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.

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 8 countries and territories may visit Egypt without a visa for 3 months:^[1]

Bahrain  Hong Kong  Kuwait  Macao

Oman  Qatar  Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates

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
•  Libya – provided being a female national or for residents of Butnan District on Sundays and Mondays.^[7]
•  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
•  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
•  Tunisia – provided being aged 14 years and below
•  Yemen – provided being aged 45 years and above or 18 years and below

If travelling as part of the tourist group that consists of at least 10 persons citizens of Algeria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belize, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Moldova (except females aged between 15 and 35), Morocco, Nicaragua, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, Turkey and Vietnam 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 (except nationals of Syria) born to an Egyptian fathers and also holders of proof of having an Egyptian mother and being born after 25 July 2004 (except nationals of Syria). Visa exemption also applies to wives (except nationals of Syria) of Egyptian nationals holding proof of marriage.^[1]

Visa on arrival

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]

All European Union countries  Australia  Canada  Georgia  Japan  Macedonia  Malaysia

New Zealand  Norway  Republic of Korea  Russian Federation  Serbia  Ukraine  United States

According to the data Egyptian Government provided to IATA citizens of all countries 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, China, 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, 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, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (except those aged below 20 and above 45), Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.^[1]

Sinai resorts permission stamp

Sinai 15 day permission stamp

According to the Egyptian Consulate General in the United Kingdom citizens of the following countries 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]

• All European Union countries
•  Israel – only through Taba Border Crossing.^[9]
•  United States

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 83 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, China, 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, Lebanon, 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, 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, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia.^[8]

Transit without a visa

Holders of onward tickets can transit for a maximum time of 12 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 12 hours. 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]

•  Iran
•  Iraq
•  Kazakhstan
•  Kosovo
•  Lebanon
•  Sri Lanka
•  Syria

This requirement also applies to housemaids being nationals of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, citizens of Belize of Lebanese origin, citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina of Egyptian origin, citizens of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia if they require a visa, citizens of China if their visa was issued outside China, citizens 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) aged between 18 and 40, and male nationals of Libya who require a visa.^[1]

Visa exemption for non-ordinary passports

Holders of the following diplomatic, official, service or special passports do not require a visa for Egypt:^[10]

Albania ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Algeria ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Argentina ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Armenia ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Austria ^D ^S  Belarus ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Bolivia ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Bosnia and Herzegovina ^D  Brazil ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Chile ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  China ^D ^S  Croatia ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Cuba ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Cyprus ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Czech Republic ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Denmark ^D ^S  Ecuador ^D ^O ^Sp  Gabon ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Georgia ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Greece ^D ^S  Guinea ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Hungary ^D  India ^D ^O  Italy ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Jordan ^D ^O ^S ^Sp

Kazakhstan ^D  Libya ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Macedonia ^D ^O ^Sp  Malaysia ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Montenegro ^D  Morocco ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Pakistan ^D  Palestine ^D  Paraguay ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Peru ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Philippines ^D  Portugal ^D ^Sp  Russia ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Serbia ^D  Slovakia ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Slovenia ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  South Africa ^D ^O  South Korea ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Spain ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Sudan ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Tunisia ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Turkey ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Uruguay ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Vietnam ^D ^O ^S ^Sp  Yemen ^D ^O ^S ^Sp

_{D — diplomatic passports
O — official passports
S — service passports
Sp — special passports}

See also

• Visa requirements for Egyptian citizens

References

1. "Visa Information". Timatic. IATA. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
3. Egypt to require pre-obtained visas for foreigners of any nationality
4. Egypt tightening visa rule for individual visitors
5. Egypt reverses visa on arrival ban for Britons
6. Updating on the new rule for visa:
7. Libya and Egypt agree border residents can cross frontier without visas
8. "Visas - General Information". Egyptian Consulate General in UK. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
9. Tourist Visa Table