Holders of a Côte d'Ivoire passport must secure an ETA before leaving Abidjan for Sri Lanka. A single online application gives 30 days and two entries, with no embassy visit and no documents to post.
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
Abidjan's growing middle class travels further every year, and Asia has joined Paris, Casablanca and Dubai on the list of places Ivorians consider for a holiday. Sri Lanka appeals for reasons an Ivorian will recognise: a tropical coast, a plantation economy built on a famous export crop, and a relaxed pace once you leave the capital. Getting in requires one document arranged in advance.
That document is the Electronic Travel Authorisation. Travel agencies in Plateau or Cocody may call it a visa Sri Lanka or an e-visa, which is fine as everyday shorthand. Officially it is an ETA, issued electronically and checked against your passport when you land.
The sections that follow apply the rules to Ivorian passports in particular. They cover how the country is listed on the form, the handling of compound first names and apostrophes, the government rate that applies, and the one-stop routings from Félix Houphouët-Boigny airport.
At a glance
Eligibility
There is no exemption for Ivorian citizens: an ETA is mandatory for a short visit and has to be obtained before you set off. Expect staff at the departure desk in Abidjan to ask for it, as they are responsible for confirming your documents through to the final destination.
When selecting your nationality, look for Côte d'Ivoire as well as Ivory Coast, since international forms use either name and alphabetical lists place them far apart. Choosing the wrong country from a long drop-down is an easy slip to make on a phone, and it changes how the application is assessed.
Ivorian passports are charged the standard government rate. The forty-country waiver in force since 25 May 2026 does not extend to Côte d'Ivoire, and there is no reciprocal arrangement. Add our service fee and you have the total, which is laid out in the live prices shown on this page.
Use the tourist ETA for leisure, family or friends, medical and wellness stays, or sporting and cultural participation. Cocoa, cashew and rubber professionals visiting counterparts in Sri Lanka's plantation sector, or attending a conference or workshop, are travelling for business and need that option. Ivorians with French, Belgian or Canadian citizenship as well may find the waiver applies if they travel on that other passport.
Stay & validity
On arrival an Ivorian tourist is admitted for 30 days. The ETA is good for two entries, but it does not multiply the stay: leave after twelve days for a short break in Thailand or India, and on your return you have eighteen left.
An approved authorisation remains valid for travel for six months after it is issued. Ivorians organising a honeymoon or a family trip months ahead can deal with the formalities early and concentrate on flights. Should anything on the approval differ from what you expected, the wording of the approval governs.
Your passport needs six clear months of validity on the day you enter. Ivorian passports are renewed through enrolment centres that can be busy before the summer holidays, so check the expiry date before you book anything. Once a new passport is issued the old number is retired, and with it any ETA attached to that number.
Pricing
Live fees for Ivorian 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 Ivory Coast
Requirements
Everything Ivorian 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.
One to two days is the normal waiting time for an Ivorian application, and many are quicker. It is not a guaranteed service level. Apply no later than three to five days before you fly, and treat that as a floor, not a target.
July and August are when most Ivorian families travel, with schools closed and Independence Day on 7 August creating a long weekend. They are also busy months in Sri Lanka because of the Kandy Perahera and European summer holidays. For travel then, submitting two weeks ahead removes any pressure.
Côte d'Ivoire runs on GMT and Sri Lanka is five hours and thirty minutes ahead. If you apply during an Abidjan evening, nothing will happen until the following morning in Colombo, which is still the middle of your night. Friday afternoon submissions may not be seen until Monday.
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
Abidjan is one of the better-connected West African capitals for travel to South Asia, with three long-haul carriers offering a single connection to Colombo. Travellers from Yamoussoukro, Bouaké, San-Pédro or Korhogo reach the airport by domestic flight or road and should plan an overnight stay in Abidjan before an early departure.
Best time to go
The period from December to March gives Ivorians the classic Sri Lanka: dry weather on the south-west beaches, clear views in the tea hills around Ella, and blue whales passing Mirissa. It matches the main dry season in southern Côte d'Ivoire, so you will not be escaping rain, just changing scenery.
For a trip during the grandes vacances, aim for the east. While Abidjan sits under its long rainy season in June and July and the south-west of Sri Lanka is also wet, Trincomalee and Pasikudah are sunny and the sea is flat. The Cultural Triangle of Sigiriya, Dambulla and Polonnaruwa lies in the dry zone and is comfortable to visit then.
Catholic Ivorians often plan around Easter and Christmas. Negombo, minutes from the airport, has so many churches that it is nicknamed Little Rome, and Christmas there is widely celebrated. Easter usually falls close to the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in mid-April, when much of the country shuts for a few days.
A visitor from the cocoa belt may enjoy seeing how another plantation crop is grown and processed: several tea factories near Nuwara Eliya run tours. Bring a warm layer for those altitudes, and keep in mind that Poya days, at each full moon, are dry days nationwide.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Ivory Coast — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Applicants scroll to the letter I for Ivory Coast, do not see it and pick something nearby, or the reverse under C. Search for both spellings. The nationality on the application has to be the one on the cover of your passport.
Jean-Marc entered as Jean, with Marc treated as a middle name or dropped, no longer matches the passport. Keep all given names together and in the printed order, including any Akan or Baoulé name that follows the Christian one.
The lines of chevrons at the foot of the data page contain no apostrophes. Some systems reject the character and others store it, creating two versions of your name. Follow the machine-readable spelling to stay consistent with airline records.
Ivorian exporters meeting buyers, or agronomists attending a symposium, sometimes select tourist because the visit includes sightseeing. Purpose is judged by the main reason for travel, and meetings place you in the business category.
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 does not maintain an embassy in Abidjan; its ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire is based in another African capital. Tourists are unaffected, because an ETA is requested and delivered online. Only applicants in categories outside the online system would need to correspond with a mission, and they should confirm the responsible post beforehand.
FAQs
The questions Ivorian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Citizens of Ivory Coast need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, commonly described as a Sri Lanka visa, approved before they travel. The tourist version allows a 30-day stay and two entries and is issued online.
Whichever the list offers; they are the same country. If you cannot find one, look for the other, as the two names sit under different letters. Never pick a neighbouring country as a workaround.
Yes, at the standard rate. Côte d'Ivoire is not one of the forty countries whose nationals are covered by the waiver. You will find what is currently charged in the live prices shown on this page.
Usually a day or two, though timing cannot be promised. We advise applying three to five days in advance at minimum, and about two weeks ahead for July, August and December departures.
You can, provided the second entry takes place within 30 days of the first. The return visit uses up the balance of the original period, so a long side trip leaves little time on the island afterwards.
It has no effect on the ETA. Sri Lanka's categories are based on citizenship, so an Ivorian living in Lyon or Brussels applies exactly as one living in Abidjan does, using the Ivorian passport number.
Travellers arriving from yellow fever risk countries, which include Côte d'Ivoire, are asked by Sri Lankan health staff for a vaccination certificate. This is outside the ETA process. Your carnet jaune, already needed at Abidjan airport, serves the purpose.
No. Conferences, seminars, workshops and business meetings come under the business option. Applying under the right heading from the start avoids awkward questions at the immigration desk.
Your nationality is already set to Ivory Coast. 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.
