Djiboutian passport holders need an ETA approved online before flying from Djibouti-Ambouli. It grants 30 days and two entries at the standard government rate, and most travellers reach Colombo with a single change in the Gulf.
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 Djiboutian citizens
Djibouti is not included in Sri Lanka's 40-country waiver of the tourist ETA government charge. The standard rate applies to Djiboutian passports, as set out in the live prices shown on this page.
Overview
Djibouti and Sri Lanka both owe their place in the world to shipping lanes. One guards the Bab el-Mandeb at the mouth of the Red Sea, the other sits astride the main route across the Indian Ocean, and container vessels calling at Doraleh often call at Colombo too. For Djiboutians, though, the island is better known as a green escape from one of the hottest climates on earth.
A trip there starts with an Electronic Travel Authorisation, required of all Djiboutian nationals. In French it is usually searched for as a visa Sri Lanka or e-visa. It is not a stamp or sticker but an online approval sent by email and recorded against the passport you will carry.
Djibouti is a small market and travellers often rely on advice from friends who went via Dubai. This page gives a fuller picture for Djiboutian applicants: how the charge applies, how to transfer a French-format passport into an English form, when to go, and which airlines make the connection.
At a glance
Eligibility
The answer for Djiboutians is yes, always. The ETA is required for tourism and must be granted before travel. Check-in agents at Ambouli will look for it when you present your ticket to Colombo, whichever airline you have chosen.
Sri Lanka's decision to waive its government charge covered 40 countries, and Djibouti was not on the list. A Djiboutian adult pays the standard government rate plus our fee for assistance. Please use the live prices on this page as your reference, since we deliberately quote no amounts in the text.
Tourism, visiting acquaintances or family, Ayurvedic and other medical treatment, and going to cultural or sporting events are all tourist purposes. Djiboutians working in logistics, shipping or port services who travel to Colombo for meetings need the business option, as do delegates at conferences and seminars.
Children are covered by the same obligation. A Djiboutian child must be named in the application with their own passport data. The government fee does not apply to under-12s on a tourist visit lasting up to 30 days.
Stay & validity
On a tourist ETA a Djiboutian can spend 30 days in Sri Lanka, measured from the first day of entry. A second entry is allowed during that period. Someone who makes a short excursion to the Maldives returns to whatever portion of the 30 days is left.
Travel may begin at any point within six months of the approval being issued. Djiboutians planning to escape the summer heat can apply in spring and travel in July. Where the approval's printed conditions say something specific, those conditions take precedence.
Six months of passport validity from the arrival date is mandatory. Djiboutian passports state dates in day-month-year order, and the expiry should be read carefully. A new passport means a new ETA, since the authorisation cannot be reassigned.
To remain longer than 30 days, a Djiboutian has to obtain an extension from the Department of Immigration and Emigration at its head office in Battaramulla. That must be done before the permitted stay expires.
Pricing
Live fees for Djiboutian 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 Djibouti
Requirements
Everything Djiboutian 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.
For Djiboutian applicants a decision usually takes one or two days. It can take longer, and no assurance is possible for a single application. Apply at least three to five days before leaving, and preferably a fortnight ahead.
Schools in Djibouti break for the summer in July and August, when heat pushes many families abroad. Independence Day on 27 June and the two Eid holidays are other common departure points. December to March is high season in Sri Lanka, so winter travellers should apply early as well.
Djibouti is two and a half hours behind Sri Lanka. The working week in Djibouti runs from Sunday to Thursday, while Sri Lankan offices work Monday to Friday. An application submitted on a Djiboutian Friday will therefore reach Colombo on a working day there, but one sent on Sunday will not.
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
Djibouti has no nonstop service to Sri Lanka, but one-stop connections are readily available. Qatar Airways flies to Doha and flydubai to Dubai, both with onward flights to Colombo. Ethiopian Airlines offers a short hop to Addis Ababa followed by a flight to India, and Turkish Airlines connects via Istanbul.
Best time to go
From May to September Djibouti endures extreme heat and the dry khamsin wind. Sri Lanka in those months is far gentler, especially in the hill country, where Nuwara Eliya's temperatures can feel almost cold to someone arriving from the Gulf of Tadjoura. The east coast beaches are in season at the same time.
Djibouti's cooler months, October to April, are when most residents prefer to stay home, yet they are also the best time for Sri Lanka's south and west. A January trip brings calm seas at Unawatuna and Mirissa and clear views from the train between Kandy and Ella.
Divers who know the whale sharks of the Gulf of Tadjoura may be interested in Sri Lanka's marine life. Blue whales and dolphins are seen off Mirissa between November and April, and off Trincomalee in the middle of the year. Snorkelling at Pigeon Island is best from May to September.
Muslim visitors from Djibouti will find prayer facilities and halal dining without difficulty in Colombo and along the east coast. The Buddhist full-moon holiday called Poya occurs every month, and on that day alcohol is not sold and many shops close early.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Djibouti — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
French-format documents print the surname first, and the English form may ask for given names first. Djiboutians who copy the lines in order end up with the names transposed. Match each English label to its French equivalent before entering anything.
A Djiboutian passport shows 03/07 for the third of July. If the application expects the month first, that becomes the seventh of March. Check the format requested beside each date field, above all for the passport expiry.
A name such as Abdourahman may be written Abdirahman or Abdulrahman on a residence card, a diploma or a Gulf entry permit. Only the Djiboutian passport's version counts for the ETA. Ignore every other spelling.
Because Djibouti's economy revolves around its port, many trips to Colombo are work-related. Meetings with shipping lines, freight agents or port authorities are business activity. Apply under the business option for those, even if you add a few days of sightseeing.
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 ambassador to Djibouti resides in Addis Ababa, and no Sri Lankan office operates in Djibouti City. Djiboutian tourists do not need embassy involvement, as the ETA is an online procedure. The Addis Ababa embassy can advise on stays or activities outside the ETA's limits.
FAQs
The questions Djiboutian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Djiboutian citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, often referred to as a Sri Lanka visa, before they travel. It is applied for online and gives Djiboutian tourists a 30-day stay with two entries.
No. Djibouti is not among the 40 countries with a waived government charge, so Djiboutian adults pay the standard rate and a service fee, while under-12s are spared the government portion. See the live prices on this page.
With one stop. Qatar Airways via Doha and flydubai via Dubai are the most direct, and Ethiopian or Turkish Airlines offer alternatives. The trip from Djibouti takes roughly 9 to 12 hours.
The form is filled in using English and Latin letters. Djiboutian applicants simply copy the Nom, Prénoms, number and dates from the passport into the matching English fields.
Generally one or two days, though this cannot be guaranteed. Djiboutians are advised to apply three to five days before departure at the least, and about two weeks ahead in the summer holidays.
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which is accredited to Djibouti. You do not need to contact it for a tourist ETA. Djiboutian travellers handle the whole application online.
Only under the business option. Meetings, negotiations and conferences are not permitted on a tourist ETA, so a Djiboutian travelling for shipping or logistics work should select business when applying.
A transit ETA covers a stopover of up to two days and has no government charge, with proof of onward travel required. A Djiboutian staying longer needs the tourist ETA.
Your nationality is already set to Djibouti. 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.
