Syrian passport holders, whether leaving from Damascus or from a home in the Gulf, Turkey or Egypt, need an approved ETA before flying to Colombo. It allows 30 days and two entries at the standard government rate.
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 Syrian citizens
Syria is not included in Sri Lanka's 40-country waiver of the tourist ETA government charge. Syrian passports are charged the standard rate; see the live prices shown on this page.
Overview
Syrians know better than most how few countries let them apply for entry without an embassy interview and a thick file of supporting papers. Sri Lanka is one of the exceptions. Its Electronic Travel Authorisation is requested online in a few minutes, and that simplicity has put the island on the map for Syrian honeymooners, families and professionals working abroad.
A large share of applicants do not live in Syria at all. They are engineers in Dubai, doctors in Riyadh, shop owners in Istanbul or students in Cairo, travelling on Syrian passports from wherever they have settled. The rules follow the passport, so this page applies to all of them equally.
You will hear the ETA called a Sri Lanka visa or e-visa, which is close enough in everyday speech. Syria is not on the list of countries whose government charge was waived in 2026, so the standard rate is payable. We explain below what the authorisation permits and which details of a Syrian passport deserve a second look.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes. Every Syrian national needs an ETA issued before travel for a short visit. Holding a residence permit from the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey or a European state does not replace it, though such a permit may matter for getting back to where you live.
The tourist type covers holidays, honeymoons, visits to friends and relatives, Ayurveda and other medical stays, and attendance at sporting or cultural events. A week split between the beaches and the tea hills, the kind of trip most Syrians book, needs nothing more.
If you are going for commercial meetings, to negotiate a contract, or to attend a conference, workshop or short training course, apply under the business option instead. Syrian textile and food traders exploring suppliers should choose it even when the visit is brief.
Employment and self-employment are ruled out on a tourist ETA, and so is using repeated entries as a way of residing in Sri Lanka. The authorisation is for genuine short visits. Journalism, political activity and NGO work require advance approval from the Sri Lankan government and are not handled online.
Stay & validity
On a tourist ETA a Syrian visitor may remain for 30 days from first arrival and enter twice. Leaving for the Maldives and coming back through Colombo is permitted, but the return does not restart the count; you receive the unused days.
An approved ETA may be used for a first entry during the six months after issue. Whatever conditions appear on your own approval take precedence over general descriptions such as this one.
Passport validity needs special attention. Standard Syrian passports last six years, but many issued through consulates abroad run for only two and a half, and Sri Lanka requires six months beyond your arrival date. A booklet that looks recent can already be too close to expiry. Renewal brings a new number and therefore a new application.
Should you wish to stay past 30 days, the request goes to the Department of Immigration and Emigration at Battaramulla, near Colombo, while your existing permission is still valid.
Pricing
Live fees for Syrian 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 Syria
Requirements
Everything Syrian 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.
Syrian applications are usually resolved within one or two days. We compare each entry with the passport scan before submission, watching for transliteration differences and expiry dates that fall short. Some applications take longer, and no fixed time can be promised.
Apply three to five days before departure as a minimum. Damascus is two and a half hours behind Colombo all year. If you live in the Gulf, remember that a Friday application reaches Sri Lanka just before its own weekend begins.
Leave additional time ahead of the two Eid holidays and in July and August, when Syrian families abroad travel most. If your passport is being renewed through a consulate, which can be slow, wait until you physically have the new one.
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
Syrians living in the Gulf have the easiest journey, with direct flights to Colombo from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh and Kuwait. From Syria itself, international services at Damascus have been rebuilt since 2025, and connections via Doha, Dubai and Istanbul are again possible, although timetables remain changeable. Some travellers still prefer to start from Beirut or Amman. Confirm the current schedule before paying for anything.
Best time to go
Winters in Damascus and Aleppo are properly cold, and December to March is when Sri Lanka's south and west coasts are driest. The mid-year school holiday in January suits a trip to Bentota, Galle and the hill country. Honeymooners from the Gulf favour the same months for the calm sea and clear evenings.
The long school summer, June to early September, is when most Syrian families can travel together. Rain falls on the south-west then, so base yourself on the east coast at Trincomalee or Pasikudah. Inland, Kandy holds its Esala Perahera in July or August, ten nights of processions.
Eid breaks move through the year. In the December to April half of the calendar, choose the south and west; in the May to September half, the east. Mid-April's Sinhala and Tamil New Year closes many businesses for a few days, something to bear in mind if Eid happens to fall near it.
Spring and autumn visitors should expect short, heavy showers, particularly in October and November. These are good months for Sigiriya, Dambulla and a safari at Yala. Sri Lanka observes a public holiday at every full moon, known as Poya, when alcohol sales stop and some restaurants close early.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Syria — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
A Syrian passport obtained through a consulate may expire after two and a half years, and holders often assume it has the full six. Add six months to your arrival date and compare the result with the expiry printed on the page. If it falls short, the airline will refuse boarding however valid the ETA is.
Syrian passports often follow French transliteration, giving Chami where an English speaker would write Shami, or Mouhamad instead of Mohammed. Applicants living in English-speaking environments sometimes correct these without thinking. Do not. The form and the ticket must show the passport's spelling, however unusual it looks.
Syrian documents commonly record a person as given name, father's name and surname, and many people write all three out of habit. If the passport's given-name field contains just one name, enter just that one. The parents' names shown separately are background information.
This page concerns Syrian national passports. Syrians who have naturalised in Germany, Sweden or elsewhere and travel on that country's passport follow that nationality's rules instead, which may include the fee waiver. If you hold a travel document issued by another state, ask us before applying, because it is not treated as a Syrian passport.
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
There is no Sri Lankan embassy in Damascus. Syria is covered by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Beirut, whose ambassador is also accredited to Damascus. Syrians applying for an ETA do not need to cross into Lebanon or contact the embassy, since the application is made online from any country. The Beirut mission is relevant only to visas and permissions beyond the ETA.
FAQs
The questions Syrian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes, Syrian citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), the online entry permission often called a Sri Lanka visa, and it must be granted before travel. It gives tourists 30 days and two entries. Syria is outside the fee waiver, so the standard government rate is charged.
Yes. The ETA is applied for entirely online, with the result sent by email. No interview, embassy appointment or posting of your passport is involved, which is why many Syrians find Sri Lanka easier to plan than other destinations.
You can apply from any country. Use your Syrian passport details and give your current address. Your UAE residence does not change the government charge, which is set by nationality, but keep the residence visa valid for your return.
Only if fewer than six months will remain on the day you land in Sri Lanka. Check the expiry date against your arrival date before applying. If it is too close, renew first and apply with the new passport number.
A tourist ETA allows 30 days from first arrival, with two entries inside that period. The second entry is given the remaining days only. Longer stays depend on an extension from Sri Lanka's immigration department.
No. The waiver introduced on 25 May 2026 covers 40 named countries and Syria is not among them. Children under 12 are the exception, as no government charge is taken for them on a tourist stay of up to 30 days.
From the Gulf there are nonstop flights to Colombo. From Damascus you connect through Doha, Dubai or Istanbul, and some travellers depart from Beirut or Amman. Schedules from Syria are still settling, so check them close to booking.
Always as the passport shows it. If your passport uses a French-influenced spelling, copy that exactly on the application and on your flight booking, even if you normally write your name differently.
Your nationality is already set to Syria. 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.
