Tunisian passport holders travelling from Tunis-Carthage need an ETA approved before departure. The tourist version allows 30 days and two entries. Tunisia is not included in Sri Lanka's fee waiver, so Tunisian passports attract 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 Tunisian citizens
Tunisia is outside the group of 40 countries exempted from Sri Lanka's government charge on tourist ETAs. The standard rate applies to Tunisian passports; consult the live prices shown on this page.
Overview
Tunisia has no shortage of sand and sea, so Tunisians who fly as far as Sri Lanka are usually after something else: jungle, elephants, mountain railways and a tropical ocean. The island has become a popular honeymoon suggestion with agencies in Tunis and Sousse, frequently sold together with the Maldives, and it attracts independent travellers looking for an Asian trip that does not start with a consulate queue.
Sri Lanka asks every Tunisian citizen to hold an Electronic Travel Authorisation before arrival. On Tunisian travel pages it is nearly always labelled visa Sri Lanka or e-visa, which is close enough. The approval is requested online and delivered by email, and it is recorded against your passport number.
Tunisian passports are processed at the standard rate, because Tunisia was not part of the May 2026 waiver that lifted the government charge for 40 other nationalities. Here we set out the practical side for a Tunisian applicant: the five-year passport, the travel allowance and card question, dual nationality with France, Italy or Germany, and the connections available from Tunis.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes, Tunisians need one for every short visit. The Tunisian passport opens a fair number of borders without formalities, but Sri Lanka is not one of them, and the authorisation should be approved before you set off for the airport.
Choose the tourist ETA if you are going on holiday, touring the island, staying with friends or family, following an Ayurveda or yoga programme, or attending a sports or cultural event. Tunisian engineers, doctors and company representatives travelling for a conference, a workshop or commercial talks belong under the business option.
Paid work, unpaid work and freelance activity are all outside what a tourist ETA allows. Tunisian reporters and members of civil-society organisations should be aware that journalism, political activity and NGO work need advance approval from Sri Lanka's government and are not handled online.
A child needs a line of their own on the application, backed by their own passport. No government charge is taken for a child under 12 visiting as a tourist for up to 30 days.
Stay & validity
A Tunisian tourist is admitted for 30 days from first arrival and may enter twice. The second entry has to occur before the 30 days are up and is given only the balance. That suits the classic Tunisian honeymoon pattern of Sri Lanka first, a few nights in the Maldives, and a final night in Colombo before the flight home.
The approval can be used for a first entry at any time in the six months after it is granted.
Tunisian passports are valid for five years. Sri Lanka requires six months of validity remaining when you arrive, so check the date well before booking, and remember that a renewed passport means a new number and a new ETA. To remain beyond 30 days you must apply for an extension at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla, on the outskirts of Colombo, while your original stay is still running.
Pricing
Live fees for Tunisian 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 Tunisia
Requirements
Everything Tunisian 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.
Approvals for Tunisian applicants normally arrive within one to two days. We review the form against your passport scan first, concentrating on compound surnames and on the passport number. Unusual cases take longer, and no service can commit to a fixed time.
Submit at least three to five days before departure. Tunisia stays on the same time all year, four and a half hours behind Sri Lanka, and its summer working hours end in the early afternoon under the séance unique. If you need your bank to activate a card or release your travel allowance, that step can take longer than the ETA itself.
Apply earlier still for the July and August peak, for the winter school holidays in late December and for the Eid breaks. Wedding season in Tunisia runs through the summer, and honeymoon departures bunch up in the weeks that follow, so newly married couples should not leave the application until after the celebrations.
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
No carrier flies directly from Tunisia to Sri Lanka. From Tunis-Carthage the established one-stop routes are via Dubai, Doha and Istanbul, each with onward flights to Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake. Travellers living in Sfax, Sousse or Djerba generally begin with a road or domestic transfer to Tunis.
Best time to go
From December to March the south and west of Sri Lanka enjoy their dry season, which coincides with Tunisia's coolest months. A trip over the late-December school holiday or the mid-March break gives you beach weather at Mirissa and Tangalle, whale watching offshore, and clear views from the tea estates above Ella.
Tunisian summers are long, hot and busy with weddings, and many people can only get away in July or August. The south-west monsoon is blowing then, so swap coasts. The east, around Trincomalee and Pasikudah, has settled weather through to September, and surfers will find Arugam Bay at its best.
Honeymooners combining Sri Lanka with the Maldives should think about the order of the trip. In summer, start with the Cultural Triangle and the east coast; in winter, the south coast and the hills.
October and November fall between the two monsoons and bring unsettled afternoons everywhere. Prices and crowds are lower, and the ancient cities are perfectly visitable. Poya, the monthly full-moon holiday, closes some offices and bars for the day, and the New Year in mid-April empties the cities for the better part of a week.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Tunisia — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Tunisian travellers pay for foreign services through an international card tied to their annual travel allowance, and banks do not always issue or load one on the spot. An application stalls at payment if the card is not ready. Arrange it at the same time as you book flights.
Ben Youssef can turn into Benyoussef on an airline site that rejects spaces, and Bel Haj can become Belhaj. Follow the passport on the ETA form, then ask the airline to align the booking.
Tunisians with French, Italian or German nationality sometimes complete the form with the Tunisian number and then travel on the European passport out of habit. Those three European nationalities are covered by the waiver and Tunisia is not, so decide first, then use one passport from start to finish.
The 30 days do not pause when you fly to Malé. A couple who spend 24 days in Sri Lanka, a week in the Maldives and plan two last nights in Colombo will find the allowance has already run out on their return. Add up the whole trip, not just the Sri Lankan nights.
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 is represented in Tunisia by its embassy in Cairo, as there is no resident mission in Tunis. Tunisian travellers applying for an ETA will not need to contact it. The online process replaces any consular step, and only applications of a different kind, such as long-term residence or approval for media work, would be referred to a diplomatic mission.
FAQs
The questions Tunisian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes, Tunisians need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for Sri Lanka, the online approval widely known as the Sri Lanka visa. It must be obtained before travelling and permits a tourist stay of 30 days with two entries. Tunisian passports are charged the standard government rate.
No. The government charge was waived for 40 nationalities from 25 May 2026, and Tunisia is not on that list. Adults pay the standard government charge and our service fee, both included in the live prices shown on this page. Under-12s are not charged the government portion for tourist stays of up to 30 days.
Yes. The tourist ETA allows two entries, so you can leave for the Maldives and come back. Your return must fall within 30 days of your first arrival in Sri Lanka, and you receive only the days remaining.
Any credit or debit card that is enabled for international online payments. Domestic dinar cards are generally not, so most Tunisian applicants use the international card their bank links to the travel allowance. Confirm with the bank before starting.
At least six months from the date you arrive. Tunisian passports only last five years, so it is worth checking the expiry date before you book. Renewing after the ETA is issued means applying again.
There is no nonstop flight, so the choice is between connections in Dubai, Doha and Istanbul. Journey time is roughly 12 to 15 hours depending on the layover. Have the ETA approved before you go to the airport in Tunis.
Three to five days is the minimum we suggest, with more time in summer and at Eid. Decisions usually come within a day or two, but that is not guaranteed. The approval remains valid for a first arrival for six months.
It depends on the passport used. France and Italy are covered by the waiver of the government charge, so an application made on one of those passports is treated accordingly. An application on the Tunisian passport is processed at the standard rate.
Your nationality is already set to Tunisia. 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.
