Moroccan passport holders need an ETA approved online before flying to Colombo from Casablanca. It grants 30 days and two entries, and Morocco is not part of Sri Lanka's fee waiver, so the standard government rate applies.
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 Moroccan citizens
Moroccan passports fall outside Sri Lanka's 40-country waiver of the tourist ETA government charge, so the standard rate is applied. Current totals appear in the live prices shown on this page.
Overview
Sri Lanka sits a long way east of the usual Moroccan holiday map, yet it is turning up more often in the plans of Moroccan honeymooners and of young professionals from Casablanca and Rabat who have already done Bali or Thailand. What draws them is variety in a small space: surf beaches, misty tea hills, Buddhist temples and safari parks, all within a few hours of each other by road or rail.
A Moroccan citizen cannot simply turn up. Sri Lanka requires an Electronic Travel Authorisation from every foreign visitor, and in Morocco you will generally hear it called the visa Sri Lanka or the e-visa. Whatever the name, it is an online approval obtained before departure, with no file to deposit at a consulate.
Because Morocco is not on the list of 40 nationalities whose government charge was lifted in May 2026, Moroccan passports are processed at the standard rate. Below we cover what matters for a Moroccan applicant in particular: the five-year passport, French-style spellings of Arabic and Amazigh names, and the choice facing Moroccans who also hold a European passport.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes, without exception. Morocco and Sri Lanka have no arrangement that lets Moroccans enter on a passport alone, so the ETA must be in place before you leave home. Airlines at Casablanca will look for it when you check in for the first leg.
For a holiday, a family visit, a yoga or Ayurveda retreat, or a trip built around a sporting or cultural event, the tourist ETA is the right choice. Moroccan exporters and buyers heading to trade meetings, or professionals attending a conference or a short training course, need the business option and should select it at the first step.
The tourist ETA does not permit employment of any kind, including unpaid placements, nor self-employed activity such as selling goods or services while on the island. Reporting, filming for broadcast, political activity and NGO projects require prior clearance from the Sri Lankan authorities and are outside the online system.
Moroccan children are included in the same application as their parents, each with their own passport details. Sri Lanka does not collect its government charge for a child under 12 on a tourist stay of up to 30 days.
Stay & validity
Moroccan visitors receive 30 days on a tourist ETA, starting on the date of first arrival, with two entries allowed. Both entries need to fall within those 30 days. A side trip to the Maldives or southern India is possible in the middle of the stay, but re-entry gives you the unused remainder and nothing more.
The authorisation can be used for a first arrival during the six months after approval, which leaves plenty of room to apply in spring for a summer departure.
Morocco's biometric passport is valid for only five years, and Sri Lanka insists on six months remaining when you land. Renewal produces a new passport number, and an ETA granted on the previous one cannot be carried over. For stays beyond 30 days, an extension has to be requested from the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla, outside Colombo, before your permitted stay ends.
Pricing
Live fees for Moroccan 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 Morocco
Requirements
Everything Moroccan 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.
We usually see Moroccan applications approved in one to two days. Before submission we compare the form with the passport scan, looking mainly for spelling drift between French and English versions of a name. A decision can take longer without warning.
Give yourself a minimum of three to five days before the flight. Morocco keeps its clocks at one hour ahead of GMT for most of the year, which puts Colombo four and a half hours ahead, and the gap grows to five and a half during Ramadan when Morocco moves its clocks back.
July and August, when Moroccans living abroad come home and domestic demand for flights peaks, are the months to apply earliest, along with the days before Eid. If you are waiting on a passport renewal, do not start the ETA until the new booklet has been issued.
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
There is no nonstop service linking Morocco with Sri Lanka. The practical routes run from Casablanca Mohammed V to a Gulf hub or Istanbul and then on to Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake. It is a long day whichever way you go, with a first sector of six to eight hours.
Best time to go
Morocco's own winter is mild on the coast and cold in the Atlas, and it is also the dry season on Sri Lanka's south-west side. Between December and March the beaches from Negombo round to Tangalle are at their calmest and the hill country around Nuwara Eliya is clear enough for long walks.
Summer is when most Moroccan families can travel for longer, and it is the wet season in Colombo and Galle. Go east instead. From May to September Trincomalee and Pasikudah have reliable sunshine, and Arugam Bay is in full surf season, which will interest anyone who learned to ride waves at Taghazout.
Ramadan and the two Eids move earlier each year. Sri Lanka has a sizeable Muslim community, so halal food is easy to find in Colombo, Kandy and along the coast, and travelling during the fasting month is quite manageable.
The weeks of October and November are changeable across the island. They are better for the rock fortress at Sigiriya and the ruins of Polonnaruwa than for sunbathing. Poya days, at every full moon, are public holidays when some services close.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Morocco — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Many Moroccans hold a second nationality from France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands or Italy, all of which are covered by Sri Lanka's waiver. Whichever passport you enter is the one you must present at every stage.
Youssef and Yusuf, Mohammed and Mohamed, Khadija and Khadidja: Moroccan civil records, bank cards and frequent-flyer accounts do not always agree. The passport data page is the only reference that counts.
With a five-year passport and a six-month validity rule, a Moroccan booklet issued in early 2022 is already unusable for a trip in late 2026. Check the expiry date before paying for flights, and apply for the ETA after any renewal, not before.
Moroccan bank cards generally work in dirhams until the holder activates an allowance for foreign-currency purchases online. If that step has been skipped, the payment fails at the last screen and the application is not submitted.
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 Rabat; its ambassador in Cairo is concurrently accredited to Morocco. For an ETA this makes no practical difference, since Moroccan applicants never need to send documents to Egypt or attend in person.
FAQs
The questions Moroccan passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes, Moroccans need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before travelling to Sri Lanka, and this is what most people mean by a Sri Lanka visa. It is applied for online and allows a 30-day tourist stay with two entries. Morocco is not covered by the fee waiver, so the standard government charge applies.
Yes, you may apply with either nationality, and France and Spain are both among the countries whose government charge is waived. The passport you choose must then be used for check-in, arrival and departure, and it needs six months of validity from the day you land.
The tourist ETA gives 30 days from first arrival. You can leave and come back once during that time, but the 30 days keep running while you are away. A longer stay needs an extension granted in Battaramulla by the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
There is no Sri Lankan embassy in Rabat or Casablanca, and you do not need one. The ETA is issued online. Morocco is covered diplomatically from the Sri Lankan embassy in Cairo, which deals with matters other than tourist authorisations.
With one change of aircraft, usually in Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Istanbul. Total travel time from Casablanca is commonly between 15 and 18 hours.
No later than three to five days before departure, and a couple of weeks ahead in July, August and around Eid. Approval normally arrives within a day or two but cannot be promised. Once issued, the ETA remains valid for a first entry for six months.
Children under 12 are exempt from Sri Lanka's government charge on a tourist visit of up to 30 days, whatever their nationality. They must still be listed on the application with their own Moroccan passport.
No. Meetings, negotiations, conferences and short training courses fall under the business option, and the tourist ETA does not cover them.
Your nationality is already set to Morocco. 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.
