Inhabitants of 41 countries, including the United Kingdom, will be able to apply for an electronic visa if they want to visit Egypt. It is no longer necessary to apply for a physical visa. Applying for the digital Egypt visa can be done entirely online.
You won’t need to visit the embassy any longer to apply for a visa there. Late 2019, Egypt introduced the possibility to apply for a visa online. Now, the system is ready to be used.
Visa for British nationals
Egypt created the digital visa to make it as easy as possible for tourists to travel to Egypt with the right visa. Furthermore, the online visa program makes it so applications for an Egypt visa are processed faster. Finally, the digital visa system helps the country to better monitor who crosses the border.
Applying for a visa can be done in 41 selected countries, including the United Kingdom. The United States, Canada, France and Belgium are also part of this program. Possession of an Egypt visa is mandatory for British travellers to make it past the passport check in Egypt. Travellers without a visa will be refused entry.
All travellers must possess a valid Egypt visa. Children travelling along must have their own Egypt visa as well, even if they are included in the passports of their parents. You are only able to enter Egypt with a valid visa.
Example of an Egypt visa
Single use
As per the policy of the Egyptian government, this concerns a single entry Egypt visa. This means that it can only be used to enter Egypt once. Furthermore, travellers cannot stay in Egypt for longer than 30 days on a single visa. The visa is mandatory for anyone wanting to travel to Egypt on, for example, a holiday or business.
Tourism in Egypt
Tourism is extremely important for Egypt. The tourism sector represents 12 percent of the total economy of Egypt. The last few years tourism in Egypt dropped somewhat, in part due to the shooting down of a Russian airplane over the Sinai desert in October 2015. 224 passengers lost their lives. Ever since then, tourism earnings in Egypt have been dropping.
In 2015, Egyptian beaches and other attractions brought in about 9,3 million dollars. This was 14,7 million dollars in 2010. For this reason, Egypt introduced the online Egypt visa in late 2017. The visa is meant to make it easier for travellers to apply for a valid travel document.
Egypt visa application
Before leaving for Egypt, British travellers must possess a valid Egypt visa. This is an official travel authorisation from the Egyptian immigration service. This means that when you have applied for and received the Egypt visa, you will be allowed to enter Egypt.
When applying for the visa, you can choose from a variety of different visas. That’s why travellers must indicate their travel purpose when applying for the digital visa. There are visas for: going on a holiday, going on a business trip, a work visa or an emigration visa. Travellers that want to go to Egypt for their holiday can apply for the Egypt visa online. For all other travel purposes, you still need to go to the Egyptian consulate to apply for and receive the visa there.
Applying for the Egypt visa costs £54.95 for a ‘single entry’visa and £89.90 for a ‘multiple entry’ visa. If you are travelling as a group, you are required to submit a group application. Paying can be done with visa, MasterCard, American Express and PayPal.
Egypt visa
Single entry or multiple entry
When applying for the Egypt visa you need to choose between the single entry visa and the multiple entry visa. With the single entry variant, the traveller can only enter the country once. With the multiple entry visa, you can travel in and out of Egypt an unlimited number of times, as long as the visa is valid.
The tourist visa has a validity of up to 90 days. You are allowed to stay in Egypt for a maximum of 30 consecutive days. With a multiple entry visa, the traveller can enter and leave Egypt within this 90 day period. Each stay, however, can only last a maximum of 30 days. It is permitted to change travel plans after the visa has already been granted. However, the arrival and departure dates must lie within these 90 days.
Requirements
The visa for Egypt comes with a number of requirements. To apply for an Egypt visa, the traveller must have a valid passport. Emergency passports or temporary residency documents are excluded. The passport must be valid for at least 8 more months after arriving in Egypt.
Furthermore, you need to possess a letter of invitation if you are travelling to friends or family in Egypt. It can be useful to make an itinerary which contains all of the booked flights and hotels. Print the visa and the itinerary and take it along in your hand luggage. The Egyptian authorities might ask for it. If you are travelling as a group, a group visa application must be submitted.
Apply for the Egypt visa well on time, and print it as soon as it has been issued. Take it along on your trip. You can already apply for the visa even before the flight ticket has been booked. You do need to have established at least one overnight stay. Approval takes place 30 days before the planned date of arrival. Apply for the visa at least seven days before departure. It’s possible to submit an urgent application for a minor fee. These are generally approved within two days. There are no guarantees that the Egypt visa will be delivered on time.
Please note: this news article about the visa for Egypt is more than one year old. It might contain outdated information and advice, and no rights can therefore be derived from this article. Are you going on a trip soon and do you wish to do know what rules currently apply? Read all about the up-to-date information about the visa for Egypt.