Whether you live in Harare, Bulawayo, Johannesburg or Leicester, a Zimbabwean passport needs an approved ETA for Sri Lanka. The tourist authorisation gives 30 days and two entries, and the application is completed entirely online.
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
Cricket is how most Zimbabweans first hear of Colombo, Kandy and Hambantota. The two national sides meet regularly, and a tour gives supporters a ready-made reason to see a country that packs beaches, highlands and ancient cities into an area a fraction of Zimbabwe's size. Others arrive for a honeymoon, for an Ayurveda programme, or as a stop on a longer trip through Asia.
A large share of Zimbabwean passport holders live outside Zimbabwe, and the rule is the same wherever you are resident. Sri Lanka decides on nationality, not address. If the passport you will travel on is Zimbabwean, you need an Electronic Travel Authorisation approved before departure, whether your flight starts at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International, OR Tambo or Heathrow.
Here we cover what that authorisation permits, the card-payment and naming issues that affect Zimbabwean applicants more than most, and the one-stop routings that now link Harare with Colombo through the Gulf.
At a glance
Eligibility
Zimbabweans need an ETA to enter Sri Lanka as visitors. There is nothing in place between the two governments that removes the requirement. If you have been searching for a Sri Lanka visa for Zimbabweans, this is the document you were looking for, issued electronically for short stays.
Zimbabwe is charged at the standard rate, since it is neither on Sri Lanka's waiver list nor a SAARC member. Parents should note that the government fee is not levied for tourists younger than 12, which lowers the total for a family, although each child is still named in the application.
Residence abroad changes nothing by itself. A Zimbabwean with a South African permit or British leave to remain still applies as a Zimbabwean. Only if you have naturalised elsewhere and will travel on that other country's passport does a different page of this site apply to you.
Supporters following a cricket tour, families on holiday and people visiting friends all use the tourist ETA, which lists sporting events among its purposes. Playing or coaching for pay is another matter, as is any work, and delegates to conferences or trade meetings should apply under the business option.
Stay & validity
The tourist ETA allows a Zimbabwean citizen to remain for 30 days, starting from the first entry stamp. That is long enough to follow a full limited-overs series and still spend a week on the south coast afterwards.
Double entry means you can step out once and return. Some travellers use it to see southern India between matches, others to visit the Maldives. Whatever the reason, the balance carries over and no extra days are added: fourteen days used before you leave means sixteen on your return.
You have six months from the date of approval to begin the trip. Sri Lanka also insists on six months of passport validity at arrival, and Zimbabwean passports deserve a careful look on that point because getting a replacement can involve a wait. If you are due to renew, do it first; the authorisation is fixed to the number of the passport you apply with.
Pricing
Live fees for Zimbabwean 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 Zimbabwe
Requirements
Everything Zimbabwean 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.
Decisions on Zimbabwean applications generally arrive in a day or two. We advise a gap of at least three to five days before travel. If the payment step fails because your card is blocked for foreign transactions, you will be glad of the extra days to sort it out with the bank.
Applying early costs you nothing in validity, because the six-month travel window is generous. Zimbabweans booking around the December holidays, or around a fixture list published months ahead, can apply as soon as the flights are confirmed.
Harare runs three and a half hours behind Colombo with no seasonal change. Add Sri Lanka's monthly Poya holiday and its April New Year closure, and a request made on a Friday afternoon may not be looked at until well into the following week.
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
Harare has one-stop access to Colombo through the Gulf. Emirates operates from Dubai to Harare by way of Lusaka, and Qatar Airways has served Harare from Doha on a similar pattern, so the brief touchdown in Zambia is part of the same flight. Travellers from Bulawayo and Victoria Falls usually connect in Johannesburg instead.
Best time to go
If cricket is the purpose, the fixtures set your dates and the tourist ETA's 30 days will usually cover them. Matches are played in Colombo, Kandy, Dambulla, Galle and Hambantota, and a series often moves between two or three of these, which makes a natural touring route.
For a beach holiday, the December school break lines up with fine weather on the south and west coasts. Zimbabwe's own rainy season is under way then, so you swap afternoon thunderstorms on the Highveld for dry heat at Hikkaduwa or Unawatuna.
August, when Zimbabwean schools close for the second-term holiday and Heroes' Day gives a long weekend, favours the east. Pasikudah's shallow bay is good for children, and Kandy's Esala Perahera, with its drummers, dancers and decorated elephants, usually takes place around this time.
April is workable but needs thought. Independence Day and the Easter break create leave opportunities, yet the Sri Lankan New Year in mid-April closes much of the country for a few days. Arrive before the tenth or after the eighteenth and you avoid the shutdown.
Avoid these
Problems are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the ones that come up most often on applications from Zimbabwe — worth a minute now rather than a new application later.
Many cards issued on Zimbabwean accounts are restricted for foreign-currency transactions online, and the payment simply declines. Check with your bank that international online use is active before you begin, and ask whether a card on a foreign-currency account would be more reliable.
People who have renewed in the past few years often keep the old passport and know its number by heart. The ETA must carry the number of the passport you will hand over at Bandaranaike. Have the current one open in front of you while you type.
A passport that reads Tapiwanashe Blessing cannot be matched to an application for Tapiwa or for Blessing alone. Enter each given name in full and in passport order, even if your ticket or work ID uses only one of them.
Zimbabweans settled in South Africa, Britain or Australia sometimes read the rules for those countries' citizens and conclude the charge is waived for them. The waiver follows nationality. On a Zimbabwean passport you apply as a Zimbabwean and the standard rate applies.
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 Harare, and Zimbabwe comes under the High Commission in Pretoria. Tourists applying for an ETA never need to approach it. Journalists, NGO staff and others whose visit requires prior government approval are the people who should make contact there.
FAQs
The questions Zimbabwean passport holders ask most often about travelling to Sri Lanka.
Yes. Zimbabwean citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, commonly called a Sri Lanka visa, approved before they travel. The tourist ETA is valid for a 30-day stay and allows two entries.
In the same way as from Zimbabwe: online, using your Zimbabwean passport details. Your South African permit is not part of the application. Carry it when you travel, as you will need it to return to South Africa.
Yes. Attending sporting events is one of the purposes the tourist ETA covers. Just make sure the whole tour, plus any days of sightseeing, fits within 30 days of your first arrival.
Ask your bank whether international online payments are switched on for the card, since many Zimbabwean accounts have them off by default. Once that is confirmed, return to the application and complete the payment step again.
We do not publish figures in this guide because they change. Zimbabwe is in the standard-rate group, a service fee is added for our assistance, and under-12s are not charged the government portion. Check the live prices shown on this page.
No. The usual journey is one connection in Dubai or Doha. The Emirates service from Harare stops briefly in Lusaka on the way to Dubai without a change of aircraft.
Three to five days is the minimum we suggest, and more if you are unsure about your card. Most approvals come within a day or two, and you can use the ETA at any time in the six months after it is granted.
No. It authorises you to travel, and the final decision rests with the immigration officer at the airport. Having your return ticket, accommodation details and proof of funds available makes that conversation short.
Your nationality is already set to Zimbabwe. 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.
