Sri Lanka used to be one of the few countries in South Asia with a visa written for retirees. The Department of Immigration and Emigration still publishes the page, the rules and the fee, but it now heads the programme “My Dream Home Visa Programme (Extension only for the existing visa holders)”, and every section below that heading is written for someone renewing.
This guide rests on four pages of the department’s own site, read on 24 September 2026: the My Dream Home page, the Resident Guest Scheme page, the list of residence visa categories and the visa fee schedule.
Where the site says it is closed
- The programme page carries the heading above.
- The residence visa list names it “My Dream Home Visa Programme (Extension only for existing visa holders)”.
- The fee schedule lists “My Dream Home Visa - Extension only” in its US$200 residence band, alongside the other residence classes.
The questions on the page were rewritten to match. The eligibility heading reads “What are the eligibility requirements for renewal Dream Home visa scheme ?”, and the first answer is “Any foreign national who has a Dream Home visa”. No answer covers anyone who does not.
What holders must keep up to renew
Renewal uses the old scheme’s money tests, unchanged.
The deposit. A holder “Should maintain US$15000 or the equivalent in an approved foreign currency in a fixed deposit account in an approved any bank in Sri Lanka.” The interest can be spent. The capital can be withdrawn only on leaving for good, and only with “prior approval from the Controller of Exchange in Sri Lanka through the Controller General of Immigration Emigration”.
The monthly remittance. The page asks for “A monthly remittance of US$ 1500” for the principal applicant and “US$ 750” for each spouse and dependent child, meaning children under 18 and unmarried. A couple needs US$2,250 a month arriving in a Sri Lankan bank account. The documents list names the source it expects: “Source of income (Pension / Superannuation)”.
The other conditions. Holders must:
- carry medical insurance valid in Sri Lanka;
- produce a Sri Lankan police clearance at each renewal;
- send the department a bank statement every six months;
- take “No paid or unpaid employment while staying in Sri Lanka”.
Tax is not waived: holders “are liable to pay relevant taxes.”
Length and fee. The visa is “02 years, renewable.” The fee is “USD 200 per year for each applicant, spouse and of dependent children over 16 years age.” Applications are handled “only at the Department of Immigration Emigration in Colombo.”
The Resident Guest Scheme is closed too, and was never for retirees
The other long-stay scheme carries the same heading and says: “This visa category only issues foreigners those who are already obtained this visa (extension only).”
It has two categories, and neither is built around a pension. One is an investor route, with a minimum of “US$ 250,000” remitted and invested in an approved project. The other is a professional route requiring “a minimum of US$ 2,000/- per month”.
What a retiree can still use: a tourist visa, extended
A new arrival has to build a long stay from the ordinary tourist route. The fee schedule says: “ETA or on arrival visa valid up to 30 days only. If the tourist stays more than 30 days, 30 day tourist visa should be extended.” The ETA is covered in our guide to applying for Sri Lanka’s ETA.
The extension table prices stays in three bands, and the fee depends on nationality. For most passports not named in the table:
| Stay | Fee |
|---|---|
| 31 to 90 days | USD 60 |
| 91 to 180 days | USD 150 |
| 181 to 270 days | USD 200 |
The table stops at 270 days. The page does not say whether a longer stay is possible after that, and we will not guess.
This is visitor status, not residence. It has no deposit or pension test and none of the settled footing a retirement visa gives, and the department decides each extension afresh.
Retiring elsewhere
Countries that still issue a retirement visa to new applicants are set out in our planner for retiring in Southeast Asia. The pension tests they apply are compared in how retirement visas measure a pension in a foreign currency.
The department could reverse the closure with little warning. The page this guide is built on is where it would say so.