visa for Sri Lanka

[phylliswotherspoon]

Does anyone know if a ships visa allows passengers to go ashore on one of their trips? I cannot get an answer from Tui staff

[SeaDog-46]

As far as I am aware - Sri Lanka evisa for cruise ship passengers are FREE online via the official government site.

12 months ago for Sapphire Princess call at Colombo - company required before boarding.

[tring]

23 hours ago, phylliswotherspoon said:

Does anyone know if a ships visa allows passengers to go ashore on one of their trips? I cannot get an answer from Tui staff

 

I do not know what you mean by a ship's visa - very strange term as visa's are needed to enter certain countries and varies according to the country concerned.  I am making the assumption you are from the UK if travelling with TUI and are English speaking, but the following also applies to a number of other nationals.

 

You can apply for an ETA before you arrive, which basically means your details have been accepted and a visa will automatically be entered into your passport on arrival.  It is also possible to get a visa on arrival, but this can take longer and, as has been mentioned by SeaDog-46, cruise cruise companies often insist you have an ETA before boarding a ship (or flying out if you are on their flight).  If you are just on a port stop of less than 48 hours you can use a transit visa which has always been free.  Full visa's are also free if arriving prior to 1st Feb (one of a number of measures to encourage tourism back after the bombings last Easter) and the free visa's are due to be reviewed in December.

 

This is the official  government site to apply for the ETA and you can apply up to 3 months in advance of arrival http://www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/

Edited November 21, 2019 by tring

[tcdcruiser]

Be sure not to apply too early.  Our last cruise someone applied too early and the eta visa expired a few days before our arrival. Be sure to check the expiration date 

[CruisingFox27]

On 11/21/2019 at 2:37 PM, tring said:

 

I do not know what you mean by a ship's visa - very strange term as visa's are needed to enter certain countries and varies according to the country concerned.  I am making the assumption you are from the UK if travelling with TUI and are English speaking, but the following also applies to a number of other nationals.

 

You can apply for an ETA before you arrive, which basically means your details have been accepted and a visa will automatically be entered into your passport on arrival.  It is also possible to get a visa on arrival, but this can take longer and, as has been mentioned by SeaDog-46, cruise cruise companies often insist you have an ETA before boarding a ship (or flying out if you are on their flight).  If you are just on a port stop of less than 48 hours you can use a transit visa which has always been free.  Full visa's are also free if arriving prior to 1st Feb (one of a number of measures to encourage tourism back after the bombings last Easter) and the free visa's are due to be reviewed in December.

 

This is the official  government site to apply for the ETA and you can apply up to 3 months in advance of arrival http://www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/

 

We have a port stop in Sri Lanka, do we still apply for the transit Visa before we arrive? (UK passport holders).

 

Edit: I have read the details in the link and we do. We travel after 01.02.20 so I'll wait for the December free visa review.

Edited November 24, 2019 by CruisingFox27

[CruisingFox27]

7 hours ago, tcdcruiser said:

Be sure not to apply too early.  Our last cruise someone applied too early and the eta visa expired a few days before our arrival. Be sure to check the expiration date 

 

I can see how that would be easy to do, we travel in 78 days so I initially thought we could apply now but we don't visit Sri Lanka for 100 days.

[tring]

16 hours ago, tcdcruiser said:

Be sure not to apply too early.  Our last cruise someone applied too early and the eta visa expired a few days before our arrival. Be sure to check the expiration date 

 

The system asks for your arrival date, and the application would not be accepted if it was more than 3 months before your arrival, so that cannot happen if you fill in the application properly.

[tring]

9 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

We have a port stop in Sri Lanka, do we still apply for the transit Visa before we arrive? (UK passport holders).

 

Edit: I have read the details in the link and we do. We travel after 01.02.20 so I'll wait for the December free visa review.

 

For most people that will be the case, but a transit visa only works for less than 48 hours, so if your ship is in for longer (e.g. Boudicca spends 3 days in port in February 2020) a full visa would be needed.  Best to check with your cruise line though if unsure.  If you only need a transit visa they have always been free - the December review is only for the full tourist ETA's which have only been free for the last few months. 

 

I think TUI were probably as confused by the OP's question about a "ships visa" as I was, because ships do not need visas of course - just the people arriving on them.

Edited November 24, 2019 by tring

[CruisingFox27]

Thank you. We're only in port for one day, 8am - 6pm so the transit Visa will be adequate. 

Edited November 24, 2019 by CruisingFox27