Sri Lanka

Visa speed

The department publishes no standard time for deciding a residence visa — not in the list of categories, not in the tariff, not in the general information on visa services. The only figure printed concerns handing over the finished visa at the head office in Colombo: “the visa may be collected 2 hours 30 minutes after the application is submitted”, and if another day is assigned for collection, between 9:00 and 12:00 on that date. That is the time to hand over the document at the counter, not the time to decide, and carrying it into the standard-time field would be a substitution of subject. So the time is marked unpublished on every ground. A residence visa application is filed IN PERSON ONLY at the department's head office in Colombo — there is no online channel for residence categories (electronic filing exists only for the tourist ETA and for extending a tourist visa). Spouse visas add the appearance of the Sri Lankan spouse for an interview — both on the first application and on every extension. The department separately notes that the procedure may change where a security clearance report from the Ministry of Defence is required.

Visa types: The Employment Category Residence Visa — for employees of government-approved projects, expatriates on projects approved by the Board of Investment (BOI), and employees of banks, registered private companies, and Colombo Port City; issued for 1 year or for the period recommended by the relevant authority, renewable annually; fee — USD 200 a year; requires a request letter from the employer/institution and a Health Protection Plan. Source: immigration.gov.lk, Residence Visa section, updated 1 August 2026. · The Investor Visa Category — from USD 100,000 in investment for a 5-year visa, or from USD 200,000 for a 10-year visa (with the right to a further 5-year renewal at the USD 200,000-and-above level); permitted investments — voting shares in local companies (from 10% of capital, with sector exceptions and limits), setting up a representative office of a foreign company, government/central bank debt securities of 5 years or more, term deposits, real estate; a fee of USD 200 a year for the applicant, spouse and each dependant. Source: the official immigration.gov.lk guide “Investor Visa Category” (PDF); the current version replaced the former “Golden Paradise Visa” and “Direct Investments” schemes. · The Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) — for remote workers, freelancers and owners of businesses not registered in Sri Lanka who serve clients outside the country; a minimum monthly income of USD 2,000 for the applicant plus USD 500 a month for each dependant beyond two; a 1-year visa, renewable annually (renewal requires tax registration with the Department of Inland Revenue); a fee of USD 500 a year for the applicant, spouse and each dependant; local employment is prohibited. Source: immigration.gov.lk, PDF “Digital Nomad Visa Category”. · The Resident Guest Scheme Visa programme — residence for investors (USD 250,000 or more into a special RGFCA account) or professionals (USD 2,000 or more a month), with a visa of up to 5 years; closed to new applicants, with renewal available only to existing holders of this visa. Source: immigration.gov.lk, Residence Visa section, category 13. · The My Dream Home Visa programme — residence for elderly foreigners with a fixed deposit of USD 15,000 or more and a monthly transfer of USD 1,500 or more (plus USD 750 per spouse/dependant); a 2-year visa, with no right to work; closed to new applicants, with renewal available only to existing holders of this visa. Source: immigration.gov.lk, Residence Visa section, category 12. · A visa for the spouse of a Sri Lankan citizen (Family Members of a Sri Lankan) — for a marriage of 6 months or more at the time of application, the first visa is issued free for 1 year; for a widow/widower of a Sri Lankan citizen, for a spouse who has lived continuously in the country for 10 years or more, or for a spouse with children under 18 living separately — a visa with employment approval, USD 100 a year. Source: immigration.gov.lk, Residence Visa section, category 8.

Collected on 24.08.2026 from the website of the Department of Immigration and Emigration: the list of residence visas (`pages_e.php?id=18`), My Dream Home (`?id=19`), the Resident Guest Scheme (`?id=20`), the tariff table (`?id=45`) and a separate PDF on the digital nomad visa. The country does not issue a single work permit separate from the visa: the right to work is built into the residence visa category, and for three spousal classes (6, 7 and 8 of the tariff) it is stated outright: «with the approval for employment». **Structure.** The residence visa is the only long-term status; it is divided into sixteen categories in the list and into ten classes in the tariff, and these two divisions do not match. The list describes the conditions, the tariff states the price: for example, all the investor tiers sit in a single class, «Residence Visa - 1», at 200 dollars. The fee is charged PER YEAR OR PART OF A YEAR — the proviso is printed in the header of the table — and is charged separately for the spouse and for each dependant, not for the family as a whole. **Among the sixteen residence visa categories there is no permanent status — but separate from them there is the Permanent Residence Visa.** None of the sixteen categories in the `?id=18` catalogue leads to indefinite status: all of them are fixed-term and renewable. This statement, recorded on 24.08.2026, was incomplete: on 22.09.2026 a page separate from this catalogue was found, `?id=69` — the Permanent Residence Visa (PRV), outside the catalogue of 16 categories and outside the `?id=45` tariff, with its own five-category tariff (USD 1,000 / 1,000 / 1,000 / 400 / 400) and a reference to Extraordinary Government Gazette No. 2383/17 of 07.05.2024. Access to it is restricted: eligibility for the PRV belongs to persons of Sri Lankan origin or former citizens (ss. 19–21 of the Citizenship Act), their foreign spouses and children up to 22 — that is, it confirms rather than refutes the conclusion for a foreigner WITHOUT Sri Lankan origin or kinship: for them there is still no permanent status. The marriage term for the spousal categories (b)–(d) is given as «more than five years» by page `?id=69` itself and by its «Guideline for PRV» (PDF), while the Extraordinary Government Gazette No. 2383/17 of 07.05.2024 in force (regulation 2(1)(b)–(d)) gives «more than six months»; which of the two texts applies in practice the department does not explain. Regulation 8 of the same gazette terminates the spouse's visa if the marriage is officially dissolved before five years have passed since it was contracted — this rule does not depend on which of the two thresholds applied when filing. This is why five new entries carry `countsTowardPr: true` — that is genuinely permanent status — while for the sixteen fixed-term residence visas the field is left empty: not because it was not collected, but because there is nothing for it to count toward (the PRV itself does not require a prior term on a residence visa, but requires origin or a marriage of a given length). The department still does not publish naturalisation by length of residence; citizenship for persons without Sri Lankan origin is granted only by registration under the separate grounds of the Citizenship Act. **The investor tier has been rebuilt.** The current «Investor Visa Category» guideline, posted by the department as a separate PDF, recognises two tiers: an investment from USD 100,000 gives five years, from USD 200,000 the same five years but with a departmental letter extending it by a further five. What counts as an investment is a closed list: voting shares of Sri Lankan companies of at least a tenth of the voting capital, a place of business of a foreign company, debt instruments with a maturity of at least five years, fixed deposits and real estate. The money is placed through two special bank accounts — the IIA and the VPFCA. The visa costs USD 200 a year, separately for the applicant, the spouse and each dependant. The former ten-tier line-up — Golden Paradise, direct investment, apartments, treasury bonds and shares — is no longer published on the site; why the earlier entry on it was wrong is explained at the end. **Two programmes are closed to new applicants.** For both My Dream Home and the Resident Guest Scheme the department has marked «extension only for the existing visa holders»: the conditions are published, but a fresh application under them is not possible — they are recorded as in force for those who already hold the visa. These are different things: the programme has not been cancelled, only closed to new entrants. **The Health Protection Plan has been mandatory since 03.06.2019** for all residence visas, new and renewed; it is arranged through the Ministry of Health (health.gov.lk/IHU). The department is entitled to demand a police clearance certificate from the country of citizenship or domicile from any residence applicant, and only former Sri Lankan citizens are expressly exempted from this rule. The visa's term in every category is limited by the passport's validity, and issuance is left to the discretion of the Controller General of Immigration — both provisos are printed as separate clauses. **What has not been carried into the entries.** The visa for appearance before the court runs for fourteen days from the next hearing and is renewed as the case proceeds — this is not a long-term status, even though the tariff places it in class 1 at 200 dollars. Diplomatic and official visas are issued through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Two items in the list — «Port City Commission» and «Relation of Sri Lankan citizen» — stand as HEADINGS WITHOUT CONTENT: no conditions, no documents, no link. The first has nevertheless been recorded, because it has a price in the tariff (Port City Visa, 200 dollars a year) — the tariff, too, is a publication of the authority; the second has not been recorded at all, since nothing beyond the name is printed about it. **Overstaying the visa is penalised under gazette 2337/10 of 21.06.2023:** departure within the first seven days after expiry — only a top-up of the visa fee at the port, with no fine; from the eighth to the fourteenth day — 250 dollars on top of the fee; beyond fourteen days — 500. **The investor category was rewritten on 28.08.2026, and the earlier entry was wrong.** Ten tiers — Golden Paradise at USD 200,000, direct investment at 300,000 and 500,000, apartments at 200,000, 150,000 and 75,000 and corporate at 500,000, treasury bonds at 250,000 and 400,000, shares at 100,000 and 200,000 — have been removed. The reason is direct: this whole block sits on the residence visa page INSIDE AN HTML COMMENT and is not rendered by the browser. The department took it out of display but left it in the markup. Someone reading the page's source text sees ten tiers; someone opening it with their eyes sees, in the «2. Investor Category» section, a single link — to the «Investor Visa Category» guideline in PDF. What was collected on 24.08.2026 had been read from the comment, that is, from what the authority does not publish. This was found by cross-checking the figures: not one of the eleven investor thresholds turned out to be on the page.

Dual citizenship

allowed

No route to citizenship by length of residence for a foreigner without Sri Lankan citizenship or origin is found in the materials of the Department of Immigration and Emigration: the «Citizenship» section (immigration.gov.lk) covers only the registration of children of Sri Lankan citizens born abroad, renunciation of citizenship, dual citizenship, and two closed registration-by-descent programmes — for persons of Indian origin who resided in the country before 15.11.1948 (Acts No. 39/1988 and No. 35/2003), and for persons of Chinese origin (Act No. 38/2008, applications closed on 30.10.2013). A separate permanent-residence category does not appear among the 16 current residence visa categories (immigration.gov.lk, Residence Visa, updated 1 August 2026), but on 22.09.2026 a page separate from this catalogue was found, `pages_e.php?id=69` — the Permanent Residence Visa (PRV), with its own card for a term of up to 10 years (renewable) and a fee from USD 400 to 1,000 depending on the category; eligibility for it is restricted to persons of Sri Lankan origin, former citizens (ss. 19–21 of the Citizenship Act), their foreign spouses and children up to 22 — that is, for a foreigner with no Sri Lankan origin or kinship, a route to permanent status is still not published. The marriage term for the spousal categories is given as «more than five years» by page `?id=69` and by the «Guideline for PRV» (PDF), while the gazette itself, No. 2383/17 (regulation 2(1)(b)–(d)), gives «more than six months»; which text governs in practice the department does not explain. Dual Citizenship is available on application, but it is addressed not to «naturalisation from scratch» but to persons whose Sri Lankan citizenship has already ceased or may cease as a result of acquiring another citizenship (ss. 19–21 of the Citizenship Act No. 18 of 1948): the categories are — age 55 or over, a professional qualification (a diploma of at least one year), assets in Sri Lanka of at least Rs 2.5 million, a fixed deposit of at least Rs 2.5 million or of at least USD 25,000 (for 3 years), government bonds/an investment account of at least USD 25,000 (for 3 years), and also the spouse and the unmarried child under 22 of an applicant meeting one of these conditions. The fee: USD 2,000 from the applicant, USD 500 each from the spouse and from each child. For applicants holding the citizenship of 18 countries (Australia, Belgium, Vanuatu, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Canada, Cyprus, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, the USA, France, Switzerland, Sweden), separate confirmation that dual citizenship is permitted is not required; for other countries, a document from the authorities of the second country of citizenship stating that dual citizenship is not prohibited is required. Sources: immigration.gov.lk, the «General Information on Citizenship» and «Dual Citizenship» sections (updated 1 August 2026).

Document certification

consular legalisation

The country does not accept apostilles: documents go through consular legalisation in three steps — ministry of justice, foreign ministry, consulate.

Limit

no limit

Quarantine

30 days

Antibody titre test

not needed

Preparation

~2 months

The veterinary authority is the Department of Animal Production and Health (daph.gov.lk). The requirements for importing dogs and cats in force since 1 January 2026 (PDF “Veterinary Health Requirements for the Importation of Dogs/Cats into Sri Lanka”, signed by the DAPH director general) require: age from 1.5 months; an ISO-compatible microchip; a full set of current vaccinations (for dogs — rabies, distemper, parvovirus, infectious hepatitis, leptospirosis; for cats — rabies, calicivirus, herpesvirus type 1, panleukopenia), with the mother's vaccination for animals under 3 months; blood tests for leishmaniasis (PCR/ELISA/IFAT) and heartworm (antigen and microfilariae) no later than one month before departure, except where the country of export is officially free of these diseases; treatment against ecto- and endoparasites within 14 days before departure; an international veterinary certificate issued no more than 10 days before departure. Rabies antibody titre testing (FAVN/RNATT) is not mentioned in these requirements — only the fact of vaccination. Separately, under the “Quarantine” section of the DAPH site, based on article 28 of the Animal Diseases Act No. 59 of 1992, any animal imported into Sri Lanka is subject to a minimum 30-day quarantine; the new (2026) requirements for dogs/cats do not separately mention this quarantine stage, but they do not cancel it either — the documents describe different stages (veterinary preparation before departure and the quarantine procedure on arrival) and do not contradict each other. No breeds banned from import were found in the sources checked. prepTimeMonths=2 — based on the combination of official time frames: blood tests (up to 1 month before departure), parasite treatment (up to 14 days), veterinary certificate (up to 10 days), plus the minimum 30-day quarantine on arrival; the actual time depends heavily on whether the animal was vaccinated in advance. The limit on the number of animals and the cost of processing are not officially published. Sources: daph.gov.lk/services/imp1, daph.gov.lk/services/Quar, the PDFs “Importation Dogs” and “Importation Cats” (in force since 1 January 2026).

Bread, 500 g

$ 0,49

Milk, 1 l

$ 1,54

Eggs, 12

$ 1,56

Chicken breast, 1 kg

$ 4,17

Cheese, 1 kg

$ 12,2

Rice, 1 kg

$ 0,75

Potatoes, 1 kg

$ 0,98

Apples, 1 kg

$ 5,87

Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 l

$ 1,10

Total

$ 28,7

The same set for every country, so the comparison is fair.

Rent, 1 bedroom

$ 307 a month

Rent, 3 bedrooms

$ 784 a month

Utility bills

$ 41,0 a month

Home internet

$ 16,4 a month

Monthly transport pass

$ 7,37 a month

Single transport ticket

$ 0,20

Petrol, litre

$ 1,10

Cold medicine

$ 2,09 for a week

Country averages. City prices, where collected, are shown above and are more precise.

Life expectancy

77,7 years2024

Homicides

2,5 per 100k2022

Road deaths

11,5 per 100k2021

Unemployment

4 %2025

Unemployment, ages 15–24

18,6 %2025

Inequality (Gini)

37,72019 · data lags behind

Health spending per person

$ 134 a year

Air pollution, PM2.5

22,7 µg/m³2023

Access to clean water

90,2 %2024

Internet, fixed line

36,4 Mbit/s2026

Internet, mobile

63,1 Mbit/s2026

Governance

Political stability

below average · -0,4

Control of corruption

below average · -0,4

Rule of law

below average · -0,3

Government effectiveness

below average · -0,3

World Bank estimates on a −2.5 to +2.5 scale, higher is better.

Natural hazards

Earthquakes

0,1 out of 10

River floods

1,9 out of 10

Coastal floods

3,3 out of 10

Tropical cyclones

2,2 out of 10

Droughts

3,2 out of 10

Tsunamis

8 out of 10

Each value carries the year it refers to. “Data lags behind” means this country's figure was collected noticeably earlier than the rest. Natural hazards use one 0–10 scale and are meant to be compared against each other.

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