Egypt Visa & Entry Requirements (2026)
There's no single answer — it depends on your passport. Most Western nationalities (EU/Schengen, US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) can get either an e-Visa online (about $25) or a visa on arrival at the airport (about $30 cash), both valid for a single 30-day stay. Several other nationalities — including India and much of Southeast Asia — are generally better off applying for the e-Visa in advance rather than counting on a visa on arrival. Gulf/GCC nationals get extended visa-free access. Check the table below for your specific passport, and always verify against the official portal (visa2egypt.gov.eg) before booking.
Egypt's visa rules genuinely do vary a lot by passport, more than most destinations — some nationalities can turn up and sort it at the airport counter, others should apply online well before their flight, and a few get extended visa-free stays entirely. Here's the real breakdown, not a one-size-fits-all answer.
Last checked 15 July 2026 directly against Egypt's own official sources — the official Egypt e-Visa portal (run by Egypt's Ministry of Interior — the only place to actually submit an e-Visa application and pay the real government fee), and the Egyptian Presidency's official e-Visa service page (confirms the same application steps and processing window) — not just this page's own history. Visa rules and fees like these change with little notice, and Egypt's e-Visa system in particular attracts a lot of look-alike third-party sites charging inflated 'service fees' for what should go through the real government portal directly, so we re-verify against those official sources every few weeks rather than trusting our own last edit. Spotted something that's changed since? Tell us and we'll fix it fast.
Visa options overview
Egypt offers two standard routes for most eligible nationalities: an e-Visa, applied for online in advance at the official government portal (visa2egypt.gov.eg) for about $25, usually processed within a few business days; and a visa on arrival, paid in cash (USD, EUR, or GBP) at a currency-exchange-style counter after landing, for about $30. Both are single-entry and valid for a 30-day stay. The e-Visa is generally the safer, less stressful option — no queue, no cash needed on arrival — while the visa on arrival is the fallback if you didn't plan ahead.
Visa rules by nationality (2026)
| Passport / region | Standard route | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| EU / Schengen countries | e-Visa or visa on arrival | 30-day single entry either way; e-Visa recommended to skip the arrival queue |
| United States | e-Visa or visa on arrival | Same 30-day single-entry terms as EU/Schengen |
| United Kingdom | e-Visa or visa on arrival | Same 30-day single-entry terms; all classes of British nationality generally eligible |
| Canada, Australia, New Zealand | e-Visa or visa on arrival | Same 30-day single-entry terms as above |
| India | e-Visa (apply in advance) | Individual visa-on-arrival is not reliably available — apply for the e-Visa online before you fly rather than counting on the airport counter |
| Gulf states (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman) | Visa-free (extended stay) | GCC nationals generally get visa-free entry for an extended period (commonly cited as 3–6 months under bilateral agreements) — confirm current terms for your specific GCC passport; Qatar has a separate, approval-based process |
| South Africa, Brazil | e-Visa (apply in advance) | Both generally e-Visa eligible — apply online ahead of travel rather than assuming visa-on-arrival availability at every entry point |
| Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines) and China | e-Visa (apply in advance) | Individual visa-on-arrival for these nationalities is limited (in several cases tied to organized tour groups) — the e-Visa is the reliable individual-traveler route |
| Other nationalities | Check the official portal | Egypt's e-Visa system covers 70+ nationalities in total; if yours isn't listed above, check visa2egypt.gov.eg directly or your nearest Egyptian embassy/consulate |
There's also a Sinai-only free entry stamp: travelers arriving directly by air at Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba, or Taba, and staying only within those Sinai resort areas, can get a free stamp on arrival for up to 14–15 days without a full visa — but this does not apply to every nationality, and it doesn't cover travel outside those specific Sinai areas (so it's not useful if Cairo or Luxor are also on your itinerary). Treat the standard e-Visa/visa-on-arrival route above as the default for a normal multi-stop Egypt trip.
How to apply for the e-Visa
- Go to the official portal, visa2egypt.gov.eg — avoid third-party sites that charge inflated 'service fees' for what is a straightforward government application.
- Fill in your passport and trip details, upload a passport photo and passport bio-page scan, and pay online (around $25, single entry).
- Processing is typically a few business days — apply at least a week before your flight to leave buffer room, though many applicants receive approval faster.
- Print or save the approval PDF; you'll be asked to show it (alongside your passport) on arrival.
Passport and entry basics
- Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months from your date of arrival in Egypt.
- Immigration officers occasionally ask for proof of onward travel or a hotel booking — have a digital or printed copy of your return ticket and first night's accommodation ready.
- Overstaying is possible to resolve but comes with a fine paid at departure — if you might need more time, sort an extension at a local Passport Office (mogamma) before your visa expires rather than risking it at the airport.
Extending your stay
Both the e-Visa and visa on arrival can typically be extended for an additional period at a local Passport and Immigration office (a 'mogamma') in Cairo or other major cities, for a modest fee — bring your passport, a passport photo, and your current visa/entry stamp. Start the process a few days before your current visa expires to avoid any overstay complications.
Traveling with children
Minors generally follow the same e-Visa or visa-on-arrival route as adults, applied for on their own passport (not attached to a parent's), and the same 6-month passport validity rule applies to children's passports too. If a child is traveling with only one parent or with a non-parent guardian, some airlines and immigration checkpoints worldwide occasionally ask for a notarized consent letter from the absent parent — it's rarely requested for a straightforward two-parent family trip to Egypt specifically, but it's a cheap, painless thing to carry a copy of just in case, especially if surnames differ.
What's changing at Egyptian airports in 2026
Egypt has been phasing out the old paper arrival card at its airports, with reports pointing to a full switch to digital, QR-code-based processing at Cairo International Airport from August 2026, alongside expanding biometric (fingerprint and facial-recognition) checks at immigration for arriving travelers — part of a broader digital-borders push already visible at some e-gates. None of this changes who needs a visa or what it costs, but it does mean the physical arrival-card ritual many past visitors remember may be gone or optional by the time you fly; verify the current process closer to your travel date rather than assuming last year's arrival experience, and keep a digital copy of your e-Visa approval or visa-on-arrival receipt regardless of which system is live.