Sri Lanka Visas, Taxes and Money for Digital Nomads

Sri Lanka’s Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) is a residence visa run by the Department of Immigration and Emigration, with a recommendation from the Ministry of Digital Economy. It was officially launched on 26 February 2026, when the first visas were handed over at Bandaranaike International Airport.

You must be 18 or over and work remotely in one of three ways:

• Employed by a company outside Sri Lanka.
• Freelance, serving clients outside Sri Lanka.
• Business owner, with a business that isn’t registered in Sri Lanka and serves clients abroad.

All your income must come from foreign sources. You can’t take local employment or work for Sri Lankan clients; to do that you would need an employment residence visa instead.

The test is unusual: you must remit at least $2,000 a month into Sri Lanka, not just earn it. The money has to arrive in foreign currency through a bank, and you show proof of the remittances with your application. If you bring more than two dependants, you must remit an extra $500 a month for each one beyond two. Only the main applicant’s income counts.

• Completed visa application form and a request letter.
• A copy of your passport, valid for at least six months, and two recent passport photos.
• A completed security clearance form.
• A medical clearance report, done in Sri Lanka.
• A police clearance certificate from your home country or country of residence, no more than three months old.
• International health insurance that covers medical care in Sri Lanka.
• The recommendation from the Ministry of Digital Economy.
• Proof of the monthly remittance for you and your dependants.
• A marriage certificate for a spouse and birth certificates for children.

The visa is valid for one year and is renewable annually, with no limit on renewals published so far. It’s multiple entry. To renew, you submit the same documents again plus proof that you are registered for tax with the Inland Revenue Department. You must tell Immigration within 30 days of any change in your job, income or dependants, and breaking the conditions can lead to immediate cancellation.

• $500 a year for the main applicant.
• $500 a year for a spouse.
• $500 a year for each dependant.

A couple with two children pays $2,000 a year. Medical clearance, police certificates, translations and insurance are extra.

1. Enter Sri Lanka on a tourist ETA.
2. Get a recommendation from the Ministry of Digital Economy.
3. Do the medical clearance and gather the other documents.
4. Submit the application to the Residence Visa Division of the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla, Colombo.
5. After evaluation, the visa is endorsed in your passport.

Leave plenty of time before your tourist stay runs out, and extend it if needed while you wait.

Your spouse and dependent children can be included, at $500 a year each. You must remit an extra $500 a month for each dependant beyond two. Children can be enrolled in international or private schools.

The DNV has no special tax regime, so the normal rules below apply. In practice, if you stay more than 183 days, you become tax resident, and the remote income you remit into Sri Lanka through a bank is taxed at no more than 15%. Proof of tax registration is required for renewal, so DNV holders who stay are expected to be in the tax system.

Sri Lanka doesn’t have visa-free entry in the usual sense. Almost everyone needs an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), applied for online at the official ETA website before you travel.

• Free ETA: since 25 May 2026, the 30-day tourist ETA has been free for citizens of 40 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, India and much of Europe. It allows double entry within the 30 days.
• Other nationalities: a 30-day tourist ETA costs $50, or $20 for South Asian countries. Visas on arrival cost more, so apply in advance.
• Children under 12 get a free tourist ETA.

Tourists can’t work for Sri Lankan employers or clients. A tourist ETA doesn’t cover business visits, which need a business ETA.

You can extend a tourist visa after arrival, online through the immigration e-services portal or in person at the head office in Battaramulla. Extensions run up to 270 days from your arrival date. Typical fees for Western nationalities are:

• Up to 90 days: $100 (about $60 for many other nationalities).
• Up to 180 days: $150 ($200 for US citizens).
• Up to 270 days: $200.

An extension is single entry and is cancelled once you leave Sri Lanka, so plan side trips before you extend, or come back on a new ETA. Processing can take a week or two, so apply well before your current stay ends.

If you leave within 7 days of your visa expiring, you just pay the visa fee at the airport. Beyond that, the penalty is $250 for an overstay of up to 14 days and $500 for longer, on top of the visa fee. Long overstays can also lead to detention, deportation and a ban, and will count against a DNV application.

This is a general guide, not tax advice. Sri Lanka’s tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March.

• Tax residents, generally people in Sri Lanka for 183 days or more in any 12-month period, are taxed on worldwide income. Non-residents are taxed only on Sri Lankan income.
• Normal rates since April 2025: a personal relief of LKR 1.8 million, then 6% on the next LKR 1 million, rising through 18%, 24% and 30% to 36% on income above LKR 4.3 million a year.
• Foreign income remitted through a bank, including service exports paid in foreign currency, is capped at a maximum rate of 15%. This replaced the earlier tax exemption on foreign income from 1 April 2025.

Your home country may still tax you, especially if you are a US citizen. Sri Lanka has double tax treaties with many countries. If you stay beyond six months or hold a DNV, get advice from a Sri Lankan accountant. Our taxes for digital nomads guide explains the general principles.

Sri Lanka uses the Sri Lankan rupee (LKR), at roughly 300 rupees to the US dollar. Cards and contactless payment work in hotels, supermarkets, chain restaurants and many tourist cafes, but tuk-tuks, buses, small shops and markets want cash. Bring some US dollars or euros as a backup; money changers in Colombo and tourist towns give fair rates.

ATMs are common in towns. Foreign cards usually pay a fee per withdrawal, and limits per transaction can be low. Always decline the machine’s currency conversion and choose rupees.

DNV holders can open personal bank accounts, including special foreign-currency and rupee accounts for visa programme holders, which make the monthly remittance straightforward. Large banks such as Bank of Ceylon, Commercial Bank, Sampath Bank and HNB have branches across the island. A local account gives you LankaQR payments, accepted at many shops, and easy rent payments. Tourists usually manage with Wise or Revolut cards and cash.