The largest reform in history! The visa fee in Sri Lanka is nearly doubled!

On October 24, 2023, according to Sri Lankan media reports, the Sri Lankan cabinet has approved a pilot project to implement visa-free entry for tourists from seven countries including China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand, which is valid until March 31, 2024. Foreign citizens holding diplomatic passports, service passports, and ordinary passports of the above-mentioned countries are eligible to enjoy the free visa system, and apply for electronic visas (ETA) before arriving in Sri Lanka and obtain free approval or issuance before March 31, 2024.

The implementation of the visa-free policy brings a lot of convenience to tourists, allowing them to enter Sri Lanka quickly without the tedious visa application process. Since the implementation of the visa-free policy, the number of tourists from China and other seven countries has increased significantly, and Sri Lanka has also had considerable tourism revenue.

So on April 1, 2024, local time in Sri Lanka, according to the Global Times, the pilot project in Sri Lanka to waive visa fees for tourists from seven countries including China, Russia, India, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand to go to Sri Lanka has been extended to April 30, 2024. It is reported that the final decision on this matter will be made in the coming weeks.

However, on April 16 this year, Sri Lanka introduced the largest visa reform in history. It includes the following points:

Before entering Sri Lanka before April 30, it is still possible to handle tourist visas without visa fees, but only with a 30-day stay period.

After May, if a standard tourist visa is processed, the validity period is 180 days, and the longest stay per visit can reach 60 days, but the visa fee is changed to US$75.

In addition, you can also handle tourist and business visas for 1/2/5/10 years for multiple entries, and the visa fees are respectively US$200/300/500/1000. For this type of visa, the 1-year period corresponds to a maximum stay of 90 days per visit; for the 2/5/10-year multiple-entry visas, the maximum stay per visit can reach 180 days.

This latest policy has been implemented since April 17. At the same time, Sri Lanka has also officially launched the electronic visa system (e-visa). It is worth noting that all tourists must complete the application for electronic visas before arriving, and tourists who want to go to Sri Lanka need to apply for electronic visas on the new government portal website, which is developed and managed by VFS Global. On VFS Global, it charges an additional service fee of $18.50 for each application. In addition to visa fees and service fees, transaction fees are also charged.

For example, those who enter Sri Lanka before April 30 can still handle tourist visas for free, but a service fee of $21.61 will be charged. Those who enter Sri Lanka after May 1 can handle standard tourist visas, and can enter twice within 180 days of validity, and can stay for up to 60 days each time, but at this time, the visa fee is $75, plus the service fee charged by VFS, a total of $100.77 is required.

While the visa fee has increased, on April 17, local time in Sri Lanka, local news reports said that Sri Lanka is considering offering free visas to more than 50 countries. It is reported that a related proposal will be submitted to the cabinet, which will allow more than 50 countries to visit Sri Lanka with free visas.