Guatemalans must hold an approved ETA before travelling to Sri Lanka. It grants 30 days and two entries, is issued against your passport rather than your DPI, and carries the standard government charge.
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 a rare destination for Guatemalans, and that is part of its appeal. A traveller from the highlands will recognise more than expected: steep green slopes planted with a cash crop, although here it is tea rather than coffee, ruined stone cities swallowed by forest, and processions that fill the streets for days.
To get there, every Guatemalan needs an Electronic Travel Authorisation, the ETA. You will also see it described as a Sri Lanka visa or visa electrónica, and for a visitor it works the same way: you apply online, the permission is recorded against your passport number, and it should be in place before you set out from La Aurora.
Guatemala does not appear on Sri Lanka's list of 40 countries exempted from the government charge on tourist ETAs, so Guatemalan passports pay the standard rate. Our service fee for handling the application is added to that, and the live prices shown on this page set out what the total comes to today.
At a glance
Eligibility
They do. There is no nationality that Sri Lanka admits for a short visit without an ETA, and Guatemala has no special arrangement with Colombo. Crossing Central America on a DPI under the CA-4 agreement is no guide here: a full passport and an approved ETA are both required.
A tourist ETA is the right choice for sightseeing, a beach holiday, visiting friends or relatives, medical treatment such as an Ayurveda programme or a yoga course, and attending or competing in a sporting or cultural event. Church volunteer trips, which many Guatemalans undertake abroad, are a different matter: unpaid work is still work, and it falls outside the tourist conditions.
For commercial travel — a coffee or cardamom exporter meeting buyers, a delegate at a conference, someone on a training course of less than a month — the business option is the one to pick. Press, political and NGO activity requires advance approval from the Sri Lankan authorities and cannot be arranged through the online ETA.
Children are not waved through on a parent's document. Every minor needs a Guatemalan passport of their own and a place in the application, though the government fee is not charged for those under 12 on a tourist ETA of up to 30 days.
Stay & validity
Guatemalan citizens receive 30 days on a tourist ETA, with the right to enter twice. The count begins when you first arrive, and a second entry must happen before those 30 days are up. Spend days eight to fourteen in southern India, and on your return the officer grants the sixteen days still unused.
An approved ETA stays valid for travel for six months from the day it is issued, subject to the conditions written on the approval. A Guatemalan family can apply in August for the November school holidays without it lapsing.
On arrival your passport needs at least six months of validity remaining. Look at the expiry date on your Guatemalan passport before you do anything else, and if it is too close, renew through the Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración first. The new booklet will have a different number, and an ETA issued against the old one cannot be moved across. Anyone hoping to remain longer than 30 days must apply for an extension at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla, outside Colombo.
Pricing
Live fees for Guatemalan 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 Guatemala
Requirements
Everything Guatemalan 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.
Guatemalan applications are generally decided within a day or two. A minority take longer because they are selected for further checks, and nobody can promise a date. Three to five days before departure is the latest sensible moment to apply; a fortnight ahead costs nothing.
Colombo is eleven and a half hours ahead of Guatemala City, so the Sri Lankan working day happens during the Guatemalan night. Requests for clarification land in your inbox while you sleep, and each exchange can use up a day. Applicants leaving in the school break from November to early January, or during Semana Santa, should build that in.
Mistakes cannot be repaired after payment. A wrong passport number or a missing surname means starting again with a new application, and the government charge already paid is neither returned nor carried over.
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
Guatemala has no air link with South Asia, and reaching Colombo takes two connections on almost every itinerary. The most practical is Iberia's service from Guatemala City to Madrid, followed by Qatar Airways through Doha or Emirates through Dubai. Flying north through Houston, Miami or Atlanta opens up more departure times, but a Guatemalan passport holder needs a United States visa to connect there.
Best time to go
Guatemala's school year ends in October, which makes the long break of November and December the natural time for a big family trip. The second half of that break is ideal for Sri Lanka's south and west: by December the rains have cleared from Galle, Bentota and Mirissa, and the hills around Nuwara Eliya are crisp and bright.
Guatemalans call their own dry months verano, and they overlap neatly with the island's best beach weather on the south-west side, from December to March. Semana Santa falls late in that window. Those willing to miss the alfombras of Antigua will find the south coast still dry, though the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in mid-April closes many businesses for a few days.
From May to September the pattern flips, much as the rains arrive at home. The south-west monsoon soaks Colombo and the southern beaches while the east coast — Trincomalee, Pasikudah, Arugam Bay — enjoys its dry season. A trip around the 15 September holiday can be built entirely on that eastern side.
Anyone who has climbed among the temples of Tikal will want the Cultural Triangle: Sigiriya's rock fortress, the cave temples of Dambulla and the ancient capitals of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Guatemala — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
The CUI on the DPI is the number Guatemalans use for banking, tax and almost every form. On the ETA application it is the wrong number. The authorisation attaches to the passport, and an approval issued against a CUI will not be found when the officer in Colombo scans your booklet.
Some Guatemalan women use an apellido de casada in daily life or on older documents while the passport carries only their own two surnames, and others have the reverse. The application must copy the passport, whatever your other papers say.
Many of the quickest itineraries on booking sites pass through Houston, Miami or Atlanta. Guatemalans cannot change planes in the United States without a visa, and a perfect ETA will not help a traveller turned away at La Aurora.
Because no single airline covers the whole distance, Guatemalans often combine two or three tickets. A missed connection can push your arrival back by a day, and the ETA's 30 days and the six-month passport rule are both measured from the date you actually land. Keep generous layovers.
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
There is no Sri Lankan embassy or consulate in Guatemala; the closest resident embassies are in Havana and Washington DC. Guatemalan tourists have no need to contact either one, since the ETA is applied for and delivered entirely online.
FAQs
The questions Guatemalan passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Guatemalans must have an approved Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before they travel, which is the online permission commonly referred to as a Sri Lanka visa. It is linked to the passport number and permits a tourist stay of 30 days with double entry.
Yes. The waiver that took effect on 25 May 2026 applies to 40 named countries and Guatemala is not one of them, so the standard government rate is charged on a Guatemalan passport. A Guatemalan child under 12 is exempt from that charge on a tourist ETA.
No. The DPI is accepted for travel only within Central America. For Sri Lanka you need a Guatemalan passport valid for at least six months from your arrival date, and the ETA is issued against that passport's number.
Most are approved within one or two days, but some take longer and no timeframe is guaranteed. Apply at least three to five days before you fly, and earlier for travel in November, December or Semana Santa.
For most travellers it is Guatemala City to Madrid with Iberia, then on to Colombo with Qatar Airways via Doha or Emirates via Dubai. That means two connections and no United States visa.
A tourist ETA grants 30 days starting from the first arrival. You may enter twice within that period, and the second entry is given the balance rather than a new 30 days. Guatemalans planning more time than that must secure an extension from the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla.
Use whichever passport you will travel on for the entire trip, and apply for the ETA with that one. The authorisation is tied to a single passport number, and the government charge depends on the nationality of that passport: the United States is on the waiver list and Guatemala is not.
No. A tourist ETA excludes employment, whether paid or unpaid, as well as business and trade. NGO placements need prior approval from the Sri Lankan government.
Your nationality is already set to Guatemala. 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.
