Sri Lanka or Timor-Leste
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| Sri Lanka | Timor-Leste | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | — | 10 years |
| Partner can work | no | — |
| Parents | — | doable |
| Pets | difficult | — |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | 30 days | — |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 563 · estimate | $ 274 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 28,7 | $ 20,6 |
| Life expectancy | 77.67 | 67.9 |
| Homicides/100k | 2.51 | 4.07 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 3.9 | 3.3 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Sri Lanka — 24, Timor-Leste — 11. Types present in both: work, study and investment. Sri Lanka adds: remote work, family, talent, repatriation and retirement.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Sri Lanka: fees range from 100 to 1,000 USD. Routes with no fee: 1. Routes stating an income threshold: 8; the lowest is 1,500 USD a year. Timor-Leste: fees range from 20 to 150 USD. Routes with a published decision deadline: 2; the shortest is 15 days.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Timor-Leste after 10 years; the other country publishes no term. Citizenship: Timor-Leste after 10 years; the other country publishes no term. Both allow a second citizenship.
Sri Lanka in brief
Sri Lanka is an island state in the Indian Ocean; the country's de jure capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, where parliament sits, but the neighbouring city of Colombo remains the economic, business and diplomatic centre. The Department of Immigration and Emigration operates 16 residence visa categories: among those in force are the Employment Category Residence Visa (including projects approved by the Board of Investment, BOI), the investor visa (from USD 100,000 for 5 years, or from USD 200,000 for 10 years) and the newly introduced digital nomad visa with an income threshold from USD 2,000 a month; the Resident Guest Scheme and My Dream Home programmes are closed to new applicants and allow only renewal by existing holders. No separate route to permanent residence or to citizenship by length of residence for a foreigner without Sri Lankan origin has been found in the authority's published materials, other than marriage to a Sri Lankan citizen (Permanent Residence Visa, category (b)); dual citizenship is available on application, but it is addressed to persons who already held or currently hold Sri Lankan citizenship. Bringing in dogs and cats requires a veterinary certificate and the statutory minimum 30-day quarantine. On the INFORM scale the country's tsunami risk is rated at 8.0 out of 10 — relevant for the coastal cities of the southern and eastern coasts, which were affected by the 2004 disaster.
Timor-Leste in brief
Timor-Leste is a state independent since 2002 that uses the US dollar as its official currency: the country has no currency of its own. The official languages are Portuguese and Tetum; Indonesian and English are recognised as working languages (Constitution of the RDTL, s. 159). A significant share of the state budget is financed by transfers from the Petroleum Fund (Fundo Petrolífero), managed by the Central Bank of Timor-Leste on revenue from the Timor Sea's oil and gas fields; according to the Central Bank, the fund's balance stood at US$18.75 billion as of 31 May 2026 (bancocentral.tl/en/petroleum-fund). The country lies in the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire — the INFORM index rates the country's earthquake risk at 5.8 out of 10 and tsunami risk at 3.9 out of 10. Malaria and dengue are endemic across most of the territory (World Health Organization). The legal framework for foreigners' temporary and permanent stay is the Migration and Asylum Law No. 11/2017 (as amended by Law No. 10/2021); the country belongs to the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), but as of the date checked the declaratively adopted CPLP mobility agreement is not reflected in the migration authority's official list of visa exemptions.
Other comparisons
Sri Lanka or… Taiwan · South Korea · Japan · Thailand · Kazakhstan · Lebanon · Uzbekistan · Malaysia
Timor-Leste or… Azerbaijan · Philippines · Bangladesh · Kuwait · Iraq · Mongolia · Oman · People's Republic of China
More on each: Sri Lanka · Timor-Leste. Build your own comparison — up to four countries
This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.