Zambian passport holders need an ETA before flying to Colombo, most often through Dubai or Doha from Lusaka. The tourist authorisation covers 30 days and two entries, and no visit to a diplomatic mission is involved.
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
Zambia and Sri Lanka know each other better than the distance suggests. From the 1970s onwards Sri Lankan teachers, accountants and engineers took posts in Lusaka and on the Copperbelt, and a number of families stayed. Zambians taught by them, or who worked beside them, make up a steady trickle of visitors, joined by honeymooners, church and temple groups and travellers who simply want to see the Indian Ocean.
Entry rules are straightforward but not optional. Sri Lanka issues an Electronic Travel Authorisation for short visits, every foreign national needs one, and Zambia is no different. It must be approved in advance. With Emirates and Qatar Airways both operating from Kenneth Kaunda International, it is their ground staff in Lusaka who will check for it before you board.
Read on for the detail that applies to a Zambian passport: the length of stay, how names and NRC habits interfere with the form, how far ahead to apply, and when the island's weather suits the school holidays in Zambia.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes, Zambian citizens need an ETA to visit Sri Lanka. The term Sri Lanka visa is used loosely for the same thing, and you will see both on airline and agency websites. For a holiday or family visit, the ETA is the correct and sufficient document.
As Zambia does not appear on the list of countries with the government charge waived, the standard rate is payable. Under Sri Lanka's rules for all nationalities, a tourist under 12 years old is not charged that government fee. Include the child on the application regardless.
Zambia now permits dual citizenship, and some Zambians also carry British, American or South African passports. Sri Lanka's system looks at the passport submitted. Apply with one, travel with the same one, and do not mix the two between the ETA and the ticket.
The purpose of the journey matters as much as nationality. Seeing old friends in Colombo, touring, receiving Ayurvedic treatment or joining a cultural event are tourist purposes. A mining-sector meeting, a professional seminar or a short training placement is business, and the business option should be requested for it.
Stay & validity
A Zambian visitor on a tourist ETA may stay 30 days from the date of first entry. Trips from Lusaka commonly last two weeks, though people visiting friends often stay longer and should count their days carefully so the return flight falls inside the limit.
The authorisation permits two entries within that period. It is handy for anyone who wants to add a few days in Dubai on the way back and then changes plans, or who takes a side trip to India from Colombo. On re-entry you are given the days that remain, never a new thirty.
Travel must begin within six months of the approval date. Before applying, check that your Zambian passport will have six months left when you arrive; if it will not, renew it first. Applying on the old passport and renewing afterwards would leave you with an ETA you cannot use.
Pricing
Live fees for Zambian 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 Zambia
Requirements
Everything Zambian 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.
For Zambian passport holders the answer normally comes back within a day or two. Three to five days before departure is the latest we would suggest applying, and for peak travel around Christmas a month ahead is more comfortable.
An early application has a practical benefit in Zambia. If the card payment is declined because of an international-use setting, you can visit the branch on a weekday and have it changed, which is not something you can do on a Sunday night before a Monday flight.
Lusaka sits three and a half hours behind Sri Lanka all year round. Morning is the best time to submit, because the Colombo working day is already half over by the time Zambian offices open, and anything sent after lunch effectively waits until tomorrow.
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
Lusaka is one of the better-connected capitals in the region for this journey. Emirates flies to Dubai and Qatar Airways to Doha from Kenneth Kaunda International, each with onward flights to Colombo, giving a single change of aircraft. Passengers from Ndola and Livingstone connect through Lusaka or Johannesburg.
Best time to go
The December holiday, when Zambian schools are closed and the rains have set in at home, is prime time for Sri Lanka's southern and western beaches and for the hill country. Expect company: this is when European visitors arrive in numbers, so reserve rooms and trains early.
The April break after the first school term brings good weather to the same areas at slightly lower prices, but watch for the national New Year holiday around the thirteenth and fourteenth. If you are staying with a Sri Lankan family you will be part of the celebrations; if you are relying on public transport, you may find it full.
August, the second-term break, is cool and dry in Zambia and hot and dry in eastern Sri Lanka. That makes it the month for Nilaveli, Pasikudah and Arugam Bay, and for combining the coast with Sigiriya and the cave temples at Dambulla on the way across.
Travellers with flexible dates around Independence Day on 24 October should know that this is an inter-monsoon month on the island. Showers are frequent but short, the countryside is very green, and hotel rates are at their lowest of the year.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Zambia — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Zambians quote the National Registration Card for almost everything, and its spelling or name order does not always match the passport. The ETA is checked against the passport alone. Put the green card away and work from the photo page.
A passport showing Mwansa Christopher Bwalya needs all three on the application, in that sequence. Dropping the name you do not use socially is the commonest reason a Zambian applicant's ETA fails to match at check-in.
Guests of friends in Colombo tend to stay for the full month and book a return flight on day thirty-one by accident. Count from the day you land, treat that as day one, and choose a departure that leaves a margin.
Applying with a Zambian passport and then presenting a second nationality's passport in Colombo leaves the officer with no authorisation to find. Whichever passport you choose, it must be the one on the ETA, the ticket and the immigration desk alike.
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 Zambia from its High Commission in Pretoria, with no resident office in Lusaka. For a tourist ETA you will have no dealings with it. Only visits needing special clearance, such as media projects, call for an approach through diplomatic channels.
FAQs
The questions Zambian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Zambian citizens require an Electronic Travel Authorisation, the online document often described as a Sri Lanka visa, before travelling. As a tourist you receive 30 days and may enter twice in that time.
Through an online ETA application, which you can start on this page. You will need your passport, an email address, a payment card and your arrival details. Nothing has to be sent to an embassy.
No. The National Registration Card is not accepted for international travel to Sri Lanka. The application, the airline booking and the border check all rely on the passport.
There is no nonstop service. With one change in Dubai or Doha, total travel time is usually between fourteen and eighteen hours, depending on the length of the layover.
Yes, every child needs to be covered by an application with their own passport details. Those under 12 travelling as tourists are not charged the government fee, but they are not exempt from the authorisation.
Yes. Visiting friends and relatives is a recognised tourist purpose. Give your host's address as your place of stay and keep their phone number handy in case an officer wants to confirm it.
You would need to apply for an extension at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla before the 30 days expire. Approval is at the department's discretion, so do not book a late return flight on the assumption it will be granted.
No. Zambia is not among the countries included in the waiver, so the standard government rate applies, plus our service fee. The current total appears in the live prices on this page.
Your nationality is already set to Zambia. 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.
