Visa Requirement for Sri Lanka

[Alan Huyton]

We are a party of 4 on the Celebrity Millennium visiting Sri Lanka in Feb calling at Colombo and Hambantota. We are trying to confirm if we will need visas to disembark the ship. We have been advised that if booking a tour via the ship then the ship will issue a group visa - is this the case? If this is correct presume we cannot disembark as individuals outside the official tour times. No problem to get a visa as all done electronic but the conflicting advice is confusing. Thanks in advance.

[ela123]

I contacted celebrity and they said I needed to get the tourist visa which I have now done online. I received the e visas back within a day. I think you will need to apply yourselves directly.

[terry&mike]

We are on an Oceania cruise porting in those ports in April 2025, and we will need to get our own Visa. It's a different cruise line, but that is our information for comparison. 

[JourneyJim]

Yes, unfortunately you will need to apply for a visa. But this can easily be done online.

[jlemayvt]

Help!  What did you use for a “number” of the cruise ship and also for the Sri Lanken address? Finding the EVisa’s a bit challenging.

[Alan Huyton]

Hi there,

 

The website we used to get the Sri Lanka visa is as follows https://visa-sri-lanka.com it was very straightforward with questions on the passport details, applicant age, arrival date and place of entry. Quite an easy process and we got the visa back in 24/48 hours.

Hope this helps.

[terry&mike]

4 minutes ago, Alan Huyton said:

Hi there,

 

The website we used to get the Sri Lanka visa is as follows https://visa-sri-lanka.com it was very straightforward with questions on the passport details, applicant age, arrival date and place of entry. Quite an easy process and we got the visa back in 24/48 hours.

Hope this helps.

I believe the official government site for the eVisa for Sri Lanka is https://eta.gov.lk/slvisa/  

 

I'm not doubting you received an official visa for Sri Lanka, but I believe you used a 3rd party operator. There is a note at the bottom of their web page saying they are not affiliated with the government of Sri Lanka. 

[Alan Huyton]

Hi there,

 

I agree, I've just looked in more detail and we've received official visa's but definitely paid more.

 

Will read the small print more diligently in future.

[lissie]

You don't need to be paying $50 for a SL visa if you are only in port for a day - the transit visa still needs to be applied for but it's free from the official website 

[twoseatheworld]

Has anyone tried to get a transit visa from the new website?  (it all changed on 17 April) I received an email from them stating they don't look after this Kindly be informed that we are not handing the 2 days transit visa  Please contact SriLankan's Department of immigration and emigration.

 

[soak01]

We are doing the same trip next Feb 2025. For Sri Lanka, as there are 2 stops, is it the Tourist Visa (Single Entry) or Tourist Visa Standard that we need.