Tourist visa to enter Egypt: online e-visa, visa upon arrival at the airport, and more! Which is the best?
Note: this post was originally published in January 2022, but was updated on 12 July, 2024.
When it comes time to take your Egypt adventure, you will need a visa in order to enter the country. There are two main options for getting a tourist visa: buying an online e-visa in advance, or buying it upon arrival at the airport, any airport, (or land/sea border crossing) once your arrive in Egypt. This blog post will go over how to do each option, and which one we think is best…hint: it’s to buy it at the airport!
For Canadians, and citizens of other certain countries (like India, Indonesia, and others), you must get a visa ahead of your trip at the Egyptian consulate or embassy in your home country. You cannot enter Egypt without doing this in advance. The process may take 6 months - 1 year or more, so be sure to look into how to get a visa in advance, as soon as you make your travel plans.
It is easy, fast, and convenient to buy the visa at the airport. This is what it looks like, before a border agent sticks it in your passport.
Should I get the visa online in advance or buy it at the airport?
Having gotten the visa upon arrival at Cairo International Airport many, many times, and also having gotten the e-visa online in advance, here are my thoughts on which Egypt visa is the best:
Online (advance) visa 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
Online (advance) visa 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 (upon arrival) pros:
-Easy: no steps needed, just give the bank teller $25 cash, and you get a visa
-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. I can just buy it at the airport, and the booths are open 24 hours
Visa at the airport (upon arrival) cons:
-You have to pay $25 USD cash, and they sometimes do not have change
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.
This is not just a bank counter and currency exchange center, but it is also where you buy your entry visa to Egypt! You get to complete two tasks at once—buy the visa, and exchange your money for Egyptian Pounds.
How to buy a visa upon 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 make sure your country is able to get a visa upon arrival to Egypt. This changes from time to time: for example, Canadians no longer can get visas upon arrival to Egypt, but they used to be able to. So it’s up to you to stay up-to-date with the current requirements for your country.
After your flight lands at Cairo International Airport, you will be ferried through the arrival section of the airport, checked for your Covid-19 paperwork, and then will 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. 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.
Two of the three visa/bank counters at Terminal 2 of Cairo International Airport. Note that there is almost no one in line!
Go up to the bank teller, tell them you want to buy a visa, and give the teller $25 USD cash (they also accept Euros or GBP). This is the only inconvenient thing about buying a visa at the airport—they do not accept credit cards, and you sometimes need to have exact change, so I always recommend paying in exact change, $25.
The bank teller will then give you a sticker, 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.
The convenient thing about buying the visa at the airport is that the bank teller who sells you your visa can also exchange foreign currency for you, so you can get two things done at the same spot: buy the visa, and purchase Egyptian Pounds.
If you do not have a visa, there are signs telling you where to go to purchase one.
Once you have your visa, do not put it in your passport! Take both your passport and visa (and all your belongings) to the passport control officer, who will put it inside your passport, and stamp it.
How to get a tourist e-visa online, in advance
While I do not recommend getting the visa online, in advance, considering the pros/cons I shared above, here is how a traveler can purchase their visa in advance if they choose to:
First, head to the correct website: www.visa2egypt.gov.eg
This is the only legit website to buy your visa to Egypt that is from the Egyptian Government, and does not add on extra fees.
***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 $25. 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
Log back on to the visa website (the one above) and enter in lots of information, like 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 $25 visa fee using a Visa or MasterCard
Wait for confirmation, then bring the visa with you on your Egypt trip, making sure not to lose or misplace it during the journey to Egypt!
Among things that made the e-visa process take forever was needing to upload a photo of my passport, smaller than 500kb. I had to use a special website to make my photo of my passport smaller so it could upload to the site.
I did this process in January, 2022, for a trip I had planned to Egypt in February 2022. The whole process took me about 40 minutes…way slower than had I simply bought my visa upon arrival at Cairo Airport!
Frequently asked questions about the visa for Egypt
❓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 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 visa upon arrival?
There are online sources that share this information, but since it is always changing, the best way to know if 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.
❓Should I get the e-visa, or the visa upon arrival?
I highly recommend getting the visa upon arrival, if you qualify for it
❓How long is the tourist visa good for?
Both the 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)
❓What happens if I overstay my 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 visa upon arrival with a credit card?
No, only cash
❓Can I pay Egyptian Pounds for the visa upon arrival?
No, just US Dollars, Euros, or Pounds Sterling
❓Do I need proof of a return flight out of Egypt?
Technically, yes, 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
So there you have it—how to get a tourist visa upon arrival at the airport, how to get it in advance online, 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 us a comment below!