Doha to Colombo is under five hours nonstop, and Qatari nationals need an ETA approved before boarding. A tourist ETA gives 30 days and double entry, with Sri Lanka's government charge waived for Qatari passport holders.
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
Qatari citizens travel more often, and at shorter notice, than almost any other nationality, and Hamad International puts Colombo within a single evening flight. Sri Lanka has become a regular choice for a four- or five-day break from Doha: close enough for a long weekend, different enough to feel like a proper change of scene.
The paperwork amounts to one item. Before you fly you need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, the ETA, which many travellers refer to loosely as a Sri Lanka visa or e-visa. Nothing is stuck into the passport; the approval is held electronically against the passport number and checked by the airline and by immigration in Colombo.
Qatar is among the 40 states whose citizens no longer pay Sri Lanka's government charge for a tourist ETA, a change that took effect on 25 May 2026. Our service fee for preparing and checking the application is separate, and the live prices shown on this page set it out. Since Qatari nationals are a minority of Qatar's population, a reminder: residents of other nationalities apply on the passport they hold, and the waiver may or may not reach them.
At a glance
Eligibility
A Qatari passport does not exempt its holder. Sri Lanka applies the ETA requirement to all foreign nationals, and the 2026 change touched the charge only. Whether you are going for a honeymoon in Galle, a surf week or a family holiday in the hills, the approval has to be in place before departure from Doha.
Tourism for these purposes is broadly defined. Holidays and sightseeing, time with friends or relatives, treatment or recuperation at an Ayurveda resort, yoga retreats, sports competitions and cultural performances all belong under the tourist ETA, which gives 30 days in the country.
Qatari business owners and officials should note the dividing line. A trip built around meetings, negotiations, a conference, a workshop or training lasting under a month calls for the business option. Journalism and media assignments, political activity and NGO work sit outside the online ETA entirely and require prior clearance from the Sri Lankan government.
Every person in the travelling party needs to appear in an application, babies included. Under-12s attract no government fee on a tourist ETA as a general rule, but they are not exempt from the authorisation. Where nannies or drivers accompany the family, their own nationality determines how they are charged.
Stay & validity
When the flight from Doha lands, a Qatari visitor is admitted for 30 days. The tourist ETA is double entry, and the important detail is that the 30 days do not pause when you leave. If you spend days twelve to sixteen in the Maldives, you come back with fourteen days remaining.
The authorisation can be obtained well ahead: it is valid for travel for six months after issue. For Qataris who decide on a Wednesday to leave on a Thursday, holding an approved ETA in advance is the difference between going and not going. Any condition printed on the approval overrides general guidance.
Check the passport before anything else. Six months of validity are needed on the date you land in Colombo, and a passport replaced for any reason after approval carries a new number that the ETA does not follow. In that case a new application is the only route.
Pricing
Live fees for Qatari 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 Qatar
Requirements
Everything Qatari 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.
Turnaround for Qatari applicants is normally a day or two. Normal is not guaranteed, and the advice is to apply at least three to five days before you intend to fly. That margin is the one thing the spontaneous Doha weekend traveller tends to skip.
Pressure points in the Qatari year include both Eids, the mid-year school break in late December and January, National Day on 18 December and the long summer closure. December is doubly busy because it is also peak season on Sri Lanka's south coast. For travel in those weeks, apply a fortnight ahead.
If you visit more than once a year, bear in mind that each trip needs a current authorisation and that the tourist ETA is not designed for frequent, successive stays that amount to living on the island. Apply afresh once the previous approval has been used or its six-month travel window has passed.
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
Doha is one of the principal gateways to Sri Lanka for the whole world, so Qataris have the luxury of a nonstop home-hub service several times a day. From Bandaranaike the capital is under an hour by road, and the expressway network continues south towards Galle and the beach resorts.
Best time to go
Qatar's cooler months, November to March, largely match the dry season on the Sri Lankan south and west coasts. This is the time for Galle, Tangalle and Mirissa, for whale watching offshore, and for the leopard parks at Yala and Wilpattu. The National Day and mid-year school holidays fall right in it.
From June to August Doha is at its hottest and most Qatari families are abroad for weeks at a time. Sri Lanka works well as one stop in a longer summer: the east coast resorts at Pasikudah and Trincomalee are dry, and the central highlands are cool, green and frequently wet.
Short breaks reward a narrow focus. With four days, base yourself either in the hill country around Kandy and Nuwara Eliya or on one stretch of coast, and avoid trying to do both. National Sport Day in February falls in high season if you can take leave around it.
The time difference is two and a half hours, Colombo ahead. Qatari visitors will find halal food standard in Muslim-run restaurants across the island and mosques in all the main towns. On Poya days, the monthly full-moon holidays, government offices close and many businesses shorten their hours.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Qatar — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
The Qatari short-notice trip is the commonest source of trouble. A flight can be booked in minutes; an ETA usually takes a day or two and occasionally longer. Travellers who book for the same night and apply from the lounge are the ones who end up rebooking.
Within the GCC the ID card is a travel document. For Sri Lanka it is not, and the ETA is attached to a passport number. Bring the passport you applied with, and check its expiry date against the six-month rule before you leave home.
Applications for senior family members are often filled in by office staff working from a booking record. Booking records abbreviate names and drop hyphens. The ETA must mirror the passport's Latin text, so the photo page itself should be in front of whoever is typing.
Delegations, company meetings and conference attendance are business purposes under Sri Lankan rules. A tourist approval does not cover them, even for a single day of meetings within a holiday. Choose the business option when any of those activities is planned.
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
The Sri Lankan embassy in Doha looks after one of the larger Sri Lankan communities in the Gulf and handles matters the online system does not. Tourist ETA applications from Qatari citizens are made and decided online, with no visit, call or document drop-off required.
FAQs
The questions Qatari passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes, Qatari citizens need an ETA, the electronic authorisation Sri Lanka requires from every foreign visitor, before travelling. It is obtained online ahead of the trip. The government charge for the tourist version has been waived for Qatari nationals since 25 May 2026, but the document remains compulsory.
Complete the online form with your passport details, arrival date and first address in Sri Lanka, review it carefully and pay. The approval arrives by email. You do not need to visit the embassy in Doha or send your passport anywhere.
Not the Sri Lankan government charge on a tourist ETA, which is waived for Qatari passports. A service fee applies when we prepare and submit the application for you. See the live prices shown on this page for what is currently payable.
It can be used to enter Sri Lanka within six months of being issued. Once you arrive, it permits a stay of 30 days with two entries, both of which have to fall inside those 30 days.
Those of your passport. A Qatar residence permit does not change how Sri Lanka treats you, so apply with the passport you hold and expect the government charge that goes with that nationality. This page describes the position for Qatari citizens specifically.
Only if your ETA is already approved or you can allow time for it. Most decisions come within a day or two, but there is no guaranteed turnaround, and we recommend three to five days. Frequent travellers often apply before they have fixed dates, since the approval is good for six months.
Yes. Roughly a tenth of Sri Lankans are Muslim, and halal restaurants and butchers are found in Colombo, Kandy, Galle and along the east coast. Large hotels are used to Gulf guests and can usually confirm their kitchen arrangements in advance.
An extension is possible but is not part of the ETA. It is requested in Sri Lanka from the Department of Immigration and Emigration, whose head office is in Battaramulla outside Colombo, before your 30 days run out.
Your nationality is already set to Qatar. 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.
