From post-army surf trips to family holidays over the chagim, Israelis are regular visitors to Sri Lanka. The ETA remains mandatory, the government charge is waived for tourists, and one approval gives 30 days with 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
Important for Israeli citizens
Israeli passports are covered by Sri Lanka's waiver of the government charge on tourist ETAs, in force since 25 May 2026. You must still hold an approved ETA to travel, and our service fee applies — see the live prices shown on this page.
Overview
Sri Lanka has had a place on the Israeli backpacker map for years. Young Israelis finishing military service add it to the big trip through India and South-East Asia, surfers head for Arugam Bay and Weligama, and a second wave of older travellers and families now comes for wildlife, tea country and the beaches of the south. Hebrew menus in surf towns are evidence of how well established the route is.
Israel is one of the forty countries included in the waiver Sri Lanka introduced on 25 May 2026, under which the government charge on a tourist ETA is not collected. The Electronic Travel Authorisation itself, which Israelis tend to call simply the visa for Sri Lanka, has not been abolished and must be approved before you board.
This guide is written for holders of the Israeli darkon. It explains what the waiver covers, how the 30 days are counted if you are moving between Sri Lanka and its neighbours, and the mistakes that most often delay Israeli applications.
At a glance
Eligibility
Israeli citizens need an ETA for every short visit. Whether you are arriving from Tel Aviv, crossing from India after months on the road, or stopping on the way back from Thailand, the approval has to exist before you check in for the flight to Colombo.
For tourism the government charge is waived on an Israeli passport. Holidays, backpacking, surfing, visits to friends, yoga and Ayurveda stays, and taking part in sporting or cultural events all count as tourist purposes. You will still see a price when applying here, because our assistance with the application is a paid service; the live prices on this page show the amount.
Long-term travellers need to watch one condition closely. A tourist ETA does not allow employment or self-employment, paid or unpaid, and that includes informal work in a hostel, surf school or restaurant in exchange for board. Nor may it be used to live in Sri Lanka by leaving and re-entering repeatedly.
Israelis attending business meetings, technology conferences, workshops or religious events and symposiums should apply under the business option. Journalists and those working with non-governmental organisations need prior approval from the Sri Lankan government, which the online ETA does not provide.
Stay & validity
On arrival an Israeli tourist receives 30 days. Two entries are allowed, but the count begins with the first one and does not restart, so somebody who spends two weeks in Sri Lanka, a week in the Maldives and returns has roughly a week left.
The approval can be used for six months from its issue date, which works well for a long trip with loose dates: apply before leaving Israel and you can enter at any point in the following half-year. Read the conditions on the approval, as they override any summary.
Sri Lanka requires the darkon to be valid for six months after the date of arrival. Children's passports run for five years, and some adult passports are issued for shorter terms than the usual ten, so travellers at the end of a long journey should count the months carefully. A replacement passport obtained at an Israeli consulate abroad has a new number and needs a new ETA.
Travellers who want to stay beyond 30 days, as many surfers do, must apply for an extension at the Department of Immigration and Emigration head office in Battaramulla before the initial period expires.
Pricing
Live fees for Israeli 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 Israel
Requirements
Everything Israeli 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.
ETA approvals for Israeli passport holders mostly come through within one or two days. That is the common experience and should not be read as a guaranteed timescale.
Apply at least three to five days before the flight, and think about the calendar. An application started on Friday afternoon may run into a card verification that your bank cannot help with until Sunday, because Israeli support lines close for Shabbat. The same is true on the eve of a festival.
Peak demand from Israel comes before Pesach, across July and August, and around Sukkot. If you are travelling in one of those periods, or arriving in the island's own high season between December and March, apply a week or more ahead.
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
Most Israelis fly from Ben Gurion to Colombo with one change in the United Arab Emirates, where Dubai and Abu Dhabi both have frequent onward flights. Arkia has also operated a weekly direct service from Tel Aviv in season, which takes about nine hours. Backpackers commonly arrive from Indian cities such as Chennai, Mumbai or Delhi, or from Bangkok.
Best time to go
Israeli travel is organised around the festivals, and each one suits a different side of Sri Lanka. Hanukkah in December falls at the start of the dry season in the south and west, with good conditions at Mirissa, Weligama and Hikkaduwa and whales offshore.
Pesach in March or April arrives as that season is ending. The beaches are still fine, the hill country is clear, and visitors should be aware that the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in mid-April closes many shops and fills local transport for several days.
The summer holiday in July and August is when Arugam Bay is at its best and when the largest number of Israelis are on the east coast. The south-west is rainy then, so plan around Trincomalee, Pasikudah and the Kandy Perahera. Sukkot, in September or October, catches the last of the eastern season before the inter-monsoon showers begin.
Israel changes its clocks and Sri Lanka does not, giving a difference of three and a half hours in winter and two and a half in summer. Kosher food is limited outside the few places with a Jewish centre, and alcohol is not sold on Poya full-moon days, which occur once a month.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Israel — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Israelis type their teudat zehut number automatically on almost every form at home. The ETA must carry the passport number, and an approval issued against anything else will not be found at the border.
Hebrew names have no single English form, and the version on a credit card or social profile often differs from the passport. Cohen and Kohen, Tzvi and Zvi are not interchangeable for this purpose.
Some long-stay travellers expect a quick trip to the Maldives or India to restart the 30 days. It does not; a second entry receives only what is left, and a longer stay requires an extension.
Helping at a hostel or teaching surf lessons, even unpaid, counts as work. It breaches tourist conditions and can cause problems when you leave or apply to extend.
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 maintains an embassy in Israel for consular matters and visa types outside the online system. A tourist ETA is requested online and sent by email, so there is nothing to submit in person.
FAQs
The questions Israeli passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Israeli citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation approved before travel. The government charge on a tourist ETA is waived for Israeli passports, and the ETA gives 30 days with two entries.
Yes. Israelis apply for an ETA in the same way as other nationalities and are included in the forty-country waiver of the government charge. As for any visitor, admission is decided by the officer on arrival.
It is. The change of 25 May 2026 removed the government charge for tourists and left the requirement to hold an approved ETA fully in place.
An Israeli tourist gets thirty days, and the count starts at the first landing. To stay longer you need an extension from the immigration department in Battaramulla, requested before the 30 days end.
No. The second entry on the same ETA is granted only the remaining part of the original 30 days.
Apply with the passport you will present in Colombo and use that one throughout. Both nationalities are covered by the government-charge waiver, so the choice does not change that.
Arkia has run a weekly direct flight in season, but schedules vary. The dependable routing is one stop in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
No. Paid and unpaid work are both excluded, including volunteering in return for accommodation or meals.
Your nationality is already set to Israel. 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.
