sri lanka tourist visa (and how we almost missed our flight)

For anyone who plans to go to Sri Lanka and who may need a tourist visa, securing one is extremely easy. Sri Lanka requires everyone to apply for an electronic visa (which is called ETA or Electornic Travel Authorization) before arriving in the country. And it can be done in three simple steps.

1. Go to http://www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/ This site is also full of information regarding ETA.

2. Fill-out the application form.

3. Pay the 30USD fee and send.

Easy right? And the best thing is that your visa can be approved on the same day the you applied. I got mine in less than three hours while my friend got hers in just an hour.

And while we got our visa without going through any trouble, we almost missed our flight to Colombo.

Here's the thing. If you're like me who doesn't print travel documents (flight itinerary, accommodation bookings, etc.) for reasons that may include the following:

a) You don't have a printer.

b) You could use your office's printer but you're just too lazy.

c) You think it's such a waste of ink and precious paper when you can show them a copy from your smartphone.

then you might be in for some hassle.

Our flight to Colombo from Kuala Lumpur with AirAsia was in the mid-morning. Since there aren’t any flights from Manila to KL past midnight, we opted to take the early evening flight and spend a night at Tune Hotel, which is a real value-for-money. We took our time the next morning, knowing that KLIA2 is just a few hundred steps away. Thinking that checking in would be fast, we only went to the airport about an hour before our scheduled flight.

The airport was a bit packed and there are queues in all the counters. We searched for the shortest line and luckily, the queue was moving fairly fast.

When it was our turn, the check-in staff asked us if we have the visa. Ail came prepared and had all her documents printed. I, on the other hand, took out my phone and showed her the e-mail confirmation of my approved visa bearing my name, passport number and ETA number. She asked if I have a printed copy and told her that I don’t. To my surprise and utter disappointment, she said that I need to have those details in paper before I could check-in for my flight. She then asked her colleague and confirmed that it was actually a requirement. She told me to go to the lounge and have my e-visa printed.

The lounge they were talking about was located at the shopping area. I spent a couple of minutes looking for it and getting confused and feeling really anxious because we only had a few minutes left before check-in closed. When I finally found it, I got confused again because in my mind I thought I was going to some sort of an internet café but all I could see was a front desk and two girls who looked like receptionists. Was I in the wrong place?

I told them what I wanted and thankfully, I was in the right place. I forwarded them the e-mail and my fingers were trembling as I tapped my phone. I had the printed copy of my e-visa in no time and it was probably the most expensive printing service I had ever paid. For a piece of paper with a few words printed in black, I paid 3 MYR (approximately 35 pesos). But hey, that paper was also worth my our whole trip.

I hurriedly ran back to the counters. I may already have the paper but we were still in danger of running out of time. I found Ail who was already next-in-line. I know she wouldn't leave without me but she would also never forgive me if we missed the flight. We got to check-in a few minutes before the counter closed. We were so worried we would miss the flight that even if we knew we had more than enough time, we still ran to get to our assigned boarding gate.

While waiting to get boarded, I realized all the running that we did wasn't necessary. And that we were still lucky. We were already seated inside the plane for some time when the last passenger arrived who, based on listening to his conversation with the flight attendant, I was sure made the same mistake of not printing his e-visa and arriving at the airport just in the nick of time. He was just a bit unlucky because he had to leave some of his stuff because he wasn't allowed to check-in his baggage anymore.

So, remember to print your e-visa when going to Sri Lanka.

Note: The FAQ section of the ETA website says that the "ETA is not a pre-condition to board a flight/vessel to Sri Lanka." I found out about it only now.