Egyptian passport holders must have an approved ETA before boarding for Colombo. It allows a 30-day stay with two entries, and since Egypt is outside Sri Lanka's fee waiver, the standard government rate applies to adult travellers.
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 Egyptian citizens
Egypt is not among the 40 countries whose tourist ETA is exempt from Sri Lanka's government charge. Egyptian passports are processed at the standard rate; the live prices shown on this page give the current total.
Overview
Egyptians know a good coastline when they see one, so Sri Lanka has to offer something the Red Sea does not, and it does: rainforest running down to the beach, tea estates at altitude, wild elephants and leopards, and a monsoon climate that keeps the whole island green. Honeymooners from Cairo and Alexandria increasingly pair it with a few nights in the Maldives.
Every Egyptian citizen needs an Electronic Travel Authorisation before making the trip. Travel agents in Egypt and most Arabic-language forums simply call it the Sri Lanka visa or e-visa, and that is a fair description of what it does, although no consulate appointment is involved: you apply online and the approval comes by email.
Egypt was not included when Sri Lanka removed its government charge for 40 nationalities in May 2026, so Egyptian applicants are handled at the standard rate. The rest of this page concentrates on what is particular to an Egyptian passport: its seven-year term, four-part Arabic names and the Gulf connections out of Cairo.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes. An Egyptian passport does not carry any exemption for Sri Lanka, and the ETA has to be approved before you check in at Cairo, Borg El Arab or Hurghada.
The tourist option fits nearly all Egyptian leisure trips. It covers holidays and sightseeing, stays with friends and family, medical care including Ayurveda treatment and yoga courses, and attendance at sporting or cultural events. Egyptian business owners travelling to meet tea, garment or spice suppliers are in a different category and should choose the business option when they start the form.
Working is not allowed on a tourist ETA, paid or unpaid, and neither is running a trade of your own. Egyptian journalists, film crews and NGO staff should know that media assignments, political activity and charity work need approval from the Sri Lankan government in advance, which the online ETA cannot provide.
Children travelling on their own Egyptian passports each need to be entered on the application. For under-12s on a tourist stay of up to 30 days Sri Lanka does not take its government charge, but leaving a child off the form because nothing is charged is a mistake.
Stay & validity
An approved tourist ETA lets an Egyptian visitor stay for 30 days, counted from the first day of arrival, and enter twice. The two entries must both happen inside that 30-day window. Egyptian couples who break the trip with four nights in Malé come back to Colombo with only the days still left on the original count.
You do not have to travel immediately. The approval remains usable for a first arrival for six months after it is issued, so one granted in November comfortably covers the mid-year school break at the end of January.
Egyptian passports are issued for seven years, and Sri Lanka requires six months of validity remaining on the day you land. Renew first if you are close to the limit, then apply, because the new booklet has a new number and the ETA is attached to the number.
Pricing
Live fees for Egyptian 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 Egypt
Requirements
Everything Egyptian 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.
Egyptian applications are usually decided within a day or two. We read each form against the passport image before sending it on, paying particular attention to name order and the passport number. The timing is typical, not guaranteed.
Allow three to five days at the very least between applying and flying. Colombo is three and a half hours ahead of Cairo in winter and two and a half once Egyptian summer time starts in late April, and the Egyptian weekend falls on Friday and Saturday while Sri Lanka's is Saturday and Sunday.
Leave a wider margin before Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, when half of Egypt seems to book the same week, and before the January school break. If your passport is being renewed, hold the application until the new booklet is physically in your hand.
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 between Egypt and Sri Lanka, so the journey is made with one change in the Gulf or Saudi Arabia. Cairo has frequent daily departures to Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah and Riyadh, and each of those cities has an onward flight to Bandaranaike International Airport near Colombo.
Best time to go
The mid-year school break in late January and early February is the best fit between the Egyptian calendar and Sri Lanka's weather. The south and west coasts are dry, the sea at Bentota and Mirissa is flat, and whale-watching trips run from the southern harbours.
Eid dates shift through the year, so check them against the monsoon. When Eid falls between December and April, head for Galle, the south coast and the tea country. Sham El-Nessim in spring often lands close to the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in mid-April, when many Sri Lankan businesses shut for several days.
The long Egyptian summer holiday, from June into September, coincides with the south-west monsoon on the Colombo side of the island. That is the moment for the east coast: Trincomalee, Pasikudah and Arugam Bay are dry and sunny then.
October and November bring inter-monsoon showers almost anywhere, which suits the ancient cities of the Cultural Triangle better than a beach week. Monthly Poya full-moon days are public holidays, so plan bank errands around them.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Egypt — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Egyptian passports normally print four names in a row: your own, your father's, your grandfather's and the family name. Applicants used to signing as Ahmed Hassan often enter just those two. The ETA and the flight booking should both carry the name as the passport prints it.
Arabic names have several accepted Latin spellings, and Egyptians frequently use one on a bank card and another on a passport. Abdelrahman, Abdel Rahman and Abd El-Rahman are not interchangeable on an immigration record.
A large number of Egyptians live and work in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Kuwait, whose own citizens are covered by the waiver. The waiver follows nationality, not where you live. An Egyptian resident of Riyadh still applies on the Egyptian passport at the standard rate.
Seven-year passports come up for renewal sooner than many people expect. Applying on the old booklet while the new one is being printed leaves you with an authorisation attached to a number you will not be carrying.
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 had an embassy in Cairo since the 1950s, and it also looks after several neighbouring countries. Egyptian tourists applying for an ETA have no reason to visit it, as the process is completed online. The embassy is the right contact only for things the ETA does not cover, such as residence visas.
FAQs
The questions Egyptian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes, Egyptians need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for Sri Lanka, which is the online permission usually referred to as the Sri Lanka visa. It has to be approved before departure and gives a tourist stay of 30 days with two entries. Egypt is outside the fee waiver, so the standard government rate applies.
No. Egypt is not one of the 40 nationalities covered by the waiver that began on 25 May 2026. Egyptian adults pay the standard government charge plus our service fee, while children under 12 are not charged the government part for a tourist stay of up to 30 days. See the live prices shown on this page.
No. Sri Lanka applies the waiver by passport nationality, and a Gulf residence permit does not change that. You apply with your Egyptian passport details and are processed at the standard rate.
Thirty days from the day of first arrival. A second entry is permitted during those 30 days, but it does not add time. To stay longer you would need an extension from the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla before your stamped date.
Enter it in Latin letters exactly as the passport photo page shows it, keeping every name the passport includes. The final name is normally treated as the surname and the others as given names. Use the same form on your flight ticket.
Not at present. Egyptian travellers connect once, most often in Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah or Riyadh, and the trip takes roughly 10 to 13 hours in total.
At least three to five days ahead, and earlier before Eid or the January school break. Most decisions come within a day or two, though that is not a commitment.
Yes, the tourist ETA allows two entries. The condition is that your return to Colombo happens within 30 days of your first arrival, and you are then admitted only for the days that remain.
Your nationality is already set to Egypt. 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.
