Citizens of Equatorial Guinea need an ETA approved before travelling to Sri Lanka. The tourist authorisation gives 30 days and two entries, and it can be requested online from Malabo, Bata or wherever you live abroad.
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
Equatorial Guinea is Africa's only Spanish-speaking state, and its people are used to explaining where it is. Sri Lanka, another small country with an island at its heart, is seldom on the radar in Malabo. Those who do go tend to be well-travelled professionals, students returning from Asia, or couples who want an Indian Ocean beach that is not the obvious one.
Entry depends on an Electronic Travel Authorisation. In Spanish it is natural to look for a visado para Sri Lanka, and the ETA is what that search leads to: a pre-approved, electronic permission connected to the passport number, verified by the airline before boarding and by immigration on landing.
Reliable information in Spanish for Equatoguinean travellers is scarce, so we have gathered the essentials here. You will find the position on charges, guidance on writing two surnames and Fang, Bubi or Ndowe names, the realistic flight options from Bioko and the mainland, and advice on seasons.
At a glance
Eligibility
Equatorial Guinean nationals have to obtain the ETA before travelling, with no exceptions for ordinary passport holders. The country has no reciprocal arrangement with Sri Lanka. An approval is needed whether you depart from Malabo, from Bata or from Madrid, where many Equatoguineans study and work.
As for charges, Equatorial Guinea sits in the standard band. It is absent from the forty-country list for which Sri Lanka stopped collecting its government charge in May 2026. That charge and our service fee are both reflected in the live prices shown on this page. When a traveller is under 12, the government element falls away for a tourist ETA.
The tourist ETA is intended for leisure, visiting acquaintances or family, treatment and wellness, and sports or cultural participation. Staff of energy companies or ministries attending negotiations, seminars or training of less than a month are business visitors, and should select the business option at the beginning.
Some Equatoguineans also have Spanish nationality. Spain is one of the countries covered by the waiver, so the charge differs according to the passport you use. The rule to remember is consistency: the passport named in the application is the one you must carry on the day.
Stay & validity
A tourist ETA entitles an Equatorial Guinean passport holder to 30 days. Two entries are included, but they share one allowance that begins on the first arrival date, so leaving and re-entering never extends the total.
The authorisation may be used for six months following approval, which gives flexibility if your leave from Malabo is confirmed late. The conditions shown on the approval document are final, so read them when the email arrives.
You must have six months left on the passport when you land. New passports are issued in Malabo, and people living in Bata or overseas may need to travel to obtain one, so check well ahead. Should the passport change after approval, the ETA has to be applied for again from the beginning.
Pricing
Live fees for Equatorial Guinean 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 Equatorial Guinea
Requirements
Everything Equatorial Guinean 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.
Approvals for Equatoguinean applicants tend to arrive in a day or two. Give yourself a minimum of five days before departure, and more around Christmas, when many families fly between Malabo, Bata and Spain and seats on every route are scarce.
Malabo and Bata are four and a half hours behind Colombo throughout the year. A request made before lunch is received during Sri Lankan office hours, whereas one made in the evening falls outside them. Timing cannot guarantee speed, but it helps.
Internet connections on Bioko and in Río Muni can be slow at busy times of day. Compress the passport photograph sensibly, use a stable connection, and review the summary screen carefully. Once payment is made, a wrong digit or misspelt apellido cannot be changed, and you would have to apply again.
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
Equatorial Guinea has no nonstop flights to Asia, so Colombo is reached through Africa, Europe or Turkey. From Malabo, Ethiopian Airlines connects through Addis Ababa to Dubai, and Lufthansa or Air France link the island with Frankfurt and Paris for Gulf connections beyond. Travellers from Bata normally fly to Malabo first. Check whether your European stop requires an airport transit visa.
Best time to go
Bioko is one of the wettest places in Africa, and its short dry season from December to February is when islanders most want to travel. Conveniently, that is high season on Sri Lanka's south and west coasts, with settled weather in Negombo, Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna and clear days in the tea hills.
On the mainland, Río Muni is driest from June to August, which also covers the school holidays. For those dates look to Sri Lanka's east. Trincomalee's harbour beaches and the surf point at Arugam Bay are in their prime, and hotel rates there are lower than on the southern coast in winter.
Equatoguineans raised near the volcanic slopes of Pico Basilé will find echoes in Sri Lanka's central highlands, although the scenery is tea terraces, not rainforest. The pilgrim climb of Adam's Peak is in season from December to May and is done at night to reach the summit for sunrise.
Around 12 October, Equatorial Guinea's Independence Day, Sri Lanka is between monsoons and showers are frequent on both coasts. It is a quieter and greener time to visit the Cultural Triangle, where the cave temples of Dambulla and the rock fortress of Sigiriya stay open in all weather.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Equatorial Guinea — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
English-language forms seem to expect one family name, so Spanish-speaking applicants often omit the maternal apellido. The Equatoguinean passport prints both, and the ETA must do the same or the names will not agree at check-in.
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Papua New Guinea and Equatorial Guinea all appear in the nationality list. Selecting the wrong one is an easy slip on a small screen and makes the approval worthless for a Malabo-issued passport.
Dual nationals who normally book European travel on a Spanish passport sometimes enter that number, then travel on the Equatoguinean one because it holds another visa. The two must match, so decide first and stick to it.
A change of planes in Frankfurt or Paris may call for an airport transit visa for Equatorial Guinean citizens. Without it the first airline can deny boarding in Malabo, however valid the Sri Lankan authorisation is.
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 is not represented in Equatorial Guinea, and its affairs there are managed from a mission elsewhere in the region. Equatoguinean travellers can ignore this for an ETA, as the application is submitted, paid and approved online. Should you need consular advice for a purpose the ETA excludes, Sri Lanka's foreign ministry can tell you which mission is responsible.
FAQs
The questions Equatorial Guinean passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Equatorial Guinean citizens must have an Electronic Travel Authorisation approved before travel, which is the online equivalent of a Sri Lanka visa. As a tourist you receive 30 days and two entries, recorded against your passport number.
Put both apellidos in the surname field in the order printed on your passport, and all nombres in the given-names field. Replace ñ and accented letters with the characters used in the two machine-readable lines under your photograph.
Yes, from either city or from abroad. No Sri Lankan office in Equatorial Guinea is involved. You complete the form in English online, pay by card, and receive the result by email, which you should print for the airline.
The government charge is waived for Spanish passport holders and applies at the standard rate to Equatorial Guinean passports. A service fee applies in both cases. Compare the live prices on this page, and travel on whichever passport you apply with.
Five days before departure is the minimum we advise, and two weeks is wiser for December travel. Although most approvals come within a day or two, extra time protects you if a document image has to be resubmitted.
You may be asked for it. Immigration officers can request a return or onward ticket and evidence of sufficient funds. Keep the e-ticket for your flight back to Malabo and a recent bank statement or card within reach.
One tourist ETA covers two entries within its 30 days. A later, separate trip needs a fresh application. Frequent or successive visits intended as a way of living in Sri Lanka are not allowed on tourist authorisations.
You would need an extension from the Department of Immigration and Emigration, based at Battaramulla near Colombo, obtained before the date stamped in your passport. Plan your return flight to Malabo around the 30 days unless an extension has been granted.
Your nationality is already set to Equatorial Guinea. 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.
