Chadian passport holders need an approved ETA before flying to Colombo. It gives a 30-day, double-entry stay for tourism, and the whole application is completed online from N'Djamena, Moundou or wherever you are based.
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
Sri Lanka is not a destination many people in Chad have visited, and that is exactly why the paperwork deserves a clear explanation. There is no Sri Lankan embassy in N'Djamena, no direct flight and very little local advice to lean on, so most Chadian travellers piece the trip together themselves, usually around a connection in Istanbul, Addis Ababa or Cairo.
The entry document is called an Electronic Travel Authorisation, or ETA, although you will often see it described as a Sri Lanka visa or e-visa when you search in French or Arabic. For a Chadian passport it works the same way whatever the name: you apply online before leaving, the approval is recorded against your passport number.
Those who do make the journey from Chad tend to be professionals from the oil and telecoms sectors, staff of international organisations taking leave, students already based in Asia and families with relatives in the Gulf who add a week on the island.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes. Chadian citizens need an ETA for any short visit to Sri Lanka, and it should be approved before you board in N'Djamena. Chad is not among the countries whose government charge is waived, so the standard rate applies to a Chadian tourist application; the current total is in the live prices shown on this page.
The tourist option fits the reasons most Chadians give for the trip: a holiday, a visit to friends or relatives working on the island, a stay at an Ayurveda retreat, or attending a sporting or cultural event. If you are travelling for meetings, a conference, a seminar or a short training course, choose the business option instead.
One point matters more for Chad than for most countries. A large share of Chadians who travel internationally work for humanitarian agencies, NGOs or the press. Sri Lanka does not process NGO work, journalism or political activity through the online ETA; those need prior government approval.
Children travelling on their own Chadian passports must be included in the application as well. Those under twelve are not charged the government fee for a tourist stay of up to 30 days, yet each child still needs an approved authorisation.
Stay & validity
A Chadian tourist ETA gives 30 days in Sri Lanka, counted from the day you first arrive, with two entries allowed. Both entries have to fall inside the same 30 days. If you fly out to the Maldives or southern India for a few days and return, immigration grants only what is left of the original period, not a fresh month.
Once approved, the authorisation can be used to travel for six months from the date of issue, which gives Chadian travellers useful room given how often flights out of N'Djamena are rescheduled. For a Chadian traveller, the conditions printed on the approval itself take priority over any general description.
Your passport needs at least six months of validity left on the day you land in Colombo. Chadian biometric passports are issued for a fairly short term, so check the expiry date before paying; renewing in N'Djamena can take time, and an ETA issued against the old booklet does not carry over to the new one.
Pricing
Live fees for Chadian 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 Chad
Requirements
Everything Chadian 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 applications from Chadian passport holders are approved within a day or two, though nobody can promise a fixed time and some are held for extra checks. Apply at least three to five days before you leave N'Djamena, and add more margin if you are travelling in December or January, when Sri Lanka is at its busiest.
Internet in Chad can be slow and is occasionally interrupted, and power cuts are routine, so do not leave the form for the evening before departure. Complete it when you have a stable connection, save the approval email offline and print a copy in town before you head to Hassan Djamous airport.
Timing also interacts with payment. If your Chadian bank needs a day or two to switch on international online transactions, the clock on your application has not even started. Sort the card out first, then apply.
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
There are no direct flights between Chad and Sri Lanka. The most practical journey from N'Djamena is with Turkish Airlines through Istanbul, which continues to Colombo. Alternatives run via Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines or Cairo with EgyptAir, followed by a second change in the Gulf for the final leg to Bandaranaike International.
Best time to go
Chad's own calendar points fairly clearly at when to go. The hottest weeks in N'Djamena fall between March and May, when afternoon temperatures pass 40 degrees, and that overlaps with the end of the best season on Sri Lanka's west and south coasts.
The long Chadian school break runs through the rainy months of July, August and September. In those months Sri Lanka's south-west is under its own monsoon, so families travelling then should look east instead, to Trincomalee, Pasikudah and Arugam Bay, where the sea is calm and the weather dry.
December to February is the harmattan season at home, dry and dusty, and it is also peak season on the island's southern beaches and in the hill country. Flights and hotels are at their fullest, so Chadians planning a year-end trip should book and apply early.
Sri Lanka runs four and a half hours ahead of Chad throughout the year, since neither country changes its clocks. Muslim travellers from Chad will find mosques and halal food easily in Colombo, Kandy and along the east coast.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Chad — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Many Chadians carry a given name followed by a father's and sometimes a grandfather's name rather than a fixed family surname, and different documents split them differently. For the ETA only the passport matters. Put in the surname field whatever sits on the passport's surname line and the rest under given names.
Mahamat, Mahamoud, Abakar and Oumar are Chadian spellings that online forms and autocorrect love to turn into Mohamed, Mahmoud, Abubakar and Omar. Because a paid application cannot be edited, a single changed letter means starting again and paying the government charge a second time.
Bank cards issued in Chad are frequently limited to domestic or regional use until the holder asks for international online payments to be enabled. Travellers who discover this at the payment step lose days waiting for the bank. Activate the card beforehand.
Chadians employed by aid agencies, ministries or companies are sometimes sent to Colombo for workshops or regional meetings and pick the tourist option because it looks simpler. Conferences, seminars and training belong under the business option, and NGO assignments need prior clearance from the Sri Lankan authorities.
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 Chad, and for an ETA you do not need one: the application is made online and no passport is posted or handed in. The embassies listed are the nearest resident missions for matters outside the ETA, such as longer-stay visas; confirm with them which office currently handles Chadian nationals.
FAQs
The questions Chadian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes, Chadian citizens need an entry authorisation for Sri Lanka, and for short visits it takes the form of an ETA obtained online before travel. A tourist ETA on a Chadian passport allows 30 days with two entries, and the standard government charge applies.
Everything is done online. You enter your Chadian passport details, travel date and first address on the island, upload the photo page and pay by card. There is nothing to submit in person in N'Djamena.
No. Chad is not on the list of countries whose government charge is waived, so the standard rate applies to Chadian adults. Children under twelve are not charged the government fee on a tourist ETA of up to 30 days. Today's total for a Chadian applicant is in the live prices shown on this page.
Thirty days from first arrival, with a second entry permitted inside that same window. Staying longer means applying for an extension at the immigration department in Battaramulla before your 30 days end.
With no direct service, the usual choice is Turkish Airlines from N'Djamena to Istanbul and on to Colombo, a single change. Routes via Addis Ababa or Cairo generally need a further connection in Dubai or Doha.
Follow the passport, not custom. Whatever is printed on the surname line of the photo page goes in the surname field, and the remaining names go under given names.
Chad is classed as a yellow fever risk country, and Sri Lankan health officials can ask arriving passengers from such countries for proof of vaccination. This is a health check, separate from the ETA, so confirm the current requirement before you fly.
No. Conferences, workshops, seminars and business meetings fall under the business option, not the tourist one. If you work for an NGO or the media and the trip is an assignment, prior approval from the Sri Lankan government is needed and the online ETA is not the route.
Your nationality is already set to Chad. 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.
