Sri Lanka Visa Extension Fee Calculator

The Department of Immigration & Emigration (DoI) publishes its Schedule of Visa Fees as a per-category, per-nationality table. Every visa category has four cost components, each of which the calculator itemises so you can audit the math by hand:

1. Free initial period — the days included in your entry visa or ETA at no extra cost. 30 days for tourist and business visas; 0 for residence categories (the issuance fee covers the first annual block directly).
2. Per-block extension fee — billed for each started 30-day block (tourist/business) or 365-day block (residence). The DoI charges per started block, so a 31-day overstay request pays for two full 30-day extensions.
3. One-time visa-issue charge — applied once on the first paid block. Skipped entirely when your requested stay sits inside the free initial period.
4. Per-applicant service charge — zero for online (eServices) submissions, USD 5 for in-person processing at the Battaramulla head office. Multiplied by the number of applicants.

Internally the formula is the same one published on the DoI's Visit Visa extension page:

paidDays   = max(0, min(desiredDays, maxDays) − freeDays)
units      = ceil(paidDays / unitDays)
perPerson  = (units > 0 ? issueFee : 0)
           + units × unitFee
           + serviceFee(channel)
totalUSD   = perPerson × applicants
totalLKR   = round(totalUSD × indicativeRate)

The calculator also runs a second pass through calculateVisaExtensionByDoIFormula — an independent implementation of the same aggregate — and only renders the "DoI formula verified" badge when both paths agree to the cent. That cross-check protects against a regression in either method.

Why nationality bracket matters

The DoI schedule has separate columns for SAARC and non-SAARC passport-holders. SAARC nationals (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Afghanistan) pay roughly half the non-SAARC rate on tourist and business extensions — USD 15 versus USD 30 per 30-day block on the current schedule. The Cabinet-designated free-visa pilot list, which is set by ministerial order and changes occasionally, gives a free 30-day initial entry but charges non-SAARC rates for extensions — so the long-stay cost is unaffected by the free-entry benefit. Residence categories do not differentiate by SAARC status; the per-year fee is flat across nationalities for Employment, Investor, Student, Dependent and Religious sub-categories.

Tourist versus residence — when to switch

For a single trip under 180 days, the tourist visa is almost always cheaper because the per-month rate stays low. Once you cross the 90-day mark and you have a reason to come back within a year, the math flips: a 365-day residence visa (USD 200 for student, dependent or employment) costs roughly the same as four tourist extensions but lets you exit and re-enter freely within the year. Investors and BOI-sponsored employees should compare the visa cost against the BOI levy and tax structure before picking a path. The calculator deliberately separates the seven categories so you can plug in each and compare the totals side by side.

Edge cases and what the calculator does not include

The 180-day tourist cap is enforced as a hard ceiling — requesting 365 days returns the cost of the maximum 180-day stay plus a warning to switch category. Overstay penalties are excluded by design: airport fines are discretionary and assessed on the spot, so any quoted figure would mislead. Document-attestation fees (e.g. notarisation of a sponsor letter), translation fees and the cost of mailing original documents back from Battaramulla are also excluded. The stored Rs 302/USD indicative rate (CBSL, verified 2026-05-17) is a snapshot — refresh against the CBSL daily rate on payment day for the exact rupee figure. Live FX integration is on the v2 roadmap.

Three scenarios that map to the most common Sri Lankan visa-extension cases, worked end-to-end. Try each in the calculator above — every line should reconcile to the dollar.

• DoI — Schedule of Visa Fees (official table by category and nationality)
• DoI — Visit Visa extension page (rules, free period, ceil-month rule)
• DoI — Residence Visa categories (Employment, Investor, Student, Dependent, Religious)
• DoI eServices portal (the place to actually file the extension)
• Central Bank of Sri Lanka — Daily indicative exchange rates (USD → LKR)

The fee schedule was last cross-checked against the DoI sources on 2026-05-17. The stored CBSL USD-LKR indicative rate (Rs 302/USD) was verified on 2026-05-17. Both are reviewed quarterly and after any DoI fee circular. If you spot a discrepancy with the live DoI page, email me using the contact line at the bottom of the page.