Sri Lanka has announced a major change in its visa policy, taking inspiration from Singapore’s efficient immigration procedures. Effective immediately, citizens from 38 countries will now be able to enter Sri Lanka without a visa.
This move comes as part of Sri Lanka’s ongoing efforts to address its visa management issues. For the past month, the country has been issuing visas on arrival following the suspension of its e-Visa system due to mismanagement by a foreign consortium.
To simplify entry and boost tourism, Sri Lanka previously introduced a visa-free policy for citizens of 35 countries starting October 1, 2024. However, the recent announcement expands this initiative to 38 countries with immediate effect.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Ali Sabry, shared the news on social media, stating, “The Cabinet has authorized the President to implement visa-free access for 38 nationalities immediately, adopting Singapore’s streamlined ‘one-chop’ approach.” Sabry believes this decision will help alleviate the congestion at visa counters, a problem that has been evident at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport in recent days.
Former Tourism Minister and Presidential Advisor on Tourism Affairs, Harin Fernando, echoed this sentiment, explaining that the new system will expedite visa processing. “This means the visa process is approved and authorized without additional approvals or complicated procedures,” Fernando said. “It will make the process quicker and more straightforward for travelers.”
The “One-Chop” system, modeled after Singapore’s approach, aims to simplify administrative procedures by consolidating all necessary steps into a single process. This is expected to speed up visa approvals significantly.
Initially, Sri Lanka had listed 35 countries eligible for visa-free entry. The updated announcement now includes 38 countries, though the exact list of eligible nations has not yet been released.
The original list of 35 countries included:
Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Further details on the finalized list of eligible countries, as well as the exact date of implementation, are expected to be announced soon.