Bruneian passport holders need an ETA before flying to Colombo by way of Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. It gives 30 days and two entries. Unlike neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, Brunei is charged the standard government rate.
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
Important for Bruneian citizens
Brunei is not included in Sri Lanka's waiver or reciprocal arrangements, although Malaysia and Singapore are. Bruneian passports pay the standard government rate, as the live prices shown on this page confirm.
Overview
Bruneians travel widely for a small nation, and they have one of the strongest passports in Asia. That strength can be misleading where Sri Lanka is concerned. Despite visa-free access to much of the world, a Bruneian citizen cannot simply board a flight to Colombo: an Electronic Travel Authorisation is required first.
The ETA is what travel agents in Bandar Seri Begawan and Kuala Belait usually mean when they mention a Sri Lanka visa or e-visa. It is requested online, linked to the passport number and approved before departure. For a Bruneian family planning a December holiday, it is a short task but not an optional one.
One detail catches people out. Malaysians benefit from Sri Lanka's fee waiver and Singaporeans from a reciprocal arrangement, so friends across the border may say they paid no government charge. Brunei is in neither group, and the standard rate applies.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes. Bruneian citizens need an ETA for any short visit to Sri Lanka. Membership of the Commonwealth, which the two countries share, does not create an exemption, and neither does ASEAN membership on Brunei's side.
The tourist option covers the trips Bruneians most often take: a family holiday, a wildlife safari in Yala or Wilpattu, a tea-country tour, visiting friends and attending a sporting fixture. Cricket followers and golfers are a small but regular group.
Officers of government-linked companies, oil and gas staff and business owners travelling for meetings, negotiations or a conference should choose the business option. So should anyone attending a workshop or short training course. Journalism, political activity and work for a non-governmental body are not available through the online process at all.
This page is written for holders of the national passport. Permanent residents of Brunei who travel on an International Certificate of Identity are not Bruneian citizens for this purpose and should check their position before booking. For citizens, children are added to the application, and those under 12 are not charged Sri Lanka's government fee.
Stay & validity
A tourist ETA allows Bruneian visitors a stay of 30 days from first arrival, with two entries. Typical trips from Brunei last a week to ten days, timed to school holidays.
Because the route passes through Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, some families add the Maldives and return to Colombo for the flight home. That is permitted, though the second entry carries only the unused days. Anyone wishing to stay longer than the period granted applies to the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla.
After approval you have six months in which to travel. Bruneian passports are valid for five years, so the six-month rule on arrival bites more often than holders of ten-year passports would expect. If you renew at the Immigration and National Registration Department after applying, the new passport needs a new ETA.
Pricing
Live fees for Bruneian 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 Brunei
Requirements
Everything Bruneian 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.
Applications from Bruneian citizens are usually approved inside one or two days. As that cannot be promised, apply three to five days before departure at the least. Civil servants who need leave approval before travelling abroad can apply for the ETA in parallel, since it stays usable for six months.
The year-end school holiday, from late November through December, is the busiest time for outbound travel from Brunei and falls in Sri Lanka's high season. Put the application in when you book. The Hari Raya Aidilfitri period is the other peak, with offices and banks closed.
Brunei is two and a half hours ahead of Colombo. An approval issued in the Sri Lankan afternoon will arrive in the Bruneian evening. Print it, and keep a copy on your phone for the transfer in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, where the onward airline checks it.
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
No airline flies nonstop from Brunei to Sri Lanka. The journey from Bandar Seri Begawan involves a change in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, both a little over two hours away and both well connected to Colombo. Through tickets are available, and many Bruneians build in a night's stopover.
Best time to go
Brunei's long school break in December lines up with the start of the dry season on Sri Lanka's west and south coasts. Galle Fort, Bentota and Mirissa are at their best, whale-watching boats go out from Mirissa, and the hill stations are cool. Brunei has no winter, so the chill of Nuwara Eliya is a novelty.
The shorter school holidays in March and June give two further choices. March remains fine in the south-west. By June the rain has moved there and the east coast has taken over, with calm water at Pasikudah and Trincomalee that suits families with young children.
Muslim travellers will find Sri Lanka straightforward. Halal food is widely available in Colombo, Kandy and the coastal towns, and historic mosques stand in Galle Fort, Beruwala and Colombo's Pettah district. During Ramadan the island's Muslim neighbourhoods come alive after sunset, though most Bruneians prefer to travel after Hari Raya.
National Day on 23 February and the Sultan's birthday in July are fixed points in the Bruneian calendar. February is dry in the south-west and good for leopard-spotting in Yala. July is the month to go east, or to Kandy if the Esala Perahera has begun. Poya full-moon days are public holidays across Sri Lanka.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Brunei — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Bruneians are used to similar treatment to their neighbours at most borders. For the Sri Lanka ETA the three differ: Malaysia is in the fee waiver, Singapore has a reciprocal arrangement and Brunei has neither. All three still need the authorisation.
A Bruneian Malay name may run to many words, with bin or binti, a father's name and sometimes inherited titles. Applicants shorten it for convenience or add Haji after pilgrimage. Whatever the passport's name line shows is what the application should show.
A five-year passport spends a tenth of its life inside Sri Lanka's six-month validity requirement. Families often check the parents' passports and forget that a child's was issued earlier. Look at every booklet before paying for flights.
The International Certificate of Identity issued to stateless permanent residents is a different document from the Bruneian passport. Selecting Brunei as nationality with a certificate number may cause problems at check-in. Clarify your eligibility before applying.
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 has no resident mission in Bandar Seri Begawan; its High Commission in Singapore is accredited to Brunei Darussalam. Bruneian citizens applying for an ETA deal with neither, as the application is made and decided online without any appointment.
FAQs
The questions Bruneian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes, Bruneians need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, which functions as the Sri Lanka visa for short stays, before travelling. It gives 30 days and two entries for tourism. Brunei pays the standard government rate.
Sri Lanka waives its government charge for 40 countries, Malaysia among them, and has a reciprocal arrangement with Singapore. Brunei is on neither list. Bruneian adults therefore pay the standard government rate, which you can see in the live prices shown on this page.
By connecting in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Royal Brunei Airlines serves both from Bandar Seri Begawan, and onward flights to Colombo run daily. Expect a total travel time of seven to nine hours.
For 30 days counted from first arrival. You may enter a second time within the 30 days, for example after the Maldives, with only the balance available. Longer stays need an extension from Sri Lankan immigration.
Yes, if it is printed on your passport, and in the same position. The application should mirror the name line of the passport word for word. Leave out any title that the passport does not show.
Yes. Sri Lanka has a sizeable Muslim population, and halal restaurants and certified products are common in cities and tourist areas. Mosques are found in most towns. Hotels will usually arrange halal meals if asked in advance.
Yes, each child must be included with his or her own passport details, and for under-12s the government fee is not charged. Check the expiry date of a child's five-year passport, as six months must remain on arrival.
No. A conference, seminar, workshop or business meeting puts a Bruneian visitor under the business option. Select it at the start of the application. The tourist ETA is limited to holidays, family visits and similar personal travel.
Your nationality is already set to Brunei. 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.
