Egyptian Visa
Mar 5th, 2003, 06:50 AM
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Egyptian Visa
Egyptian Visa <BR><BR>We are leaving for Egypt on April 2nd for a two week trip(assuming no war or travel warnings and /or cancellations), but were afraid to send off for visas, where we have been out of country recently and needed our passports. Are you still able to buy visas at the Cairo airport? With so little time left, even with express mail, would you send your passports off, if you could buy the visas at the airport? If our passports are mislaid at the embassy or consulate, then we have limited time to arrange for new passports. Please advise at your earliest. Thanks <BR>
Mar 5th, 2003, 07:51 AM
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We also went to Egypt - Spring 2001. Got visas upon arrival at airport. I would not send off passports with only a 3 weeks left. Oddly, in Cairo they want US cash for visa. <BR><BR>There is a visa line at the airport. If by chance you are meeting a tour, they usually meet you at airport and handle the visa business when you arrive. That was a little disconcerting, as we handed some stranger our passports, return tickets and cash and he disappeared behind a door. Five minutes he returned, smiled, handed us back our documents and escorted us around the lines waiting for customs and immigration.<BR><BR>Have a great trip - try not to worry too much about world situation as most people you will encounter in Egypt are just trying to make a living off declining tourist industry.
Mar 25th, 2003, 05:07 AM
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Just got back - visas are much less hassle to buy then they were. Just go up to one of the banks just before passport, pay $15 to get visa stamps, stick them in blank page of passport and go up to counter for stamping. No queues like there used to be.<BR><BR>If in CAiro, suggest Abou el Sid, 157 26th July St - near Marriott Hotel, very good Egyptian food in "old style" restaurant which is part of small number of other restaurants - (another is Sangria opposite Conrad Hotel) which seem to be all very high quality - service and food - and better value than hotel places. Locals go to these places as well as expats. Sangria on Friday was empty at 1030 but heaving by midnight with 25-35 year old upper middle class and wealthy Egyptians.
Mar 26th, 2003, 08:58 PM
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Do you need a VISA with a US passport? We went a few years ago, and I think all we had to do was buy the tourist tax stamps when we arrived at the airport which they stuck in our passports. Maybe they added the VISA requirement recently.....?
Mar 26th, 2003, 11:54 PM
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The answer to your question can be found on http://travel.state.gov/egypt.html. Look for advice from official sources first. It is unwise to send your passport to an embassy when it is so easy to obtain a visa at the port of entry.
Mar 27th, 2003, 07:24 AM
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Aaah, thanks for the clarification. I thought maybe with all this war business going on they may have added a NEW visa requirement. I would just do it at the airport then. I remember being all anxious ahead of time about what we needed to do, but when we got there it was really easy. Just walked up to the window, paid, and they put the stamps in our passports. It took about a minute. Afterwards, we laughed that we had worried about it! No real "Security" check, they just wanted the tax money.
Mar 29th, 2003, 09:22 AM
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Narob,<BR><BR>I wouldn't send my passport out with less than 2 months left...as everyone else said. But I've got a question for this forum, involving an Egyptian Visa.<BR><BR>Q: I'll be traveling by bus from Jordan to Israel, to Egypt.(American papers) The state department website says I need a visa in advance. I can't download the visa application off the Egyptian website(horrible). So how long is this going to take? And, how safe is it to send your passport out? Thanks.
Mar 29th, 2003, 05:14 PM
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You can look over this site, it may offer you the answers/help that you seek.When I visited Egypt 2 years ago I flew into Cairo and got my visa there.The only times that I've gotten visas via mail I've used courier services....a little pricey but IMHO worth the peace of mind.<BR><BR> http://www.passportsandvisas.com/visas/index.asp
Mar 29th, 2003, 07:28 PM
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To Darwinskye - there have been discussions here and on other travel boards in the past about some problem entering various Arab countries if passport bears stamp from Israel - since I have never done it, would not claim to have current or reliable info, but I know others have had problems doing that.<BR><BR>Also, when we went to Egypt 2 years ago on plane into Cairo, I know there were different visa requirements if flying in or going overland - again, find someone who knows more than me.<BR><BR>Agree - the downloaded paperwork for visa is so bad, it was funny. My favorite was the instructions, which were in Arabic.
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