Visa policy of Egypt

Visitors to Egypt must obtain a visa from one of the Egyptian diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries or countries that are eligible for visa on arrival.[1] Visitors must hold passports that are valid for at least 6 months from the date of arrival to Egypt.

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In March 2015 it was announced that all foreigners travelling to Egypt for tourism will require visas in advance as of May 15, 2015. The only exemption will be for organized groups visiting through an Egyptian travel agency.[2][3][4] In April 2015 Egyptian authorities announced that they have reversed the decision until an electronic visa system is in place.[5][6]

Visa policy map
Visa policy of Egypt according to sources

Visa exemption

Citizens of the following 10 countries and territories may visit Egypt without a visa for 3 months (unless otherwise noted):[1][7][8]

The visa-free regime also applies to the citizens of the following countries under certain conditions:[1]

  •  Afghanistan – provided being aged 50 years and above or 16 years and below
  •  Algeria – provided being aged 14 years and below
  •  China – provided holding a return/onward ticket, a hotel reservation confirmation in a 4 or 5 star rating hotel and an equivalent of US$2000.
  •  Libya – provided being a female national or for residents of Butnan District on Sundays and Mondays.[13]
  •  Jordan – if holding a normal 5-year passport, provided passport does not contain a stamp from the Jordanian Registration Office on the reverse side cover of the passport (on page 60)
  •  Lebanon – provided being aged 50 years and above or 16 years and below (for all Egypt), visa not required for Alexandria and South Sinai (for all ages)
  •  Morocco – provided being aged 14 years and below
  •  Sudan – provided being aged 50 years and above or 16 years and below or being a female national
  •  South Sudan – provided being aged 50 years and above or 16 years and below or being a female national
  •  Tunisia – provided being aged 14 years and below
  •  Yemen – provided being aged 50 years and above or 16 years and below or traveling for medical reasons

Travel document issued by Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria to female Palestinian or to male Palestinian who are older than 40 years or younger than 18 years.

If travelling as part of the tourist group that consists of at least 5 persons citizens of Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belize, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Moldova (except females aged between 15 and 35), Nicaragua, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Turkey who hold a return ticket, booked accommodation, and a signed guarantee letter from a travel agency, do not require a visa for Egypt.[1]

Visa exemption also applies to sons and daughters born to an Egyptian father (except nationals of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Qatar), to an Egyptian mother if born after 25 July 2004 (except nationals of Syria, Iraq, Qatar, and Yemen), and to wives of Egyptian nationals holding proof of marriage (except nationals of Syria, Iraq, Morocco, and Qatar).

Visa on arrival
Egyptian visa on arrival

According to the Egyptian Consulate General in the United Kingdom, citizens of the following countries can obtain visa upon arrival at any of the Egyptian ports of entry:[8]

1 - Nationals of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal can enter with a national ID card. They must bring a passport photo to be affixed to the visa.

On 17 December 2020, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt announced the activation of a decree that allows tourists holding valid visas from the US, the UK, or Schengen countries to apply for visa on arrival at airports in Egypt.[14]

Citizens of  Turkey can obtain a visa on arrival if provided being aged 45 years and above or 18 years and below or having residence permit issued by Australia, Canada, USA and an EU Member state

Citizens of  Sudan can obtain a visa on arrival residence permit issued by Australia, Canada, USA and an EU Member state

Passengers with a residence permit issued by a GCC Member State can obtain a visa on arrival for a maximum stay of 30 days. The residence permit must be valid for a minimum of 6 months from the arrival date.

According to data that the Egyptian Government provided to IATA, citizens of any country may obtain a visa on arrival to Egypt valid for 30 days, except for the citizens of the following 84 countries and territories: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, R Congo, DR Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, DPR Korea, R Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon (except Alexandria and South Sinai), Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Qatar, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (except those aged below 18 and above 45), Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.[1]

Electronic visa
Egypt electronic visa eligibility
  Egypt
  eVisa eligible

From 3 December 2017 citizens of 46 countries may apply for tourist or business types of visa for 30 days online through the eVisa system.[15]

Sinai resorts permission stamp
Sinai 15-day permission stamp

According to the Egyptian Consulate General in the United Kingdom citizens of all European Union countries, the United States, and Israel (only through Taba Border Crossing[16]) do not require a visa prior to travelling as a free entry permission stamp will be granted upon arrival if they are travelling to Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba resorts only without leaving them and for a maximum of 14 days:[8]

According to the data Egyptian Government provided to IATA citizens of all countries may obtain a Sinai resort visa on arrival at Sharm el-Sheikh, Saint Catherine or Taba airports valid for 15 days except for the citizens of the following 81 countries and territories: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, R Congo, DR Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, DPR Korea, R Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (except those aged below 20 and above 45), Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.[1]

Authorised visa required

According to the Egyptian Consulate General in the United Kingdom visitors holding passports of the following countries must apply for a visa in person and a visa approval must be sought for them from the competent Authorities in Egypt and takes several weeks to process — Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Moldova, Morocco, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Tunisia, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines,[17] Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Somalia.[8]

Transit without a visa

Holders of onward tickets can transit for a maximum time of 48 hours. This is not applicable to nationals of Iran who are required to hold a transit visa. Leaving the airport is permitted for passengers with transit time between 6 and 48 hours. Passengers with transit time of less than 6 hours may leave the transit area but not the airport. This is not applicable to nationals of Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine and Philippines who must remain in the transit area (airside) and must continue by the same or first connecting aircraft.[1]

State Security approval

Citizens of the following countries need a prior approval from the Egyptian State Security Authorities in addition to holding a visa:[1]

This also applies to maids who are nationals of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, and to citizens of Belize of Lebanese origin, of Bosnia and Herzegovina of Egyptian origin, of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia if they require a visa, of China if their visa was issued outside China, of Sudan if they are residing outside Sudan, female citizens of Moldova aged between 15 and 35, male citizens of Palestine (and those holding a Jordanian passport with a stamp from the Jordanian Registration Office) Libya who require a visa.[1]

Visa exemption for non-ordinary passports
Visa policy of Egypt for holders of diplomatic or official and service category passports
  Egypt
  Visa free access for diplomatic and official/service category passports
  Visa free access for diplomatic passports

Holders of the following diplomatic, official, service or special passports do not require a visa for Egypt:[18]

D — diplomatic passports
O — official passports
S — service passports
Sp — special passports

Visa exemption agreement for diplomatic passports was signed with  Lithuania on 25 February 2019 but not yet ratified.[19]

See also

References
  1. "Country information (visa section)". Timatic. International Air Transport Association (IATA) through Olympic Air. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  2. "Cairo Post". Cairo Post. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  3. Egypt to require pre-obtained visas for foreigners of any nationality
  4. "Egypt tightening visa rule for individual visitors". dailystar.com.lb. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  5. AP; Porter, Lizzie (5 February 2016). "Egypt reverses visa on arrival ban for Britons". Retrieved 3 April 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. "Consulate General of the Arab Republic of Egypt in UK - EgyptianConsulate.co.uk". www.egyptianconsulate.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  7. "Egypt ends visa-free entry for Qatari citizens". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  8. "Visas - General Information". Egyptian Consulate General in UK. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  9. "Lebanese to enter Egypt without visa, other Arab nationalities to soon follow - Egypt Independent". egyptindependent.com. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  10. "Lebanese to enter Egypt's Alexandria without visa on new charter airline". english.alarabiya.net. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. "Lebanese Nationals Can Now Travel to Alexandria Without a Visa". Cairo Scene. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  12. "Consulate General of the Arab Republic of Egypt in UK - EgyptianConsulate.co.uk". www.egyptianconsulate.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  13. "Libya and Egypt agree border residents can cross frontier without visas". libyaherald.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  14. https://twitter.com/tourismandantiq/status/1339332445624291329?s=21
  15. "Egypt e-Visa Portal". Ministry of Interior (Egypt). Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  16. "Tourist Visa Table" (PDF). mfa.gov.il. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  17. "Egypt Tourist Visa Application Requirements for Filipinos – Egypt Embassy, Manila – Diamzon Travel Diaries". www.diamzon.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  19. https://mobile.twitter.com/LinkeviciusL/status/1100059839340789760
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