Sri Lanka entry requirements

During a trip to Sri Lanka, you must comply with the applicable entry regulations. We explain all the necessary travel documents and the usual processes and rules at the airport.

You must present a number of documents to officials at the Sri Lankan border to enter the country. These include:

• A passport that is valid for at least another six months
• Your approved ETA or visa
• Proof of sufficient funds for the duration of your stay
• A return or onward travel ticket
• Your completed Disembarkation Card
• Your vaccination certificates

If you are traveling to Sri Lanka with children, take the following documents with you:

• Copy of both parents' or all guardians' passports.
• A copy of the child's birth certificate showing the full names, date of birth, and citizenship of both parents
• Notarized documents in English certifying parenthood or custody
• Consent form to travel together, signed by the child traveling with you

There are increased checks to protect minors - especially if one parent is traveling alone with children.

At the border counter, Sri Lankan border officials will make the final decision on your suitability to enter the country. For this, they will check all the documents you present and may ask you some questions. You will be judged on the following criteria:

• Do you have a valid ETA or visa?
• Are you actually entering the country for the purpose for which you applied for your ETA or visa?
• Do you have sufficient funds to support yourself in Sri Lanka?
• Do you have a return or onward ticket?
• Could you pose a threat to the Sri Lankan population?

At the end of the interview and review of your documents, you will (at best) be granted permission to enter the country and have a stamp placed in your passport.

To ensure travel security as well as the protection of the Sri Lankan people, the government requires travelers to submit some data. You will be asked to fill out the Arrival Card, the electronic Travel Registration, and the Health Declaration Form.

The Arrival Card will be given to you either during your arrival or, at the latest, at the immigration checkpoint in Sri Lanka. On the card, you must provide the following information:

• The flight number
• Your passport number
• Your nationality
• Your name
• Do you have dual citizenship in Sri Lanka? Yes/No
• Your first accommodation address in Sri Lanka
• The number of children traveling with you
• Port of (air)entry
• The reason for your travel to Sri Lanka

After the entry permit has been issued, the border officials will retain your Arrival Card.

To curb the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sri Lankan government has introduced a digital travel registration in which you are required to provide some personal information and purchase $ 12 worth of travel medical insurance.

The following data will be requested from you during the travel registration process:

• Name
• E-mail address
• Telephone number
• Date of birth
• Passport number
• Visa type
• Nationality
• Arrival date
• Flight details
• Country of departure of the flight
• An upload of your vaccination certificate

After entering all the data and uploading your documents, you will be redirected to the insurance sign-up, including online payment. You will need to present the reference number of your travel medical insurance to the border officials when you enter the country.

During your arrival or at the latest after your arrival in Sri Lanka, you have to fill in a handwritten customs form, in which you announce bringing certain goods. Since the import of cash, food, animals, plants, leather goods, and other products is strictly regulated, you must follow the import regulations carefully.

Find out the exact rules currently in place for taking goods with you and indicate too much rather than too little in the customs form to avoid getting into trouble in case your luggage is searched.

There are no mandatory vaccinations for travel to Sri Lanka unless you have been in a yellow fever area within the last nine days. In this case, you will be required to provide proof of yellow fever vaccination upon entry to Sri Lanka.

Standard childhood vaccinations are recommended, as well as immunization against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, and COVID-19.

After your arrival in Sri Lanka, you will have to undergo immigration control by the border officials. For this purpose, have all your travel documents ready and answer all questions the officials ask you briefly and truthfully.

If you are found fit to enter the country, you will be given an entry stamp in your passport, which will also show the latest date of your departure. Check the stamp and be sure to have the exit date corrected if there are any errors so you don't run into problems when you leave the country.

After you have collected your luggage, you must still go through customs control. Sri Lankan customs authorities use a two-channel system for this, which allows for faster clearance. Depending on whether you are carrying declarable goods or not, you will have to go through the green or red customs channel.

• Red channel: you are carrying dutiable, controlled, or prohibited goods.
• Green channel: you are traveling without declarable goods.

If the customs officer asks you to do so, you are required to open, unpack and repack your luggage.

Follow the maximum allowable quantities for bringing goods into Sri Lanka carefully. The following rules apply:

You may bring the following quantities of goods into Sri Lanka tax-free:

• 2 bottles of wine
• ½ l of spirits
• ¼ l of perfume
• Souvenirs whose value does not exceed $ 250

You must declare foreign currency, gold jewelry, and precious stones on your customs declaration.

As a tourist, you are allowed to carry local currency worth up to LKR 200 when entering and leaving the country. There is no limit to the amount of foreign currency you can take with you, but amounts of 10,000 USD or more must be declared. If you have declared foreign currency worth up to 5,000 USD upon entry, you may re-export it.

The importation of animals and animal products into Sri Lanka requires a permit. This includes leather products, feathers, fur, and bones.

It is prohibited to bring the following goods or items to Sri Lanka:

• Items with religious images, names, or emblems that disparage a religious teacher or offend the religious sensibilities of certain groups
• Weapons, ammunition, and explosives (including china firecrackers, toy guns, and items that can be used as weapons)
• Tobacco, beedies and beedie tobacco (Indian smoking products)
• Copies/reprints of books whose copyright is in the United Kingdom
• Counterfeit money
• Woven goods (fabrics) with imprints of bank bills, promissory bills, or share certificates
• Eggs whose origin is not indelibly printed on the shell
• Food in damaged packaging (as well as anything that is perishable or spoiled)
• Pornographic or indecent images and objects
• Japanese shaving brushes
• Lottery tickets or advertising material for lotteries
• Seeds of grass pea (Lathyrus Sutivus or Kesari Dhal)
• China bark and all products made from it
• Most types of meat intended for human consumption
• Certain medicines, advertisements for medicines, or accessories for the sale of medicines
• Articles, goods, and substances that violate applicable Sri Lankan laws

Under Sri Lankan law, the illegal importation of controlled drugs such as heroin is punishable by death.