How to Renew The VISA in Egypt

In this post, you will find a step-by-step on how to renew your visa in Egypt. Although the process takes place in the same building, if your visa is a student one or a work permit, you will need other documents.

However, we will focus here only on the tourist visa. Although it doesn’t allow foreigners to work in Egypt, many of them end up working informally with only a tourist visa in the country.

Visa to enter Egypt

Travelers from most countries need to purchase an Entry VISA at the airport in Egypt. The process is very simple. When you arrive at the airport, you go to a counter where you “buy” your visa. The price of a tourist visa is $25 USD for a single entry into the country. Payment is made in dollars by cash only.

The visa is affixed to a page of the passport and gets a stamp when passing through immigration. This visa is valid for 30 days, with the condition that you leave the country within 45 days of entry, without paying any extra fees. If you plan on staying longer than offered, you should follow the steps below to get your temporary residency card.

For whom this visa renewal applies:

Any foreigner who wants to stay longer in the country can renew their visa. There is no exact number of times you can renew it. Despite that, I’ve met people who were forced to leave the country after about three years of renewing. They just went out for a few days and came back, no problem.

Normally, with each visa renewal, you receive another 3 months until expiration. However, there are also exceptions. For example, I have already received about 5 months in one of my renewals.

For foreigners married to Egyptians, no visa is required. You can apply for another type of residence card, which guarantees you more time until expiration. However, if you are leaving or entering the country with your spouse, you can use the marriage document to avoid paying the tourist visa fee.

How to renew a visa in Egypt:

Previously, all the processes for Visa applications were made inside the Mogamma building, in Tahrir square. But since the middle of 2019, they transferred operations to the Egypt Passport and Immigration Administration building.

Documents to renew the visa in Egypt

For renewing the VISA, you will need the following documents:

3×4 picture of you;
Passport;
Letter/ receive of your hotel or rental contract to prove your stay. Both documents should be in your name.

Employees at the place may not ask for proof of residency when reviewing. However, if they ask and you don’t have, that will be a reason to not approve your renewal.

Always carry copies of your documents. On the first floor (one above the ground) there is a place that makes photocopies. They also do 3X4 photos in case you haven’t done them before.

The day of the renewal:

There is no need for scheduling times. You just need to go to the building of the Passports, Emigration & Nationality Administration. The area is also known as Abbassia. In Arabic it’s called “مصلحة الجوازات والهجرة والجنسية”. Going in the morning early increases the chances of spending less time in lines.

Upon arrival, go through security and take the escalator to the second floor (two above the ground floor). The right part of the floor is dedicated to visa extensions. First, go to window 20 and get a number. Then, walk to Window 37 to get the form that must be filled out before your number is called.

Once your number is called, you can go to the window and present the documents. If everything is correct, the employees will give you a receipt. On the same floor, in front of the escalator, there is a window for making payments. The visa extension costs around 1200 EGP (2021 values).

Take your receipt and go back to the same window you were in. They will take your fingerprints. Soon after, you can pick up your passport and proof. You will need this voucher to come back the next day and pick up your residency card.

Second day: taking the VISA card

This time you will head to the third floor, also on the right side. You should wait again for your number to be called. There are screens with numbers, and there is no specific order for them to call. Once they call your number, you will take another receipt. Head back to the cashier to pay the second fee of 775 EGP for the card emission.

Once you’ve paid, head back to the counter you came from. They’ll tell you to either wait a short time (as little as a few minutes) or come back the afternoon of the same day (after 1 pm). This will be the time your card is ready. Previously, you would get a visa. But now it’s a plastic ID card with your address, photo, and date of birth.