Quick summary
The only official Sri Lankan ETA portal is eta.gov.lk. Since 25 May 2026, passport holders from 40 nationalities pay nothing for a 30-day tourist ETA, while everyone else pays about $50. The domain is the only check that matters before a payment page, and it takes seconds to run.
The free list is nationality-specific, so a passport outside it still carries the standard fee. What follows covers who qualifies, how to verify the portal you are on, and where a payment already made to a look-alike site can still be contested.
A Sri Lanka ETA scam takes $80 to $120 out of your account for a document the government may hand you at no charge.
Since 25 May 2026, the worst version of this falls on travelers whose passport already exempts them, because there is no fee to compare against and nothing to reclaim. Everyone else loses a premium rather than the whole amount, which makes the scam quieter but no less expensive.
Sponsored links and search results put look-alike domains ahead of the real one, and those sites are built to look official. The problem is global. The address bar is the check that holds: if the domain is not eta.gov.lk, do not pay.
The Sri Lanka ETA scam, and who it hurts most
The 25 May 2026 change is what turns a routine overcharge into a write-off. Travelers from the 40 listed nationalities apply for a 30-day tourist ETA at no cost, so a broker’s invoice buys nothing the official portal would not have handed them for free.
Outside that group, the standard fee still applies, around $50. The premium is therefore easy to price: a broker adding a service fee is charging $30 to $70 for a form you complete yourself.
Independent confirmation sits in the UK government’s travel advice, which tells British travelers the ETA is free and must be arranged online before departure. Guidance that still quotes a flat $50 for every nationality now describes only the non-exempt group.
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What the official ETA portal actually asks for
Verification is a domain question, and it takes seconds. Read the address bar rather than the page’s logo or the word “official” anywhere in its copy.
The check has to happen before the payment page, not after. A site charging a service fee above a few dollars is a third-party broker by definition, whatever it calls itself, and the total it shows should track your nationality’s rule.
Four signals that you are on a broker site rather than the government portal:
- Pricing that predates the current rules. A site quoting a high fee for every nationality is working from an old schedule.
- A separate service fee. The official portal charges the visa fee or nothing at all; brokers add their own line item.
- A domain that is not eta.gov.lk. Every variant, however official it looks, belongs to a private company.
- Sponsored placement. The top of a search page is bought space, so the first result is not automatically the official one.
Exceptions: extensions, double entry, and non-refundable fees
The free ETA comes with conditions that survived the price cut. Double entry is permitted for as long as the authorization remains valid, so a traveler can leave and re-enter without a second application.
Validity is the harder edge. A stay that runs past 30 days triggers extension fees even when the initial ETA cost nothing, which means a free entry is not a free long stay.
Refunds follow the calendar. Fees paid before 25 May 2026 are non-refundable under the official application pages, so the remedy for an old broker payment depends on its date, and on whether the money reached the government or a private company.
Anyone who paid a look-alike site after the change has a different route: a dispute with a card issuer rather than a refund claim against the state.
Three checks before you pay
The rules changed on 25 May 2026, so any checklist written before that date is worth ignoring. Everything below happens before a card number is entered.
- Type the domain, don’t click it. Open eta.gov.lk in a fresh tab; sponsored results and emailed links are how look-alike sites collect their traffic.
- Match the quote to your passport. The total you are shown should track your nationality’s rule on the official portal, and a service fee above a few dollars means you are on a broker site.
- Already paid a third party? Dispute the charge with your card issuer and keep the receipt and confirmation email, because the money went to a private company rather than to the government.
- Past 30 days on the itinerary? Apply for the extension rather than overstaying.
- Watch: the eligible-nationality list on the official portal, which is where any change to the free-ETA group will appear first.
Five minutes of checking costs nothing. If money has already moved, your card issuer is the first call, and the official portal is where you confirm what the correct total should have been.
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Questions? Answers.
What is the official Sri Lankan ETA website?
eta.gov.lk is the only official Sri Lankan government ETA portal. It carries the application details and the free-ETA rules for eligible travelers, and it is the address to confirm before entering any card details.
Are there fake visa sites for Sri Lanka?
The news brief names domains such as srilanka-visa.org and srilankavisa.com charging $80-$120, but those specific domains were not independently verified in the evidence set.
How do I recognize a fake visa site?
The clearest sign is the domain: if it is not eta.gov.lk, the site is not the government. Pricing that ignores the current nationality-based rules is a secondary signal.
Is ‘eVisa’ a legitimate website?
‘eVisa’ is a generic label, not proof of legitimacy. The deciding factor is whether the portal is the official Sri Lankan government ETA site, rather than what the operator calls its service.
What is the difference between an ETA and an eVisa?
Sri Lanka’s program is the ETA, its electronic travel authorization system. ‘eVisa’ is a broader term many countries use for online visas, so the two labels are not interchangeable.
