Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by HEPZIBAH »

BENNU wrote:
HEPZIBAH wrote: it is... exempt from the need for a visa for UK, USA and EU visitors...
I have spent enough time among expats in Luxor to know that UK is not Europe :D but I thought that you guys were still members of the union..? :? ;)
I'm not a guy so what would I know! ;)

From memory (which does fail all too often) that is how the Egyptian Embassy word it.


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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Bullet Magnet »

I can confirm that we didn't need a Visa for Sharm last month, and we didn't get one when we went out for the day on an organised trip. ( still within the Sinai but well and truly out of the resort of Sharks Bay)

Since Sharm is the main tourist area at the moment, this 5 LE increase is going to have little effect on government coffers, and in my mind, badly timed given the tourist situation..
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Alistair1967 »

The main income will be from people on trips from Sinai resorts like Sharm, to Luxor, Aswan or Cairo, who will of course require a single-entry visa. So from that perspective, the increase does make sense.

As far as I'm aware, the Sinai is visa-free as long as you don't leave it during your stay. There might a few exceptions like the Ras Mohammed National Park, but you can certainly go to St. Catherine's with nothing more than maybe a cursory passport check on the last checkpoint outside Sharm.
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by HEPZIBAH »

The actual wording on the Egyptian Consulate in the UK website :

Nationals from UK , EU and USA travelling to Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba resorts ONLY, for a maximum of 14 DAYS, do not require a visa prior to travelling as a free entry permission stamp will be granted upon arrival. If they intend to travel outside of the above mentioned areas they MUST obtain a Visa.


For other nationalities see the full information:
http://www.egyptianconsulate.co.uk/visas.php
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Winged Isis »

My first couple of visits, my agent couriered my passport to our capital city to be processed at the Egy embassy, which took a number of weeks. Then I heard on here about buying at the banks; money ready, I get one in a minute or so. Even buying it at the new price on arrival, it's about one third the cost via the agent. No complaints from this little antipodean.

I am just grateful to Keefy for posting this news on Facebook, as I had exactly US$15 left from my last trip, kept in my passport folder for my forthcoming departure Monday week, otherwise I wouldn't have known. A visit to the Travelex ATM yesterday saved me an unknown amount of possible bother at the other end.

Cheers, Keefy! :wi
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Yildez »

At $15 it must be one of the cheapest entry visa's in the world! As a regular visitor I'm more than happy to pay it.
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by HEPZIBAH »

Yildez wrote:At $15 it must be one of the cheapest entry visa's in the world! As a regular visitor I'm more than happy to pay it.
Ah! But are you prepared to pay $20? That is the big question. Is it going to stop you from visiting and give you a bad image of Egypt? ;)
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by newcastle »

HEPZIBAH wrote:
Yildez wrote:At $15 it must be one of the cheapest entry visa's in the world! As a regular visitor I'm more than happy to pay it.
Ah! But are you prepared to pay $20? That is the big question. Is it going to stop you from visiting and give you a bad image of Egypt? ;)
(Tongue firmly I cheek)
I will hand over my $20....reluctantly...and with a note pinned to it requesting that the increment be specifically applied to the provision of toilet paper in the airport loos. :xx
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Bombay »

The tourist Visa with the increase works out little more than the cost in 2010 as the exchange rates are much higher I think its about £1.50 more.
It does not apply to Sharm unless you travel out of Sinai.
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Winged Isis »

It's a pittance in the great scheme of things, and any tourist who gets put off going to Egypt because of it, well, I won't say what I would really think of them. Egypt needs every piastre we can afford.
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by BENNU »

HEPZIBAH wrote:
Nationals from UK , EU and USA travelling to Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba resorts ONLY, for a maximum of 14 DAYS, do not require a visa prior to travelling as a free entry permission stamp will be granted upon arrival. If they intend to travel outside of the above mentioned areas they MUST obtain a Visa.
Greetings from "La Passage" :|

My flight from Copenhagen was delayed so I missed my connection to Luxor and have spent some hours here in Cairo :cry: :zz . A woman on the plane was going to Sharm el Sheikh and was annoyed that she had to get a visa just to go to this hotel for a few hours. I argued that it was unfair, but she accepted and we got a transfer to this smelly hotel :br . What provoked us was not so much that she had to buy a visa, it was that noone at immigration believed us, they had never heard of this rule! She just knocked on my door, both our planes leave at 5AM, inshallah. :yawn: :zz

:le:
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Yildez »

HEPZIBAH wrote:
Yildez wrote:At $15 it must be one of the cheapest entry visa's in the world! As a regular visitor I'm more than happy to pay it.
Ah! But are you prepared to pay $20? That is the big question. Is it going to stop you from visiting and give you a bad image of Egypt? ;)
(Tongue firmly I cheek)
Absolutely not Hepzibah! At $20 it's still cheap in my opinion.

Here in Turkey the Visa system has recently changed. An E-Visa has to be bought online for $20, so a small increase on the previous £10. For the time being those without an E-Visa will still be able to buy one on entry, but the cost will be £20, and by next year all visas will be issued online. There will be on-line kiosks on entry but credit cards will have to be used, no cash accepted. A tourist visa cannot be extended, as it can in Egypt, and the regulations for stays longer than 90 days are both complicated and expensive.

I smile to myself when I read posts about long term visas in Egypt - here you have to provide evidence of up to date health insurance, prove that you have a minimum income of £250 a week, provide a legally notorised rent agreement or the deeds to your property - etc etc etc. Working is illegal without a Work Permit, which is difficult to get as the employer has to prove he can't employ a Turk to do the job, and if you're caught you're deported the next day and banned from re-entering Turkey for 5 years.
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by HEPZIBAH »

BENNU wrote:
HEPZIBAH wrote:
Nationals from UK , EU and USA travelling to Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba resorts ONLY, for a maximum of 14 DAYS, do not require a visa prior to travelling as a free entry permission stamp will be granted upon arrival. If they intend to travel outside of the above mentioned areas they MUST obtain a Visa.
Greetings from "La Passage" :|

My flight from Copenhagen was delayed so I missed my connection to Luxor and have spent some hours here in Cairo :cry: :zz . A woman on the plane was going to Sharm el Sheikh and was annoyed that she had to get a visa just to go to this hotel for a few hours. I argued that it was unfair, but she accepted and we got a transfer to this smelly hotel :br . What provoked us was not so much that she had to buy a visa, it was that noone at immigration believed us, they had never heard of this rule! She just knocked on my door, both our planes leave at 5AM, inshallah. :yawn: :zz

:le:
I've often wondered what the situation was for 'persons in transit'. I've sort of assumed that if they are delayed and remain at the airport airside then they would not require a visa but if they chose to leave the airport, e.g go on a sight seeing tour for the day, then they would require a visa. It may come down to the choice (was choice given?) of spending x hours in the transfer departure lounge (holding pen) at Cairo airport or the comforts of a hotel.

Returning from Luxor to the UK I was once delayed at Cairo for more than 8 hours - it may have been more like 12 hours, I can't remember now. I was not given the option to go to a hotel (I discovered later that passengers who had arrived at Cairo later than me had been transferred to a hotel and had a lovely day by the pool) and my passport was held for the whole time. I even had to beg for a voucher for a drink - not so much as a cup of water was offered or available in the waiting area. Thankfully, Egyptair/BMI made up for it when I was, to my great surprise, given an upgrade on the London flight.
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by HEPZIBAH »

Yildez wrote:
HEPZIBAH wrote:
Yildez wrote:At $15 it must be one of the cheapest entry visa's in the world! As a regular visitor I'm more than happy to pay it.
Ah! But are you prepared to pay $20? That is the big question. Is it going to stop you from visiting and give you a bad image of Egypt? ;)
(Tongue firmly I cheek)
Absolutely not Hepzibah! At $20 it's still cheap in my opinion.
Absolutely agree!
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by HEPZIBAH »

newcastle wrote:
HEPZIBAH wrote:
Yildez wrote:At $15 it must be one of the cheapest entry visa's in the world! As a regular visitor I'm more than happy to pay it.
Ah! But are you prepared to pay $20? That is the big question. Is it going to stop you from visiting and give you a bad image of Egypt? ;)
(Tongue firmly I cheek)
I will hand over my $20....reluctantly...and with a note pinned to it requesting that the increment be specifically applied to the provision of toilet paper in the airport loos. :xx

Ah! Now I'm sure that toilet paper in the airport loos is a sensitive issue (unlike the newspapers some people use for same purpose) but it's a different department or company or ministry. If anyone is that worried about it though I'm sure they could get to the bottom of it. ;))
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Who2 »

I hear that the new reproduction Tutankhamuns' Tomb opens in a couple of days that should bring in a few visa's..:cool:
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Dusak »

Considering virtually no one is entering the country this end for hols, they could offer free entry in an attempt to persuade visitors, but I doubt that even that would be encouraging. A 360 degree turn in events may work better. Then they could literally charge what they wanted.
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Who2 »

Only a couple of days to go, one of the team taking a break... :cool:
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by Brian Yare »

BENNU wrote:
HEPZIBAH wrote:
Nationals from UK , EU and USA travelling to Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba resorts ONLY, for a maximum of 14 DAYS, do not require a visa prior to travelling as a free entry permission stamp will be granted upon arrival. If they intend to travel outside of the above mentioned areas they MUST obtain a Visa.
Greetings from "La Passage" :|

My flight from Copenhagen was delayed so I missed my connection to Luxor and have spent some hours here in Cairo :cry: :zz . A woman on the plane was going to Sharm el Sheikh and was annoyed that she had to get a visa just to go to this hotel for a few hours. I argued that it was unfair, but she accepted and we got a transfer to this smelly hotel :br . What provoked us was not so much that she had to buy a visa, it was that noone at immigration believed us, they had never heard of this rule! She just knocked on my door, both our planes leave at 5AM, inshallah. :yawn: :zz

:le:
To transfer from International to Domestic at Cairo you would require a visa. Nothing to do with going to a hotel. (IMHO)
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Re: Egypt to raise tourist visa fee by $5

Post by HEPZIBAH »

Brian Yare wrote:
BENNU wrote:
HEPZIBAH wrote:
Nationals from UK , EU and USA travelling to Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba resorts ONLY, for a maximum of 14 DAYS, do not require a visa prior to travelling as a free entry permission stamp will be granted upon arrival. If they intend to travel outside of the above mentioned areas they MUST obtain a Visa.
Greetings from "La Passage" :|

My flight from Copenhagen was delayed so I missed my connection to Luxor and have spent some hours here in Cairo :cry: :zz . A woman on the plane was going to Sharm el Sheikh and was annoyed that she had to get a visa just to go to this hotel for a few hours. I argued that it was unfair, but she accepted and we got a transfer to this smelly hotel :br . What provoked us was not so much that she had to buy a visa, it was that noone at immigration believed us, they had never heard of this rule! She just knocked on my door, both our planes leave at 5AM, inshallah. :yawn: :zz

:le:

To transfer from International to Domestic at Cairo you would require a visa. Nothing to do with going to a hotel. (IMHO)
Even if you are air-side the whole time?
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