Egypt Tourist Visa: Egypt visa on arrival and Egypt e visa
Egypt has an e visa and visa on arrival - which is the best one for your trip?
Note: This post was originally published in January 2022, and was most recently updated on 19 March, 2026 because of the increase in the visa cost from $25 USD to $30 USD.
If you are traveling to Egypt, you'll need an Egypt tourist visa - here are the two main types:
- Egypt Visa on Arrival
- Egypt E Visa (online visa)
I'll share the Egypt visa requirements for citizens of different countries, how to get an Egypt visa on arrival, how to apply for an Egypt visa online, the benefits and drawbacks for each visa option, and answer your frequently asked questions about the Egypt tourist visa.
Do you have a question that I didn't answer in this blog post? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!
I’m a travel advisor specializing in Egypt - I’ve lived in Cairo off and on for 13 years!
If you don't know me already, my name is Gus - I've been living in Egypt off and on for 13 years, and have purchased a visa for Egypt over 70 times with all of the trips in and out of the country I've done!
I have been a travel advisor for 6 years, helping countless travelers with trips to Egypt, and I also lead Egypt group tours! If you'd like help with your Egypt adventure, fill out this form - I'd love to chat with you about your trip.
Egypt Visa Requirements
There are different entry requirements for Egypt according to visa type, depending on what country issued your passport and what type of visa you are getting.
Special note: for a short period, Canadian passport holders had to get an Egypt tourist visa in advance, but now they can buy the Egypt visa on arrival!
Egypt Visa on Arrival Requirements
The Egypt visa on arrival is super easy! Note that the visa is now $30, up fr $25 (when this photo was taken).
If you are eligible for an Egypt visa upon arrival (see below for a list of all countries), all you need is:
1. Your passport valid for over 6 months (from one of the countries below)
2. $30 USD in cash (Euros or GBP are also accepted) - you can sometimes pay with a Visa or Mastercard, but credit card machines are often not working, so bring cash just in case
3. A confirmed onward or return from from Egypt (I have never been asked to show this, but it's technically a requirement)
You DO NOT need any other documents, passport photos, a national ID (other than a passport), or anything else! Just your passport and $30 USD in cash.
I've had lots of people ask about needing passport photos, and I'm not sure where folks are getting this information, but they are not required.
Countries eligible for an Egypt visa on arrival
To get an Egypt visa upon arrival, you have to have a passport from one of these countries:
🌍 EUROPE
All European Union members (collectively eligible) and the United Kingdom
Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican City
🌎 AMERICAS
North & Central America + Caribbean
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States
South America
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
🌏 ASIA
Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Turkey
🌏 OCEANIA
Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New, Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
🌍 AFRICA
Benin, Morocco, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan
🌍 ARABIAN PENINSULA (Middle East)
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
Here’s what an Egypt e visa looks like - if going this route, you must buy the Egypt e visa online, ahead of your trip.
Egypt E Visa (online visa) requirements
To buy an Egypt E Visa online, in advance of your trip, you need:
1. A valid passport (will not expire within 6 months) from one of the countries below
2. $30 USD to be paid with a Visa or Mastercard
3. A confirmed onward or return from from Egypt (I have never been asked to show this, but it's technically a requirement)
4. Patience to enter the online forms (and potentially have some issues - more on that below!)
Countries eligible for an Egypt E Visa
🌍 EUROPE
Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Kosovo, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), Vatican City
🌏 ASIA
Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Taiwan, Georgia, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea (South), Malaysia, Singapore
🌍 ARABIAN PENINSULA (Western Asia subregion)
Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
🌍 AFRICA
South Africa
🌎 NORTH AMERICA
Canada, Mexico, United States of America
🌎 SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
🌏 OCEANIA
Australia, New Zealand
Should I get an Egypt e visa in advance or buy the Egypt visa on arrival?
I’ve never waited more than 30 minutes in line to buy my Egypt visa on arrival, and often only wait 5 - 10 minutes.
Having gotten the visa on arrival at Cairo International Airport many, many times, and also having gotten the Egypt electronic visa online in advance, here are my thoughts on which Egypt visa is the best:
Egypt Online Visa (in advance) Pros:
-You can pay the fee by credit card
-You have the visa ahead of time and do not need to go to the bank queue, but you still need to wait in a passport line
Egypt Online Visa (in advance) Cons:
-Confusing website to navigate
-Lots of steps
-More time (about 45 minutes) vs. about 15-30 minutes at the airport, and often less
-Hassle of needing to remember your visa and bring it with in transit
-You still need to wait in the same passport line as everyone else who just got the visa upon arrival
-You need to print out a paper copy of the e-visa and have it with you (don’t lose it!)
Visa at the airport (Egypt visa on arrival) Pros:
-Easy: no steps needed, just give the bank teller $30 cash, and you get a visa
You can sometimes pay with a Visa or Mastercard, but the machines will often not work, and the lines to pay via credit card are longer
-Fast: I usually wait 15-30 minutes in line, but often less than this, and the counter is a money exchange counter too, so I get to exchange currency at the same time
-Convenient: I do not need to spend time before my trip filling in online paperwork, waiting for the visa to be delivered, and then remembering to bring it with me. I can just buy it at the airport, and the booths are open 24 hours
Visa at the airport (Egypt visa on arrival) Cons:
-You have to pay $30 USD cash, they sometimes do not have change, and credit card machines don't always work
As you can see, the ease of buying the visa upon arrival at the airport, along with the price being the same (you do not save any money buying your visa online), makes buying the visa upon arrival my recommendation for travelers to Egypt.
How to buy an Egypt visa on arrival at Cairo Airport (or any airport/border)
Now, let’s go over how to buy your visa once you arrive in Egypt.
Note: not every nationality can buy their visa upon arrival. Check with your embassy to get updated recommendations and to make sure your country is able to get a visa upon arrival to Egypt, or check with the Egyptian embassy or Egyptian consulate in your home country.
At Cairo Airport Arrivals, you’ll come to an area where you buy the visas. This is the area just after all the airport representatives holding up signs (inside Terminal 2). You can see the Banque Misr counter on the right side of the photo.
After your flight lands at Cairo International Airport, follow the flow of traffic, and you will eventually come out to an area where there are bank tellers, who also sell the entry visas.
This will look different depending on which terminal you come in on, but I always enter at Terminal 2 (usually with Air France, KLM, British Airways, etc.), and there are always three banks that exchange currency and sell visas.
This is the line at the first bank booth to buy the Egypt entry visa - look at how long it is! I usually walk to one of the other bank counters for a shorter line.
The first bank counter, for Bank Misr, is always the most busy, so I opt to walk past that counter and head to either Banque du Caire or the National Bank of Egypt’s counters, where the lines are usually short or non-existent.
Go up to the bank teller, tell them you want to buy a visa, and give the teller $30 USD cash (they also accept Euros or GBP). This is the only inconvenient thing about buying a visa at the airport—they sometimes will not have change (so have $30 USD exactly), and even though some accept Visa or Mastercard, the machines will often be down or have a longer line to use.
The bank teller will then give you a sticker (this is the visa!), which you will take with you to passport control. Do not put the sticker in your passport, because passport control will do this for you when they stamp the visa with your date of arrival to Egypt.
It’s so easy to buy an Egypt visa upon arrival, so that’s why I recommend it over the online visa.
How to get an Egypt e visa online, in advance
While I do not recommend getting the Egypt electronic visa in advance, considering the pros/cons I shared above, here is how a traveler can purchase their online Egypt visa if they choose to:
First, head to the correct website: www.visa2egypt.gov.eg - Visa Egypt is the only legitimate, government-run website!
visa2egypt.gov.eg is the ONLY legitimate, government-run website to buy your online Egypt visa.
IMPORTANT: There are lots of scam websites out there that will get you a visa to Egypt that works, but will add on tons of fees, so you will pay much more than $30. The website I linked above is the ONLY legitimate website (run by the Egyptian government) that does not charge extra fees.
Once you are on the website, you will need to:
Create an account
Verify your email and confirm your account in order to access the application form
Log back on to the visa website (the one above) and fill out the visa application, including your identifying details, travel details, and passport information
Upload a picture of your passport, smaller than 500KB. I had to use a separate website to resize my image of my passport because the file size was too large to upload. What a headache!
Pay the $30 visa fee using a Visa or MasterCard
Wait for confirmation - processing times vary, but I had mine within 3 business days - then bring the visa with you on your Egypt trip, making sure not to lose or misplace it during the journey to Egypt!
I’ve bought an Egypt e visa for myself twice (and a few times for clients!), so I have the website down, but at first, it was really confusing and time-consuming to use!
I did this process in January, 2022, for a trip I had planned to Egypt in February 2022, and again in March 2026, for a trip I had in May 2026. The whole process took me about 40 minutes online…way slower than if I had simply bought my visa upon arrival at Cairo Airport!
The processing time was less than one week (3 business days the first time, 2 business days the second time).
Countries that don't need a visa to Egypt
Some countries don't need a visa at all to enter Egypt - passport holders from Macao and Hong Kong can enter Egypt for tourism purposes and stay up to 3 months without a visa.
Sinai Resorts Visa Waiver
If you happen to only be entering Egypt at a border point in the Sinai, like flying into Sharm el Sheikh Airport, or via land at the Taba border crossing, and you are staying the entire time in the Sinai Peninsula (not going to Cairo, Hurghada, etc.), you can stay in Egypt visa free for 14 days.
Note that Hurghada is on the Red Sea, but it is not on the Sinai Peninsula. This means that Hurghada is not eligible for the Sinai Resorts Visa Waiver - you must buy a tourist visa if you are traveling to Hurghada, which you can easily buy at Hurghada International Airport upon arrival (if your country is listed above).
Single entry, multiple entry, and business visa for Egypt
Egypt tourist visas are single entry only. At this point, I have never heard of anyone successfully getting a multiple entry visa to Egypt - anyone who asks has been denied, or the process has been so long and complicated that it's made it not worth the effort.
Have you gotten a multiple entry visa to Egypt? Leave a comment and let us know how you did it, and what the process was like!
If you need a business visa for Egypt, you need to arrange that through your employer - they will need to share the requirements and handle all the paperwork on your behalf.
How to extend a tourist visa in Egypt
If you are in Egypt and will stay longer than the 6 week period (4 weeks and a 2 week grace period), you will need to extend your visa. To do this, you need to visit the Mogamma (Passports, Immigration and Nationality Administration) in Abbasiya, located here.
You'll need to ask the up to date requirements once you are there, but they usually require 2 passport photos, the visa extension payment (around $100 USD), and will need to hold your passport for a couple of days while they process the request. They'll tell you when to return to pick up your passport with your extended visa.
Visa extensions are often only granted for an additional 3 months - that's why I prefer leaving Egypt and returning, and just buying a new entry visa (good for 6 weeks) at Cairo Airport.
Frequently asked questions about the visa for Egypt
The visa counters are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! So anytime you arrive in Egypt, you can buy a visa.
Are the banks at Cairo International Airport and the other airports open 24 hours a day? My flight lands at 2am!
Yes, the banks are open 24/7 at all the entry points and airports
Do the visa counters only accept USD?
They accept USD, British Pounds, and also Euros
Do I need to have new bills to buy the Egypt visa?
Yes, I recommend having crisp, new bills, with no folds, tears, creases, or any markings of any kind. The person at the visa counter may reject bills that have any flaws
How do I know if I can buy the Egypt visa on arrival?
There are online sources that share this information, but since it is always changing, the best way to know is to contact your travel agent/tour company, and also the government entity (like the State Department in the United States) to see what the visa requirements are for your nationality.
Even if you buy an Egypt e visa, you still need to wait in the same passport control line as the folks who buy the visa on arrival.
Should I get the Egypt e visa, or the visa on arrival?
I highly recommend getting the Egypt visa on arrival, if you qualify for it, since the e visa process takes time, the website is glitchy, and you still have to wait in the same passport control line if you have the visa purchased in advance.
How long can I stay in Egypt on a tourist visa?
Both the Egypt e visa and the visa upon arrival are good for 4 weeks, with a 2 week grace period (you can stay for up to 6 weeks)
Can I visit Egypt without a visa?
Hong Kong and Macao citizens can visit Egypt without a visa, and if you're entering Egypt at the Sinai Peninsula and staying only in the Sinai Peninsula for 14 days or less, you can visit Egypt without a visa. Otherwise, all other travelers will need a visa in order to visit Egypt.
What happens if I overstay my Egypt tourist visa?
Various consequences, from paying a fine, being deported, or being banned from re-entering Egypt exist - do not overstay your visa
Can I buy the Egypt visa on arrival with a credit card?
Yes, although the credit card machines are often not working, or they often will have longer lines. I recommend always having cash.
Can I pay Egyptian Pounds for the visa upon arrival?
No, just US Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, or Visa/Mastercard (if the machines are working).
Do I need proof of a return flight out of Egypt?
Technically, yes, you need proof of an onward or return flight out of Egypt in order to enter the country, although I have never been asked to show proof
Can I buy the visa upon arrival at Hurghada or Sharm el Sheikh?
Yes, it’s available at any entry point to Egypt, so all airports, and all border crossings
Do I need a visa to visit Hurghada Egypt?
Yes, since Hurghada is not part of the Sinai Peninsula, there is no option for the Sinai Resorts Waiver - you need to buy an Egypt entry visa (either upon arrival or the online Egypt visa) to go to Hurghada.
So there you have it—the Egypt visa requirements for the visa on arrival and the e visa, how to get an Egypt tourist visa upon arrival at the airport, how to get an online Egypt visa, and all the reasons why I think getting it upon arrival is the best option.
What do you think? Have you purchased a visa to travel to Egypt? What was the process like? Leave a comment below and let us know!
