Sri Lankan passports are issued to citizens of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 for the purpose of international travel. The Department of Immigration and Emigration is responsible for issuing Sri Lankan passports.

Types

• Diplomatic Passport - Issued to Sri Lankan diplomat
  Diplomat
  A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
  
  s, top ranking government officials and diplomatic courier
  Diplomatic courier
  A diplomatic courier is an official who transports diplomatic bags as sanctioned under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Couriers are granted diplomatic immunity and are thereby protected by the receiving state from arrest and detention when performing their work...
  
  s.
• Official Passport - Issued to individuals representing the Sri Lankan government on official/state business
• Ordinary Passport - Issued for ordinary travel, such as vacations and business trips
  • Valid for all countries
  • Valid for specified countries
• Emergency Certificate
  • Valid for India and Nepal (for Pilgrimage and medical treatment)
  • Valid for Saudi Arabia (only for Haj and Umrah pilgrimage)
• Non Machine Readable Passports - Issued by Sri Lanka Missions under special circumstances

All newly issued passports will have a maximum validity of ten years from the date of issue under the Immigrants and Emigrants Act, regardless of when the previous passport (if any) was issued.

Passport note

Each Sri Lankan passport contains on its inside cover the words in Sinhala, Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 & English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

:

The President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka requests and requires in all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.