Singaporeans now need an ETA for Sri Lanka, issued without a government charge under the reciprocal arrangement between the two countries. It allows 30 days and two entries, on a route that takes under four hours from Changi.
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 Singaporean citizens
Singapore passport holders must now hold an ETA to visit Sri Lanka. Under the reciprocal arrangement there is no government charge, but the authorisation is compulsory and our service fee applies; see the live prices shown on this page.
Overview
Colombo is less than four hours from Changi, closer than Tokyo or Perth, and Singaporeans treat Sri Lanka accordingly: a long-weekend escape to Galle, a week of safari and tea country in the school holidays, or a wellness retreat squeezed between projects. Older ties run deeper, through the Ceylonese families who settled in Singapore generations ago and the Sinhalese and Tamil temples they founded.
For years Singaporeans thought of Sri Lanka as a place you simply flew to. That assumption needs updating. Singapore passport holders must now hold an Electronic Travel Authorisation, the document often searched for as a Sri Lanka visa or e-visa, before a short visit.
The reciprocal arrangement between the two governments survives in the form that matters to your wallet: Sri Lanka makes no government charge for a Singaporean's ETA. The authorisation itself is not optional, and a service fee for our application assistance applies, as the live prices shown on this page explain.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes, they do now. A Singapore passport is among the most widely accepted in the world, so being asked for prior authorisation by a near neighbour catches regular visitors off guard. Have it approved before you head to Changi.
Leisure trips, visits to relatives, Ayurveda and yoga stays, and travel to play or watch sport are all tourist purposes. So is attending a family wedding as a guest, since visiting friends and relatives is covered. Each traveller needs to be included, down to infants on a family application.
Singapore is a significant base for regional management and investment, and a large share of travel on the route is commercial. Meetings, negotiations, conferences, workshops and training shorter than a month require the business option. Taking up employment or running your own business there is beyond any ETA.
Permanent residents of Singapore should note that the reciprocal arrangement belongs to the passport, not to the place of residence. A PR travelling on an Indian, Malaysian, British or other passport applies under that nationality's terms.
Stay & validity
The reciprocal arrangement gives Singaporeans a stay of 30 days. As with other tourist ETAs, two entries are allowed and both must fall inside the 30 days that start when you first arrive, with the second visit receiving the remainder.
The approval can be used for six months from issue, which suits Singaporeans who book June or December school-holiday travel far ahead. Where the approval's printed conditions say something more specific, follow those.
Sri Lanka requires six months of passport validity on arrival, the same margin Singaporeans already keep for trips to Malaysia or Indonesia. Passports issued to those aged 16 and over since October 2021 last ten years, but many five-year passports from before that date are still in use, as are five-year passports for younger children. For more than 30 days, an extension must be sought from the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla.
Pricing
Live fees for Singapore 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 Singapore
Requirements
Everything Singapore 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.
Singaporean applications are normally approved in a day or two. No turnaround is guaranteed, and three to five days before the flight is the minimum we recommend, even for a spontaneous long weekend.
Plan further ahead for the June and year-end school holidays and for long weekends created by Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, National Day and Deepavali. December also falls in Sri Lanka's high season, and an application made two weeks before departure removes one item from a crowded list.
With Singapore two and a half hours ahead of Colombo, most correspondence arrives within your working day. Reply promptly to any query; the short flight tempts travellers to apply late, and that is when a small delay becomes a missed departure.
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
Singapore is one of the best-connected cities in Asia for Sri Lanka. Singapore Airlines and SriLankan Airlines both fly nonstop between Changi and Colombo, with a flight time of a little under four hours and evening departures that suit a Friday getaway. Changi is also the transfer point many travellers from elsewhere in East Asia and Australia use to reach the island.
Best time to go
Singapore has no winter to escape, so the calendar, not the climate, decides when people go. The year-end school holidays from mid-November through December lead into the best months for Sri Lanka's south and west coasts; by late December Galle and Mirissa are dry and bright, and the highlands are far cooler than home.
The June school holidays fall in the south-west monsoon. Families who want beaches should turn to the east coast, where Pasikudah's shallow bay and Trincomalee are in season, or head inland for the Cultural Triangle and the rock fortress at Sigiriya.
The one-week breaks in March and September suit a short circuit. March is excellent almost everywhere on the island. September is drier in the east and around the ancient cities than on the Colombo side, and good for surf at Arugam Bay.
Vesak Day is a public holiday in both countries, and seeing it in Sri Lanka, with lanterns and illuminated displays in every town, is memorable. Remember that each monthly Poya day is a public holiday on which alcohol is not sold. The mid-April Sinhala and Tamil New Year is the other date when the country largely pauses.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Singapore — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Singaporeans long thought of Sri Lanka as a destination without advance formalities, and frequent visitors may not have noticed the change. An ETA is now required, and discovering this at the check-in counter is the most avoidable problem on the route.
The two numbers look similar and Singaporeans know the NRIC one by heart. Copy the passport number from the photo page each time, including for children.
Mixed-nationality households are common, with a citizen parent, a permanent-resident spouse and perhaps a foreign helper travelling together. Only Singapore passport holders fall under the reciprocal arrangement; everyone else is assessed on their own passport.
Because the flight is short, regional managers often fly in for a day of meetings and add a weekend. The purpose of the trip is still business, and the business option is the correct one to select.
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's High Commission in Singapore provides consular services and deals with visa categories that need advance clearance. Singaporeans applying for an ETA have no reason to call there, as the process is online and the approval is sent by email.
FAQs
The questions Singapore passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes, Singaporeans now need an ETA. Singapore citizens must hold an approved Electronic Travel Authorisation before a short visit to Sri Lanka, although no government charge is made under the reciprocal arrangement. It allows 30 days and two entries.
Not in the sense of travelling without authorisation. The reciprocal arrangement means Sri Lanka does not levy a government charge on Singaporeans, but an ETA must still be obtained in advance. Our service fee appears in the live prices shown on this page.
Thirty days from first arrival, with two entries permitted within that time. A longer stay needs an extension from the Department of Immigration and Emigration, applied for in Sri Lanka before the 30 days end.
No. It applies to holders of Singapore passports. Permanent residents apply according to the passport they travel on, and the fee treatment for that nationality may be different.
No. The application asks for your passport number, and the ETA is linked to it. Entering an NRIC number by mistake means making a fresh application.
Singapore Airlines and SriLankan Airlines both operate nonstop services from Changi, taking just under four hours. Check current timetables, as flight times and days vary by season.
It is risky. Many approvals arrive within a day or two, but none is guaranteed, and we advise applying at least three to five days before departure, however short the trip.
Yes. From infants upwards, each child goes on an application under the child's own Singapore passport. Check the expiry dates too, because passports for under-16s are issued for five years.
Your nationality is already set to Singapore. 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.
