A Turkmen passport holder needs an ETA approved before flying to Sri Lanka. It gives 30 days and two entries for tourism; the practical hurdles are usually a working international card, a reliable email inbox and a connection through Dubai.
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
Very few people travel between Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka, and those who do are a mixed group: Ashgabat families taking a rare long-haul holiday, students and workers based in Turkey or the Emirates adding a beach week to a trip home, and the occasional athlete or official delegation. For all of them the island offers something the Karakum cannot, namely green hills, rain-fed forests and open ocean.
The document required is an Electronic Travel Authorisation, requested online and approved ahead of travel. It is what search results mean by a Sri Lanka visa for tourists. Turkmenistan does not appear on Sri Lanka's list of 40 fee-waived nationalities, so Turkmen passports are charged at the standard rate.
For a Turkmen applicant the rules themselves are simple; the difficulties are practical ones, such as paying online, receiving the approval email and matching the special letters of the Turkmen alphabet. Those are the subjects this page spends most time on.
At a glance
Eligibility
No Turkmen citizen is exempt. Whether you set out from Ashgabat, Türkmenabat, Istanbul or Dubai, an approved ETA has to be linked to your passport before the airline will take you to Colombo.
The standard government charge is collected from Turkmen nationals, with the usual concession for children under twelve on a tourist ETA of up to 30 days. Do not be misled by reports about free ETAs: they concern other countries. The live price panel on this page shows the current amounts.
Holidays, visits to acquaintances, medical or Ayurveda stays and participation in sports competitions are tourist purposes. If you are sent by an employer or ministry to a meeting, seminar or short training course, that is business, and the business option should be selected even when the host is covering your costs.
Turkmen citizens who study or work abroad sometimes hold a residence permit for Turkey, Russia or the UAE. It has no effect on Sri Lanka's requirement. The application is based on your Turkmen nationality and on the passport that will be stamped at the border.
Stay & validity
On a tourist ETA a Turkmen visitor is allowed 30 days in Sri Lanka, starting from the first arrival. Two entries are permitted within that span; re-entering after a short trip elsewhere does not lengthen it.
The authorisation may be used at any time during the six months following approval. Given how far ahead travel from Turkmenistan often has to be organised, this window is useful, though you should apply only once you are sure which passport you will carry.
Count six months forward from your intended arrival and make sure the Turkmen passport is still valid on that date. If it will be renewed in the meantime, wait and apply with the new one. Stays past the initial period are possible only with an extension from the Department of Immigration and Emigration at its Battaramulla head office near Colombo.
Pricing
Live fees for Turkmenistan 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 Turkmenistan
Requirements
Everything Turkmenistan 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.
A decision for a Turkmen applicant typically takes a day or two. Nothing is sent by post and no visit to a foreign embassy is needed, which removes what would otherwise be a serious obstacle for residents of Turkmenistan.
We suggest applying at least a week ahead in this case, even though three to five days is the general minimum. Email delivery and card payments can both be less predictable from Turkmenistan, and the extra days give you time to resolve either without touching your flight.
Ask a relative abroad to help if that is easier. A family member in Istanbul or Dubai can complete the form on your behalf, provided every detail is taken from your own passport and you receive a copy of the approval to carry with you.
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 direct air service connects Turkmenistan with Sri Lanka. Ashgabat's flights to Dubai provide the simplest transfer, and Turkmenistan Airlines' Delhi service offers a second path when schedules match. From Türkmenabat, Mary or Daşoguz you would first take a domestic flight to the capital.
Best time to go
Turkmenistan's summers are among the hottest anywhere, yet its winters are cold enough to make December to March the natural time to look for sea and sun. Those four months are the dry season on Sri Lanka's west and south coasts, with temperatures around thirty degrees and calm water for swimming.
The Nowruz holiday on 21 and 22 March sits conveniently at the end of that season. Travelling then, you will find the southern beaches less crowded than in January and can still expect good weather in Kandy and the highlands.
Should your trip fall between May and September, book the eastern side of the island. Pasikudah and Nilaveli have shallow, sheltered bays that suit families who are not strong swimmers, and the weather there is dry while Colombo is wet. After an Ashgabat summer the temperature will feel mild, but the humidity will not.
The time difference is thirty minutes, Sri Lanka ahead. Visitors used to Turkmen cuisine should know that Sri Lankan food is considerably spicier, that rice replaces bread at most meals, and that on monthly Poya days and at Vesak in May alcohol is not sold anywhere in the country.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Turkmenistan — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
The application is completed in plain English characters. A name such as Annagulyýew or Myrat Çaryýew must be entered the way the two lines of capitals at the bottom of the passport page show it, not with ý, ç or ň pasted in.
A card that works in Ashgabat shops may be refused online by a foreign merchant. Test it or arrange an alternative before you fill in the form, so the session does not expire while you look for another way to pay.
The approval goes only to the address entered. If that mailbox is slow or unreachable from your connection, you may be approved without knowing it. Use an account you have checked that same week.
Delegations to conferences, training programmes and sports meetings are common reasons for Turkmen citizens to travel. Apart from taking part in a competition, such visits are business purposes and need the business option.
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 for Turkmenistan by its embassy in Tehran, as there is no mission in Ashgabat. Turkmen tourists are not expected to travel there or write to it: the ETA is an online process from start to finish.
FAQs
The questions Turkmenistan passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Turkmen citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before travelling to Sri Lanka, which serves as the tourist visa for short visits. It is obtained online and allows 30 days with two entries.
Yes, as long as you have an internet connection, an email address you can access and a card that accepts international online payments. If any of those is a problem, a trusted relative abroad can submit the application using your passport details.
No. Turkmenistan is not one of the countries for which Sri Lanka has waived its government charge. The standard rate applies to adults; check the live prices on this page.
Use the simplified spelling printed in the machine-readable zone of your passport, the two lines of capitals and chevrons at the bottom of the photo page. That is the version airline and immigration systems read.
Through Dubai. Turkmenistan Airlines and flydubai both fly the first sector, and several airlines continue to Colombo, giving a journey of about nine to twelve hours. Delhi and Istanbul are workable alternatives.
Every child must be covered by an application with details from the child's own passport. For those under 12, Sri Lanka does not charge its government fee on a tourist ETA of up to 30 days.
Quite possibly. Airlines on connecting routes and Sri Lankan immigration officers may both ask for a return or onward booking and proof of funds, so keep printed copies with your passport.
No. It authorises you to travel, and the final decision is taken by the immigration officer when you arrive. Carry your hotel booking, ticket and approval so that routine questions can be answered quickly.
Your nationality is already set to Turkmenistan. 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.
