OneCeylon
All questions

ETA already approved on eta.gov.lk but uncle says visa-on-arrival is easier — ignore him?

Seen by 1,350 travellers
Jump to the accepted answer
J
James ETA Uncle•223 rep

British passport. Paid and approved through the official ETA site, PDF saved offline. Uncle who visited years ago says just rock up and do visa-on-arrival like the old days, and that I wasted money. Airline chat already asked for ETA details. Do I trust the approval I have, or is there still a simple arrival workaround I should know about?

27

4 Answers from travellers

✓Accepted Answer

Ignore uncle nostalgia. For most tourist nationalities the current process expects an Electronic Travel Authorization arranged ahead of time through the official channels — start at eta.gov.lk and follow what immigration.gov.lk publishes, not a family group chat. Fake lookalike sites exist; if a page suddenly demands odd fees or looks off, stop. Bring the approval PDF or QR offline, onward ticket details, and passport validity that meets the published rule. Airlines often check before you board. Arrival improvisation is how people earn secondary queues. Your approved ETA is the plan — keep it.

25
N
Nirmala Entry Desk•1880 rep

Showed uncle the confirmation PDF. He still muttered. Flying with the approval and a printed copy anyway.

14
J
James ETA Uncle•223 rep

Same uncle energy in our group. Official site only. We landed fine with the ETA on the phone plus a print.

8
R
Rachel Unawatuna Tap•205 rep

I pick up tourists who argued at the counter because someone said arrival was casual. Not a fun first hour.

5
P
Priyan Kandy Transfer•1620 rep

You must be logged in to post an answer.

Log In to Answer

Related questions

Browse all questions