Citizens of San Marino need an ETA approved before flying to Colombo, normally from Bologna with one connection. The tourist authorisation covers 30 days and two entries, and must match the passport you travel on.
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
San Marino is one of the smallest countries in the world, and the number of its citizens who visit Sri Lanka in a year would fit on a single coach. That does not make the rules any looser. A Sammarinese passport is its own nationality in Sri Lanka's system, distinct from an Italian one, and is processed accordingly.
Like all foreign nationals, citizens of the Republic need an Electronic Travel Authorisation before travelling. You may see it called a Sri Lanka visa, an e-visa or, in Italian-language guides, a visto elettronico; they all refer to the same online approval.
Here the border with Italy matters. Italian citizens are among the 40 nationalities whose government charge was waived in May 2026, while San Marino is not on that list and its passport holders pay the standard rate. The live prices shown on this page confirm the current cost for a San Marino passport.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes. A San Marino passport holder must have an ETA approved before departure, and since every journey starts at an Italian airport, it is Italian check-in staff, used mostly to Italian passports, who will look for it.
The tourist authorisation covers leisure travel in the broad sense: touring, beaches, wildlife, visiting friends, yoga and Ayurveda programmes, and attending or joining sporting or cultural events. Most Sammarinese visitors travel on Italian package tours and fall squarely within it.
For commercial trips, including meetings, trade negotiations, conferences and short training, the business option is the appropriate one. Working, whether paid or voluntary, is not permitted on a tourist ETA, and journalism, political activity and NGO work need prior approval that cannot be obtained through the online application.
Many people connected with San Marino hold Italian citizenship as well, and thousands of Sammarinese live abroad, notably in Italy, the United States, France and Argentina. In every case the application must use the nationality and number of the passport that will be shown in Colombo.
Stay & validity
The stay granted to a Sammarinese tourist is 30 days, beginning on the day of first entry. Italian tour programmes typically last nine to fourteen days, so the limit is rarely tested.
A tourist ETA allows two entries. An itinerary that leaves Sri Lanka for the Maldives and then returns to Colombo for the homeward flight is permitted, as long as you are back within the original 30 days, of which only the remainder is given on re-entry.
You can travel at any time in the six months following approval. That is useful if you book through an Italian agency many months ahead, though you should always check the specific conditions shown on your approval.
If you wish to stay on, an extension must be sought from the Department of Immigration and Emigration at Battaramulla, near Colombo, while your initial permission is still current.
Pricing
Live fees for San Marino 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 San Marino
Requirements
Everything San Marino 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.
A Sammarinese application is ordinarily approved within one or two days. Submit it at least three to five days before your flight, as there is no guaranteed turnaround and a transfer to Bologna or Rome in the small hours leaves no time for surprises.
Apply earlier if you are travelling in August, when Ferragosto empties both San Marino and the surrounding Romagna, or over Christmas and Epiphany. These are the weeks when Italian airports are busiest and Sri Lanka's most popular hotels fill.
Passports are issued by the Republic's own authorities, and a replacement brings a new number. If yours is due to run out within six months of your landing date, renew it before you apply so that the authorisation is attached to the document you will actually carry.
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
San Marino has no airport, so travel to Sri Lanka starts with a drive into Italy. Bologna, about an hour and a half away by road, is the most practical gateway and has one-stop connections to Colombo through Dubai and Istanbul. Rimini's small airport on the coast below the Republic has limited services, and some travellers prefer Venice or Rome for a wider choice of flights.
Best time to go
Winters on Monte Titano are cold and often foggy, and the weeks from December to March are when Sri Lanka's west and south coasts and its tea-growing highlands are driest. A departure after the Feast of Saint Agatha on 5 February, when prices ease after the holidays, is a sound choice.
August is when most Sammarinese take time off. The south-west of Sri Lanka is wet then, but the east coast is in season, and the Kandy Esala Perahera, held in July or August, gives a summer trip a memorable focus. Returning before the national day on 3 September is easy on a two-week itinerary.
Spring and autumn each have a catch. Mid-April brings the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, a family holiday during which much of the country pauses, and October to November is the inter-monsoon period, with showers possible anywhere on the island.
San Marino keeps the same time as Italy, putting Sri Lanka four and a half hours ahead in winter and three and a half in summer. Flights from Bologna via the Gulf usually arrive in Colombo early in the day, so a hotel that allows early check-in is worth arranging.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from San Marino — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Application menus list San Marino separately, but applicants and agents accustomed to Italian customers sometimes pick Italy out of habit. The nationality must correspond to the passport, and an approval issued under the wrong country will not match at check-in.
Friends across the border in Rimini travel under the waiver given to Italian citizens. A Sammarinese passport is charged the standard government rate, so costs within one travelling group can differ.
Dual Sammarinese-Italian citizens occasionally book flights with one passport and apply with the other. Pick one document for the whole trip. If it is the Italian one, apply as an Italian national from the outset.
The identity card is what residents of San Marino use for almost every journey, which makes its number the one that comes to mind. Sri Lanka's authorisation is linked exclusively to a passport number.
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
San Marino is covered by Sri Lanka's embassy in Rome, there being no mission in the Republic itself. Sammarinese tourists will not need it for an ETA, which is requested and received online without visiting an office. It remains the point of contact for consular issues that the online process does not address.
FAQs
The questions San Marino passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Citizens of San Marino need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, the online permit widely called a Sri Lanka visa, approved before they travel. The tourist ETA gives 30 days in the country and two entries.
No. They are separate nationalities. Italy is covered by the waiver of the government charge that began on 25 May 2026 and San Marino is not, so a Sammarinese passport holder pays the standard rate. Both nationalities need the ETA itself.
Either is acceptable, but you must apply with the passport you will present in Colombo and use it for the entire journey. The government charge depends on that passport's nationality, and the live prices shown on this page reflect the difference.
Bologna is the closest major airport to San Marino and has one-stop routes via Dubai and Istanbul. Venice and Rome offer additional options through Doha and Abu Dhabi. There is no nonstop flight from Italy's Adriatic side.
No. A passport is required, and it must remain valid for at least six months from the day you arrive in Sri Lanka. The ETA cannot be issued against an identity card.
Thirty days from first arrival, with a second entry allowed during that period. Staying longer requires an extension from the Sri Lankan immigration department, applied for before the 30 days expire.
Yes, each Sammarinese child must be included in an application with their own passport details. Children under 12 are not charged the government fee for a tourist stay of up to 30 days, though they still need the authorisation.
Apply three to five days before you leave San Marino at the very least, and earlier for August or Christmas travel. Approval usually takes a day or two, but there is no fixed processing time.
Your nationality is already set to San Marino. 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.
