SINGAPORE, 6 August 2024: Sri Lanka’s eVisa portal, run by VSC Global, will be offline for at least a week due to a Supreme Court injunction following a petition by a group of MPs.
As a result of the Supreme Court order, the platform switched off at 1700 on Friday, 2 August, leaving travellers with just two options: Apply for visas at the nearest embassy before travelling to Sri Lanka or queue for a visa-on-arrival at the first point of entry in the country, usually Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport.
Officially called an Electronic Travel Authorization, the eVisa process was awarded to VSC Global last April when it won the tender following Cabinet approval. A group of MPS is now challenging the legality.
The adoption of an exclusive eVisa service was effective on 17 April when the Department of Immigration announced:
“With effect from 17 April 2024, all tourist and business travellers to Sri Lanka must have an eVisa to enter Sri Lanka. Please visit https://www.srilankaevisa.lk for more information.”
The Supreme Court ruling suspended the website service and forced the government to revert to the pre-17 April system used for issuing tourist visas.
Travel trade sources in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, said the ETA system will remain suspended for at least a week while the court investigates the complaint and issues a ruling. If it rules in favour of the MPs’ petition VSC Global’s portal processing Sri Lankan eVisas could remain offline for much longer and may go back to the tender bidding process.
Sri Lanka grants tourists a 30-day visa costing USD50 with the option to extend in the country for another 30 days.
Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators posted a statement on its Facebook page summarising the developments.
• “All eVisa applications that remain pending as of 2 August will receive a refund; application number and details need to be shared at [email protected]
• Currently, there is no platform for issuing an eVisa online to tourists coming to Sri Lanka.
• All tourists with no visa must apply for a visa-on-arrival until the former Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system is re-established.
• We anticipate that the ETA system will be up and running within the next week.”
