Senegalese travellers need an ETA before flying from Dakar to Colombo. The application is online and in English, the stay is 30 days with two entries, and the approval is linked to your biometric passport.
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
From Dakar, Sri Lanka lies on the far side of two oceans' worth of flying, and the Senegalese who go are a small, varied group: couples looking for an alternative to Mauritius, surfers curious about waves beyond Ngor and Ouakam, professionals posted to the Gulf who add a week on the island, and members of the diaspora in France or Italy taking a long-haul holiday. Each of them needs the same travel authorisation.
In French-language searches it usually appears as visa Sri Lanka or e-visa, yet the official name is Electronic Travel Authorisation, shortened to ETA. For a Senegalese tourist it does the job a visa would do, without a consular appointment. Approval comes by email and is stored against the number of your passport.
Because the form is completed in English and Senegal's administrative language is French, small translation slips cause a disproportionate share of problems. This guide explains the rules as they apply to a Senegalese passport and points out where those slips happen, alongside routes from Blaise Diagne airport and advice on timing a trip around Senegal's calendar.
At a glance
Eligibility
Senegalese nationals are required to obtain an ETA for any short stay in Sri Lanka, and to have it approved ahead of the journey. Since every itinerary from Dakar involves a transfer, the first airline you check in with will want to see that the authorisation exists before issuing boarding passes to Colombo.
On cost, Senegal is treated as a standard-rate country. The list of forty nationalities relieved of the government charge from 25 May 2026 does not include it, and no reciprocal or regional concession applies. You pay that government rate plus our service fee, both of which appear in the live prices shown on this page.
Tourism in the broad sense is what the tourist ETA is for: beaches, wildlife parks, the ancient cities, seeing friends, a yoga or Ayurveda stay, or competing in a sporting event. Senegalese business travellers going for meetings, negotiations, a seminar or a short training placement should choose the business option. Journalism and NGO assignments are different again and need prior clearance from the Sri Lankan government, which the online system cannot give.
A good number of Senegalese hold a second nationality, most often French, Italian or Spanish. France, Italy and Spain all fall within the waiver, so the charge depends on which passport you nominate. Choose one document, apply with it and travel with it; a French residence permit held alongside a Senegalese passport changes nothing, as residence is not what Sri Lanka assesses.
Stay & validity
The tourist ETA grants a Senegalese visitor 30 days, starting when you first pass through immigration. It may be used for two entries, both of which must happen inside that window. Someone combining Sri Lanka with a few nights in the Maldives would re-enter on the unexpired portion, with no fresh 30 days added.
There is a six-month period after issue in which to make your first arrival. Senegalese travellers who book far ahead to secure reasonable fares on a long routing can therefore apply as soon as flights are confirmed. Read the approval itself for the exact terms, since those printed conditions are decisive.
Senegalese ordinary passports are issued for five years, which makes the six-month rule easier to breach than with a ten-year document. Count from your planned arrival in Colombo, not from the day you apply. If the passport will be renewed before you leave, hold off on the ETA until you have the new booklet and its number.
Pricing
Live fees for Senegalese 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 Senegal
Requirements
Everything Senegalese 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.
Applications from Senegal are normally answered inside one to two days, though no fixed turnaround can be guaranteed. Lodge yours three to five days before leaving at the very least. Given how long and costly the journey from Dakar is, most people prefer to settle it a couple of weeks ahead.
Be aware of holidays in both countries. Offices in Senegal slow down around Tabaski, Korité and the Grand Magal of Touba, which can delay a bank's response if your card needs unblocking. In Sri Lanka, the April New Year, Vesak in May and each month's Poya day reduce working time.
Dakar keeps Greenwich Mean Time all year, putting Colombo five and a half hours ahead. A submission made after lunch in Senegal lands in the Sri Lankan evening, so it is effectively dealt with a day later. Morning applications tend to move fastest.
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
Senegal has no nonstop link to Sri Lanka. The practical choices from Blaise Diagne International are a single connection in Dubai or Istanbul, or a two-stop itinerary through Paris or Casablanca that continues via the Gulf. Passengers from Saint-Louis, Ziguinchor or Cap Skirring begin with a domestic flight or road transfer to the capital's airport.
Best time to go
Senegal's dry season from November to May overlaps with the prime months for Sri Lanka's south and west, December to March. It is the obvious period for a first visit: the sea is settled at Unawatuna and Bentota, the roads into the tea country are clear, and Sigiriya can be climbed without afternoon downpours.
During the hivernage, when rain and heat build over Senegal from July to October, Sri Lanka's east coast is at its best. Senegalese surfers will recognise the appeal of Arugam Bay, a long right-hand point break that works from May to September, and the lagoons of Pasikudah suit families on the grandes vacances.
Muslim visitors, who make up most Senegalese travellers, will find mosques in every sizeable town and halal restaurants widely available, thanks to Sri Lanka's long-settled Muslim community. If your trip falls in Ramadan, hotels in Colombo and on the east coast are accustomed to arranging early and late meals.
The climate will feel more humid than Dakar's ocean breeze, and the hill country is properly cool at night. Note too that alcohol sales stop on Poya full-moon days, and that the Kandy Esala Perahera in July or August fills hotels in the city well in advance.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Senegal — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
French-language documents put the family name first, and many Senegalese fill forms that way by habit. On an English form the given-name box may come first. Read each label, and make sure Diop, Fall or Sow ends up under surname.
Characters such as é, è and ï are not used in the machine-readable lines of a passport. Typing Sène with its accent, or pasting a name from a French document, risks a mismatch with what the scanner reads at the airport.
Translating quickly, some applicants select business because they are employed, or tourist when they are attending a seminar. The question is about what you will do in Sri Lanka, not your occupation in Senegal.
With only five years of validity, Senegalese passports spend a larger share of their life inside the final six months. An airline will refuse boarding at Dakar if the document falls short on the arrival date, whatever the ETA says.
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
Dakar has no Sri Lankan embassy, and Senegal is covered from a mission elsewhere on the continent. None of this affects a tourist, since the ETA never requires an in-person step. Contact a mission only for categories that need government approval in advance, and verify current accreditation with Sri Lanka's foreign ministry before writing.
FAQs
The questions Senegalese passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Senegalese citizens must hold an Electronic Travel Authorisation, the online permission widely referred to as a Sri Lanka visa, before travelling. For tourism it allows 30 days and two entries and is attached to the passport you apply with.
Entries are made in English, using Latin letters without accents. You do not need fluent English, because most answers are names, dates and numbers copied from the passport. Our team checks the details before submission, which helps catch translation slips.
No. Senegal is not among the forty countries covered by the waiver that began in May 2026, so the standard government rate applies. The amount payable is displayed in the live prices shown on this page.
Those for Senegalese nationals, as long as you travel on a Senegalese passport. A titre de séjour does not alter your category. Only if you also hold French nationality and use the French passport would the waiver for France come into play.
With at least one change of aircraft. Dubai and Istanbul are the usual connecting points, and total journey time is commonly between 18 and 22 hours. Allow a comfortable transfer, as a missed connection on this routing can cost a full day.
At least six months from the date you enter the country. Because Senegalese passports last five years, check this early and renew first if necessary, then apply for the ETA with the new number.
Sri Lankan health officials request one from passengers coming from yellow fever risk countries, and Senegal is on that list. It is a health control and not part of the ETA, so bring your international vaccination booklet as well as the approval.
An extension can be requested in Sri Lanka from the Department of Immigration and Emigration, whose head office is at Battaramulla near Colombo. Apply before your permitted stay ends, and do not assume it will be granted.
Your nationality is already set to Senegal. 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.
