Cyprus is closer to Sri Lanka than almost anywhere else in the EU, with Colombo one connection away from Larnaca. Cypriot passport holders still need an ETA approved in advance, valid for a 30-day stay and two entries.
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
Few European countries have as direct a human connection with Sri Lanka as Cyprus. Thousands of Sri Lankans live and work on the island, many of them for years with the same households, and it is common for Cypriot families to be invited to a wedding or a home village on the other side of the Indian Ocean.
Whether you are going as a guest or as an ordinary holidaymaker, the entry rule is the same. Cypriot citizens must hold an Electronic Travel Authorisation before travelling, a requirement that many people look up under the name Sri Lanka visa or e-visa.
Cyprus was left off the list of 40 countries whose nationals stopped paying the government charge in May 2026, and Cypriot applicants therefore pay the standard rate. Consult the live prices shown on this page for the amount that applies to a Cypriot passport today.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes. A passport of the Republic of Cyprus does not exempt its holder, and Gulf airlines at Larnaca will not check you through to Colombo without an approved ETA on record for the passport you present.
Staying with Sri Lankan friends, attending a family celebration, touring the island or booking into an Ayurveda retreat are all tourist purposes. Being a private guest does not require a different authorisation, although you should still have an address to give and a return ticket to show.
A tourist ETA does not stretch to commerce. Cypriot shipping, legal and trading firms with interests in Colombo should send staff on the business option for meetings and conferences, and recruitment or any other form of work is outside what a tourist may do.
Dual nationality is widespread among Cypriots, particularly with the United Kingdom, Greece and Australia. The application follows the passport, so a Cypriot who also holds a British passport must decide which document to travel on and apply with that one alone.
Stay & validity
The tourist ETA entitles a Cypriot visitor to 30 days, counted from the first landing. With total travel time often under twelve hours, shorter trips of eight to ten days are realistic from Cyprus in a way they are not from western Europe.
You may enter twice on a single authorisation. A week in Sri Lanka, three nights in the Maldives and a final night in Colombo before flying home is a workable plan, provided the second arrival comes before the 30 days are up; it does not earn extra time.
From the day it is approved, the ETA can be used for six months. Guests travelling for a wedding whose date may move should note that flexibility, and should read the conditions on the approval, which override any summary.
Longer stays need an extension from the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla. Apply in person before the first 30 days lapse if a family visit looks likely to run on.
Pricing
Live fees for Cypriot 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 Cyprus
Requirements
Everything Cypriot 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.
Cypriot applications are normally settled in one to two days. Leave three to five days as a floor, because timing is never guaranteed and a late-evening Larnaca departure gives no opportunity to chase an outstanding decision.
Demand from Cyprus clusters around the Christmas and New Year holidays and again in August, when offices close around 15 August. Sri Lankan residents of Cyprus also fly home in large numbers for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in mid-April, filling the Gulf flights, so book and apply early for that month.
Before applying, make sure the passport itself is in order. One that expires within six months of your arrival will be turned away at check-in whatever the ETA says, and a renewed passport means a fresh number and a fresh application.
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 nonstop flight links Cyprus with Sri Lanka, but the journey is among the shortest from any EU country because the Gulf hubs are only three to four hours from Larnaca. A single change in Dubai, Doha or Bahrain reaches Colombo the same night or early next morning. Travellers living near Paphos generally drive to Larnaca for these services.
Best time to go
Cypriot summers are fiercely hot and winters short, so the appeal of Sri Lanka is less about escaping cold than about greenery, wildlife and rain-fed hills. December to March is the comfortable season for the south and west, with Yala and Wilpattu at their best for leopard sightings.
Orthodox Easter and the Green Monday weekend are popular Cypriot travel dates. Easter generally lands in April or early May, when the south-west is turning humid but still largely dry, and may overlap with the mid-April New Year festivities, when transport is crowded and some shops shut.
August, the main Cypriot holiday month, is rainy on the south-west coast. The east coast is the place to be then, and the Kandy Esala Perahera in July or August is a strong reason to include the hills. The Kataklysmos weekend around June is too brief on its own.
The time difference is small: three and a half hours ahead of Cyprus in winter, two and a half in summer. If you are visiting a Sri Lankan household, ask about Poya days and Vesak in May, when families observe religious customs and no alcohol is sold.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Cyprus — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Cypriots with a British or Greek passport sometimes book the flight with one and apply for the ETA with the other. The airline and the immigration officer both match the approval to a single passport number, so everything must refer to the same document.
Guests staying with a friend's family sometimes write only a village name. Ask your host for the full postal address and a phone number before applying, and carry both, as officers may ask a visitor without a hotel booking where exactly they are going.
Transliteration of Cypriot names has changed over the years, and a current passport may read differently from an old one or from a driving licence. The ETA must mirror the passport you travel on, letter for letter.
Travelling to interview or recruit staff, or to meet an agency, is a business purpose even if you will also see friends. Choose the option that reflects the real reason for the trip.
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's embassy in Rome is accredited to Cyprus, and there is currently no resident Sri Lankan embassy in Nicosia. Cypriot travellers do not need consular help to obtain an ETA, which is applied for online without attending anywhere. The mission deals with matters such as approvals for activities outside the scope of the ETA.
FAQs
The questions Cypriot passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Cypriot citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, the online permit usually meant by the phrase Sri Lanka visa, and it should be approved before departure. For Cypriot tourists it allows 30 days and two entries.
No. Cyprus is outside the group of 40 countries that benefit from the waiver, so the standard government charge applies to Cypriot passport holders aged 12 and over. The live prices shown on this page include that charge and our service fee.
Yes. Staying with friends or relatives counts as a tourist purpose for Cypriot visitors. Enter your host's full address as your place of stay, and keep their phone number and your return ticket with you in case you are asked about your plans on arrival.
No, but one-stop connections through Dubai, Doha and Bahrain are frequent. The total journey from Larnaca is normally 10 to 12 hours, noticeably shorter than from most European airports.
Apply with the one you will show at check-in and at Colombo immigration, and do not switch. The government charge is determined by the nationality of the passport used, so check the live prices on this page for each before deciding.
No. Sri Lanka requires a passport with at least six months' validity from your date of arrival. The identity card is not accepted, and the ETA can only be issued against a passport number.
Thirty days from first arrival. The second entry allowed on the tourist ETA must also happen within those 30 days. For a longer family visit, an extension must be obtained from the immigration department in Sri Lanka.
At least three to five days before you leave, and a couple of weeks ahead for Christmas, mid-April or August travel. Decisions for Cypriot applicants usually come within a day or two, though no time is guaranteed.
Your nationality is already set to Cyprus. 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.
