit.
Two entries are available inside those 30 days. A Barbadian following a tour that moves on to India or stopping in the Maldives between matches can leave and come back once, and on return is admitted for the days that remain. Supporters should work out the arithmetic before booking a side trip late in the stay.
The approval is valid for travel for six months after issue, which helps when fixtures are announced well ahead. Bajans wishing to remain beyond the initial period must apply for an extension through the Department of Immigration and Emigration, whose head office is at Battaramulla close to Colombo, before the date endorsed in the passport.
Pricing
Live fees for Barbadian 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 Barbados
Requirements
Everything Barbadian 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.
Barbadian applications are usually processed within a day or two, with no guarantee attached to that estimate. Three to five days before leaving Grantley Adams is the minimum margin to work to, and a week or more is wiser when your dates are fixed by a match schedule.
Touring parties need a different timetable from individuals. A club manager collecting fifteen sets of passport details in St Michael or Christ Church should finish that work a fortnight before departure, since one unreadable photograph or one transposed digit is enough to hold up a player while the others are cleared.
Barbadians who escape for Crop Over, or who take their main leave in the weeks either side of Kadooment Day, travel at a quieter time for Sri Lankan arrivals. A January or February tour is another matter: it lands in peak season, when applying early is strongly advised.
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
Barbados has no flights to Asia, but it does have daily nonstop services to London, and that makes the journey to Colombo simpler than from most of the region. Fly overnight from Bridgetown to Heathrow, connect to SriLankan Airlines the same day, and you arrive in Sri Lanka with one change. Routings via Miami or New York and the Gulf also exist but add a stop.
Best time to go
Sri Lanka's best-known season, December to March on the west and south coasts, is the same period in which Barbados is busiest with its own visitors. Bajans working in tourism rarely get away then, but those who can will find Galle Fort, the southern beaches and the hill railway to Ella in their finest weather.
Summer suits families and teachers. The school vacation in July and August matches the dry months on the east coast, where Trincomalee and Pasikudah offer quiet seas, and it overlaps with the Kandy Esala Perahera. Travellers leaving after Kadooment Day, the first Monday in August, arrive for the tail of that festival season.
Cricket follows its own calendar. International series in Sri Lanka are staged at various times of year, including the wetter months, so supporters should expect interruptions at Galle between May and September and pack accordingly. Independence Day on 30 November offers another natural break, falling just as the south-west turns dry.
The time difference is constant. Barbados keeps UTC-4 all year and Sri Lanka UTC+5:30, which puts Colombo nine and a half hours ahead of Bridgetown.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Barbados — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Bajan club and school tours are often submitted from a spreadsheet compiled months earlier. A player who has since renewed will have a new number, and the authorisation issued against the old one is useless at Colombo.
Barbados exports cricket expertise, and a short coaching stint or media contract can look like a holiday with a little work attached. Sri Lanka treats it as employment or media activity, neither of which the tourist authorisation allows.
Plenty of Barbadians have a British passport through a parent or years spent in England. The two nationalities are charged differently by Sri Lanka, so decide which passport will be shown on arrival and apply with that one alone.
Supporters who nip to Malé or Chennai between Tests sometimes plan a long final week in Sri Lanka. The return is granted only what is left of the original period, which may be less than the remaining fixtures require.
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 does not maintain a High Commission in Bridgetown, and its relations with Barbados are conducted through non-resident representation. That has no bearing on a Barbadian tourist, who applies for the ETA online and receives it by email without any consular appointment. Only travel for purposes outside the online system would call for contact with a mission.
FAQs
The questions Barbadian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Barbadian citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, widely known as a Sri Lanka visa or e-visa, approved before they travel. A tourist ETA grants 30 days and two entries. It is permission to travel, and the officer at the airport makes the final decision on entry.
Yes. Attending or taking part in sporting events is a recognised tourist purpose, so supporters and amateur touring teams are covered. Paid coaches, officials working for a local body and accredited media need different permission.
The usual route is Bridgetown to London Heathrow with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic, then SriLankan Airlines to Colombo. That is one change of aircraft and around a day of travel.
No. Barbados is not on the list of countries with a waived government charge, so adults pay the standard rate. Children under twelve are not charged the government fee for tourist stays of up to 30 days. Bajans will find current pricing in the live prices shown on this page.
Thirty days from first arrival on a tourist ETA, with one further entry allowed inside the same period. Staying longer requires an extension from the immigration department in Sri Lanka before your permitted stay ends.
Apply with the passport you will present at immigration in Colombo, and travel on that same document throughout. The ETA is tied to one passport number, and the government charge depends on the nationality of the passport used.
At least three to five days before departure, and a couple of weeks ahead for groups or peak-season travel between December and March. Since the approval is valid for travel for six months, Barbadians lose nothing by applying as soon as flights are booked.
Every child must be included in an application with details from an individual passport. For those under twelve the government fee is not charged on a tourist stay of up to 30 days, though the authorisation remains compulsory.
Your nationality is already set to Barbados. 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.
