Tajik citizens visiting Sri Lanka apply online for an ETA using the foreign-travel passport. The tourist authorisation covers 30 days with two entries, the standard government rate applies, and Dushanbe connects to Colombo through Dubai or Delhi.
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
Tajikistan and Sri Lanka could hardly look less alike. One is nine-tenths mountain with no coastline; the other is an island where the sea is never more than a few hours away. That contrast is the appeal for the small but growing number of Tajik travellers who make the trip, most of them from Dushanbe and Khujand and many combining it with a visit to relatives or business contacts in the Emirates.
To enter, a Tajik citizen needs an Electronic Travel Authorisation issued before the journey. You may see it described as a Sri Lanka e-visa, and for a tourist the two terms point to the same thing. Tajikistan is not covered by the government fee waiver Sri Lanka introduced for 40 countries, which places Tajik passports on the standard rate.
Official guidance in Tajik or Russian is scarce, and there is nobody in Dushanbe to ask in person. This guide therefore concentrates on the questions a Tajik applicant is most likely to have: which passport is needed, how to handle names that have changed spelling, when to apply, and how to get there.
At a glance
Eligibility
The answer for Tajik nationals is yes, always. Sri Lanka requires the ETA from every foreign visitor, and a Tajik passport holder who arrives at Dushanbe airport without one should expect the airline to decline to check them in.
As Tajikistan is not on the waiver list, the Sri Lankan government charge applies in full to adult Tajik applicants. A child below the age of twelve is treated differently, with no government fee on a tourist ETA of up to 30 days, although the child still has to appear on an application. Consult the live prices shown on this page for exact totals.
Choose the tourist option for a beach or sightseeing holiday, for time with friends, for Ayurvedic treatment or to watch a sporting event. Tajik merchants who buy tea, spices or garments, or anyone attending a conference or workshop, fall under the business option. Paid or unpaid work is not allowed on either.
A large share of Tajik citizens live and work in Russia for much of the year, and some hold a second passport. Apply with the passport you intend to hand to the immigration officer in Colombo. If that is the Tajik one, everything on this page applies to you regardless of where your flight begins.
Stay & validity
Tajik visitors may remain in Sri Lanka for 30 days on a tourist ETA. The period begins when you first pass through immigration and it continues to run if you leave the country, so a second entry, which the authorisation permits, brings you back only for what is left.
From the date of approval you have six months to travel. This gives room to wait for a convenient flight or to coordinate with family members coming from Russia, and the conditions stated on the approval itself are what officers will follow.
Sri Lanka insists on a passport valid for six months beyond the day of arrival. Tajik foreign passports are issued for ten years, so look at the expiry date if yours dates from the early years of biometric issue. To stay longer than the thirty days you would need to approach the Department of Immigration and Emigration, whose head office is at Battaramulla near Colombo, before the period expires.
Pricing
Live fees for Tajikistan 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 Tajikistan
Requirements
Everything Tajikistan 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.
Tajik applications are usually answered within a day or two. Because the procedure is electronic, it makes no difference that you are applying from Dushanbe, Khujand, Moscow or Yekaterinburg, and no original document leaves your hands.
Three to five days before departure is the latest we would advise submitting. Around Navruz, when Tajikistan has several consecutive days off, and across the New Year period, apply a week or two in advance so that an unexpected query does not collide with your flight date.
Double-check every field before paying. Tajik names have been respelled over the past two decades and it is easy to type the version you use day to day instead of the one in the passport; once payment is taken the only remedy is a fresh application.
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
There are no nonstop flights between Tajikistan and Sri Lanka. Dushanbe's most useful link is to Dubai, served daily or near-daily, with Delhi as a second option on the days it operates. Travellers from Khujand and the Sughd region generally begin by reaching Dushanbe or one of the larger hubs.
Best time to go
From December to March the west and south of Sri Lanka are dry and bright, and those are the months when Dushanbe is cold and mountain roads to the Pamirs are closed. For a Tajik family wanting warmth in winter, that season is the obvious choice, with Bentota, Hikkaduwa and Galle all in good condition.
Navruz, celebrated over several days from 21 March, is the main spring holiday in Tajikistan and falls inside the tail of that dry season. It is an excellent time to go: fares soften after the European winter rush, and the island is not yet into its own New Year festivities of mid-April.
If your leave falls in the Tajik summer, turn to the east coast. May to September is the fine-weather season at Trincomalee, Pasikudah and Arugam Bay, while the south-west has its monsoon. Dushanbe in July is hotter than anywhere on the island, though the Sri Lankan air is much more humid.
The clock change is half an hour forward. Tajik Muslim travellers will find halal restaurants and mosques without difficulty in Colombo, Kandy and the eastern towns; note too that Vesak in May and each monthly Poya are Buddhist public holidays when bars are shut and some services pause.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Tajikistan — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Many Tajiks have dropped Russian-style endings, and others have not, so one family can hold passports reading Rahimov and Rahimzoda. The form must mirror the passport of the individual traveller, not the family's preferred spelling.
The domestic passport has its own number and is the document people know by heart. Sri Lanka's authorisation is bound to the foreign-travel passport, and a number taken from the internal one makes the approval unusable.
Tajik citizens working in Russia sometimes discover only when booking a holiday that their foreign passport has lapsed or has under six months left. Renew first, then apply, because an ETA issued on the old passport does not carry over.
Some cards issued in Tajikistan are restricted to domestic transactions. A payment that fails repeatedly wastes days, so confirm international online use with your bank ahead of time.
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
Dushanbe has no Sri Lankan embassy; responsibility for Tajikistan rests with the High Commission in Islamabad. A Tajik holidaymaker will not need its services, given that the ETA is applied for and received online without any appointment.
FAQs
The questions Tajikistan passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Tajik citizens must hold an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), the online document often called a Sri Lanka visa, before they travel. It permits a tourist visit of 30 days and is applied for over the internet.
No. The waiver of the government charge covers 40 named countries and Tajikistan is not among them. Tajik adults pay the standard rate, while children under 12 are not charged the government fee for a tourist ETA of up to 30 days.
Only the foreign-travel passport. It must be valid for six months or more from the date you arrive, and it must be the same passport you carry on the trip, as the ETA is registered to its number.
Almost always with a change in Dubai, using flydubai or Somon Air for the first leg. Delhi and Istanbul are alternatives. Expect a total travel time of roughly ten to thirteen hours.
Enter whichever form is printed in the passport you will travel with. If you have renewed your passport under the new surname, any ETA obtained on the previous passport is no longer valid and you should apply again.
They can. The application is made online from any location, using the Tajik foreign passport. Russian registration or residence papers are not part of the process.
Twice. Both entries have to take place within 30 days of the first arrival, and the second entry does not extend the stay.
You would need an extension granted by the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla. Apply for it before your current permission ends; overstaying without one is a breach of the ETA conditions.
Your nationality is already set to Tajikistan. 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.
