Types of Visas
There are several types of visas with varying lengths of duration. There are student, work, and tourist visas. Tourist visas are typically the easiest to deal with and obtain. The others require proof and documentation.
It is very easy to renew your visa in Egypt. You can even get a tourist visa for up to five years if you are planning to stay a while. One thing to keep in mind is that every time you leave Egypt your visa is cancelled, meaning to come back in, you will need a new visa. You can avoid this problem by getting a Multiple Entry Visa. Also, make sure your visa is valid for longer than you actual stay. If you are leaving Egypt and they see that your visa has expired, this could cause problems.
Many students come to Egypt with a one-month visa with a three-month validity. This means that the visa is valid for any time during those three months, but only for a month once you enter Egypt. Do not mistake this for a three-month visa. There is a two-week grace period after the expiration of your visa if you go to get it renewed. However, after this period there is a fee. Keep track of your visa expiration date so that you don’t have to pay this fee unnecessarily. In all cases, contact the Egyptian embassy in your home country about procedures concerning obtaining visas, since these procedures are subject to change.
Also, please be very patient when dealing with any governmental office, as things tend to get done slowly and without a clear system in many instances. It’s all part of your ‘Egyptian experience!’
How to Renew
Visas are issued at the ‘Mugamma’ in downtown Cairo in Tahrir Square. It is a huge concrete monster of a building - hard to miss. The visas are issued on the second floor. Ask around to make your way through the maze of people and hallways to the window for renewing visas for foreigners. Signs are posted in English.
Take with you:
Your current passport with current visa.
Two (2) passport sized photographs.
Photocopy of front page of passport.
Photocopy of current visa.
Money! (The visa can cost anywhere from 30 LE to 100 LE depending on length and number of entries.)
Note: You can get photos and photocopies made at the Mugamma on the first floor. Beware that prices will be much higher than if you were to bring these things with you.
The general procedure is as follows:
Receive and fill out application from visa window.
You will be asked to go to another window that issues stamps in the amount of your fee. Pay this amount at the second window, and take the stamps back to the first window.
Submit your form, stamps, photograph, and photocopies.
Wait patiently! You may have to wait up to three hours to receive the visa.
If you want a multiple entry visa, take your passport with your new visa to the multiple entry visa window (across the way from the first visa window). You will have to fill out another form, pay some more money, and wait a little longer – maybe come back the next day. This window essentially ‘adds’ a multiple entry provision to your existing visa. It is not a separate visa.
Go early in the morning as well for quickest service. The Mugamma is open everyday except Friday from 8 AM to 2 PM. However, they only accept applications before noon.
