Kenyan passport holders need an approved ETA before boarding in Nairobi or Mombasa. It allows 30 days and two entries, and with Kenya 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 Kenyan citizens
Kenya is not among the 40 countries covered by Sri Lanka's waiver of the tourist ETA government charge, so the standard rate applies to Kenyan passports. The live prices shown on this page are the ones to rely on.
Overview
Kenya and Sri Lanka face each other across the Indian Ocean and share more than most travellers realise. Both built export economies on tea, with the Mombasa and Colombo auctions among the largest in the world, and both are Commonwealth cricket countries. Older fans in Nairobi still talk about the 2003 World Cup, when Kenya beat Sri Lanka at the Gymkhana ground.
Travel between the two remains modest, which is why reliable guidance for Kenyans is hard to find. The essential point is simple: every Kenyan citizen needs an Electronic Travel Authorisation before flying. Search results often call it a Sri Lanka visa or e-visa, and the label matters less than the fact that it is arranged online, with nothing pasted into your passport.
For a Kenyan used to coastal weekends in Diani or Watamu, Sri Lanka offers a different kind of Indian Ocean holiday: Buddhist temples, hill railways through tea estates, and leopards in Yala instead of the Mara. This page covers what the ETA permits, which documents a Kenyan applicant should prepare, how to route from Jomo Kenyatta International, and the errors that most often delay Kenyan applications.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes. Kenyans cannot enter Sri Lanka for a holiday without an ETA approved in advance, and airlines at Jomo Kenyatta check for it during check-in. Because the journey always involves a connection, the check may happen twice, once in Nairobi and again at the transfer desk in the Gulf or India.
Kenya sits outside the group of 40 countries whose tourist ETA carries no government charge. That means Kenyan adults pay the standard government rate on top of our service fee for application assistance. Rather than rely on a figure quoted in a WhatsApp group or an old blog, check the live prices shown on this page.
The tourist ETA suits the reasons most Kenyans travel: a beach and wildlife holiday, a visit to friends, an Ayurveda retreat, or following a cricket tour. Kenyan tea brokers, exporters and conference delegates heading to Colombo for meetings are in a different category and should select the business option.
Children travelling on their own Kenyan passports must be included in the application as well. Those under 12 are not charged the government fee for a tourist stay of up to 30 days, which helps families travelling during the long December school break, but their details still have to be entered accurately.
Stay & validity
A tourist ETA gives a Kenyan visitor 30 days in Sri Lanka, counted from the day of first arrival. It permits two entries, which is useful if you plan to add a few days in the Maldives. Both entries must fall inside the same 30 days, and on returning from Malé you receive only what is left of the period.
Approval opens a six-month window for travel, so a Kenyan family could apply in September for a December trip without difficulty. Whatever conditions are printed on the approval itself take priority over any general description, so read the document when it arrives.
Your passport needs at least six months of validity remaining on the day you land in Colombo. Kenyans still holding an older passport close to expiry should renew before applying, because the ETA is tied to the passport number and does not carry over to the replacement East African Community e-passport.
If 30 days is not enough, an extension has to be requested in person from the Department of Immigration and Emigration, whose head office is in Battaramulla on the edge of Colombo. Kenyans planning a long volunteering or yoga stay should build that visit into their itinerary early.
Pricing
Live fees for Kenyan 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 Kenya
Requirements
Everything Kenyan 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.
Most Kenyan applications are approved within a day or two, and many sooner. That is typical rather than guaranteed, and a query about a blurred passport image or a mismatched name can add time. Submitting at least three to five days before your Nairobi departure leaves room for a correction.
Kenyan travel peaks around three school holidays in April, August and the longer break from late October into December. December also coincides with high season on Sri Lanka's south-west coast, when application volumes rise everywhere. For a Christmas or Jamhuri Day trip, applying two to three weeks ahead is sensible.
Nairobi is two and a half hours behind Colombo throughout the year, as neither country changes its clocks. An application sent on a Friday afternoon in Kenya reaches Sri Lanka after office hours there, so anything needing manual attention may wait until the next working day.
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 Kenya and Sri Lanka, so Kenyans connect once, usually in the Gulf or in Mumbai. Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad all link Nairobi with their hubs and continue to Colombo, while Kenya Airways flies to Mumbai for an onward hop south. Mombasa passengers generally start with a domestic flight to Nairobi.
Best time to go
Kenyan and Sri Lankan seasons overlap neatly. The long December school holiday falls at the start of the best months for Colombo, Galle, Mirissa and the hill country, when the south-west is dry and the sea calm. Whale watching off Mirissa runs through this period, a contrast to the humpback season off Watamu.
The August break points the other way. With the south-west monsoon bringing rain to Colombo and Galle, Kenyans travelling then do better on the east coast around Trincomalee, Pasikudah and Arugam Bay. August can also include the Kandy Esala Perahera, the torchlit procession of elephants and dancers.
April is a compromise month. It is still pleasant on the south coast at the start, but mid-April brings Sinhala and Tamil New Year, when many Sri Lankan businesses close for several days and trains fill up. Kenyans leaving the long rains behind during the Easter break should book transport early.
A cultural point worth knowing: every full moon is a Poya day, a public holiday on which alcohol is not sold. Visitors used to a Tusker at sunset on the Kenyan coast should plan around those dates.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Kenya — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Many Kenyans carry three names, and the ID card, KRA records and passport do not always list them in the same sequence. The ETA must follow the passport exactly. Check which name sits in the surname line of the photo page and which appear as given names before typing anything.
Kenyans waiting for a new e-passport sometimes apply on the old booklet to save time. The authorisation stays with the old number, so travelling on the new passport means applying and paying again. Wait until the new document is in your hands.
Kenya and Sri Lanka do business in tea, and buyers or brokers visiting Colombo for meetings sometimes pick the tourist option out of habit. Meetings and negotiations fall under the business option. The wrong category can cause difficulty at the immigration desk.
Approvals normally take a day or two, not minutes. A Kenyan traveller who starts the form at the departure terminal risks being refused boarding by the airline. Apply once flights are booked, not on the day.
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 a High Commission in Nairobi, which also represents the country at the United Nations offices in Gigiri. Kenyan tourists do not need to go there for an ETA, since the application is made entirely online. The mission is the contact for matters the online ETA does not cover, such as media assignments or longer-term stays.
FAQs
The questions Kenyan passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes, Kenyan citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, often called a Sri Lanka visa, approved before they travel. It is applied for online, linked to the Kenyan passport number, and allows a 30-day tourist stay with two entries.
No. Kenya is not one of the 40 countries whose government charge has been waived, so the standard rate applies to Kenyan adults, with no government fee for children under 12. See the live prices shown on this page for current costs.
Thirty days from the date of first arrival. The ETA allows a second entry, but only within those same 30 days, so a side trip to the Maldives does not restart the count for Kenyan visitors.
There is no nonstop service. Kenyans usually fly via Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, or take Kenya Airways to Mumbai and connect. Total travel time from Nairobi is typically 11 to 14 hours depending on the layover.
At least three to five days before leaving Kenya, and two to three weeks ahead for December travel. Most approvals come within a day or two, though no timing can be promised for an individual Kenyan application.
Have a credit or debit card ready that your Kenyan bank has enabled for international online payments. If you normally pay by phone, ask your bank to confirm the card works for foreign transactions before you begin.
No. Meetings, negotiations, conferences and short training need the business option. The tourist ETA held by a Kenyan visitor covers holidays, family visits, medical or Ayurveda treatment, and sporting or cultural events only.
Use whichever passport you will actually travel on, and apply with that one. A Kenyan who also holds, for example, a British passport should check the fee position for each, because the ETA cannot be moved between them afterwards.
Your nationality is already set to Kenya. 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.
