Sri Lanka Becomes Visa-Free For India And 34 Other Countries From October 1, 2024; Ensures Simplified Travel To Boost Tourism

After the recent downfall that Sri Lanka has seen, it is trying to boost its economy. The only effective way to do so is to boost their tourism sector since the country is famous for its beautiful destinations and history. According to reports, Sri Lanka has now taken steps to make sure tourists don't face issues with their visas. They have made India and 34 other countries visa-free. Yes! You can now visit Sri Lanka for a quick vacation and have your much-required holiday.

Sri Lanka suspended its online visa services from August 2, 2024. After facing issues with their online portal, visitors could no longer issue visas online and could only get it upon arriving on the island. As a temporary fix to this problem, the country has now announced cancellation of the e-visa service for tourists who are eager to visit the country. Ali Sabry, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs announced, “Cabinet decides to allow visa-free access to Sri Lanka for citizens of 35 countries including the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Russia, South Korea & Japan from October 01, 2024, for a period of 06 months.”

Why Sri Lanka become visa-free for these 35 countries?

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sri Lanka's newly elected president announced online visa service to ensure smooth entry process for tourists. But this process was stopped after claims that the contract was not awarded transparently caused the outsourcing agreement to come under investigation. A number of concerns regarding the purchase indicated that the consortium might make up to $2.75 billion over the course of 16 years.

Following this, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka stepped in and mandated that immigration authorities return to the online visa application system that was in use before to the outsourcing arrangement with VFS Global.
Tourists can now apply for visas without the $25 cost formerly imposed, a step applauded by many in the tourist businesses.

The government also announced free visa services for 35 countries, including India. According to the new policy that will come to effect from October 1, 2024, the free-visa period will last for six months aiming to get maximum tourists to the country.

The Minister of Tourism for Sri Lanka, Harin Fernando, put forth a proposal a few months ago to allow visitors from 67 countries admission without a visa in an effort to outbid neighbors and hit the 2.3 million visitor mark by 2024.