|
Frequently Asked Questions:
Visas
Q: We’re going to
Egypt in the near future. Do we need a visa?
A: Yes, you will need a visa.
Q: I have just booked
a week’s holiday in Luxor. At such short notice it will be too late to
apply for a visa. I am told that this won’t be a problem, and that I
shall be able to obtain a week’s visa when I land in Luxor airport.
Would I need anything special, (other than my passport) before this visa
would be issued?
A: It depends on your nationality. Please contact either the Egyptian
Embassy, Egyptian Consulate or Egyptian Tourist Authority office in your
country.
Q: Can you tell me if
as a Canadian I need a visa to visit Egypt?
A: Yes, just very few Arabian nationalities can enter Egypt without a
visa
Q: My wife and I are
US citizens and hold US passports. We are currently living in Shanghai,
China. The travel agency here in Shanghai can’t arrange the tour of our
choice so we contacted our travel agent at home and they will set up the
tour but they have to have a copy of our Egyptian visa. How can we
obtain an Egyptian visa this quickly?
A: You will be able to obtain your visas at an Egyptian airport when you
arrive and this is the case with most of the world big countries
nationalities in all the Egyptian airports
Q: I am an American
living in Stuttgart, Germany. I am planning a Nile cruise with my
girlfriend who is from the Czech Republic. Do we need visas and can we
get them when we arrive in Luxor?
A: Please contact the Egyptian Embassy in Bonn or the Egyptian
Consulates in either Frankfurt or Hamburg.
Q: We will be touring
the Holy Land as well as the pyramids and I plan to take a cruise down
the Nile. My son tells me I will need "multiple entry visas." Can you
tell me where I obtain these?
A: Yes, you will need a multiple entry visa. Please contact either the
Egyptian Embassy or the Egyptian Consulate in your country.
Q: I am a South
African student studying in England. As a South African I believe that I
don’t need a visa to go to Egypt. Is this true?
A: You do need a visa to go to Egypt. As you are currently in England,
please contact the Egyptian Consulate in London.
Q: I am from Bolivia
and I am studying in Germany. I will be traveling with a group from my
university to Palestine, but we are also planning to visit Cairo. Do I
need a visa?
A: Yes.
Q: We hold Mexican
passports and we are traveling to Egypt. We have been told that we can
get an Egyptian visa on arrival at the Cairo airport. Could you tell us
if that is true?
A: It is preferable to get the visa in Mexico before you leave.
Q: My wife and I will
be visiting Egypt via a tour that will be entering Egypt from Israel. I
am an American. I have been told that I will need to get an entry visa
before the tour begins. I will not be able to get one at the border. Is
this true?
A: Please try and get the visa in the US. It can be done by mail, or if
you apply in person, you will receive it the same day. Contact the
Egyptian Embassy or Consulate nearest you.
Q: I’m Mexican and
currently I’m working in Aachen, Germany. I’m very interesting in
visiting Egypt. I heard that I need a visa to visit Egypt, is that true?
If yes, would you please tell me where are located the Egyptian
embassies in Europe (maybe one is near Aachen) in order to get my visa?
A: You will need a visa. The Egyptian Embassy for Germany is in Bonn,
and the Consulates are in Frankfurt and Hamburg.
Q: I’d like to know
which documents are necessary to visit Egypt for tourism for one or two
weeks. I’m an Italian citizen provided with an identity card. Is this
sufficient or do I also need a passport to obtain a visa?
A: You need a passport valid for at least six months to obtain a visa.
Q: I would like
confirmation I can get a tourist visa at the airport on arrival. Can you
confirm this? I will be arriving from Qatar.
A: It depends on your nationality. Please contact the Egyptian Embassy
or Consulate nearest you.
Q: My husband,
daughter & I are planning a trip to Cairo. I realize that we need visas,
but in order to get the visa, we have to send our passports to the
embassy in Chicago. However, my daughter, who is 14 months old, hasn’t
received her passport yet, and I am concerned that we will not have it
in time to get our visas before we leave. I called the embassy and they
told me not to get the visas in the US, but to wait until we reach Cairo
and get all 3 visas at the airport. Since my daughter will only be 16
months old at the time of our visit, will she also need a visa?
Secondly, we will be coming to Cairo from the Amman airport, after a 10
day visit in Jordan. Do we need any vaccinations, etc., before coming to
Egypt?
A: Your daughter needs a visa. You do not need any vaccinations. Please
follow the advice given by the embassy in Chicago.
Q: My wife and I will
be visiting Egypt via a tour that will be entering Egypt from Israel. I
am an American. I have been told that I will need to get an entry visa
before the tour begins. I will not be able to get one at the border. Is
this true?
A: Would it be possible for you to obtain a visa before traveling? It is
much more convenient. Contact the Egyptian Embassy or Consulate nearest
you.
Q: I am married to an
Egyptian who recently had to go to Egypt for an emergency visit. He
wants me to meet him there and us come home together. He seems to be
under the impression that I don’t need a visa. He says that since I am
his wife, I am automatically an Egyptian citizen. I asked the officials
in the Government building where I got my passport and they said that
they didn’t know and I should ask someone from Egypt who has a similar
situation.
A: As the wife of an Egyptian you can obtain a visa at the airport for
free. However, you must provide proof of marriage otherwise you will
have to pay the full fee.
Liquor
Q: We
are four good friends traveling to Egypt during the millennium, and are
wondering what the restrictions for bringing in alcohol to the country
are. I mean, it is the new year and we would like to bring some.
Especially champagne. Can we?
A: Yes. Individuals may bring in up to two liters.
Q: What
is the legal drinking age in Egypt
A: 21 Years Old
Pets
Q: We
are planning a trip to Egypt and wonder whether we will be able to bring
our cat. Is this possible?
A: Yes.
Pets may enter Egypt provided you provide a certificate of origin and a
health certificate. There are no forms for this, but a dated, signed
letter is acceptable. The certificate of origin may be provided by the
pet store where your pet was purchased or by a vet. The certificate of
health must be provided by a vet.
Photography in
Egypt
Q. Am going to Egypt
for the first time in March 2011 and would love some tips on taking
pictures there. Film speeds, etc. appreciated. Also, places I should not
missss. Also, travel tips. Some friends think I am crazy to go, some
respect the idea that I am looking to experience a different culture
than I have at home. Any info appreciated.
A. With regard to
taking photos in Egypt, thankfully, the main difficulty most people
encounter is
that they are spoiled for choice when it comes to things to shoot.
Normally, I take a mixture of ISO/ASA 100 & 400 print film. This is due
to the fact that you are, virtually guarenteed bright sunny conditions
for outside photography, for which ISO/ASA 100 is ideal, whereas ISO/ASA
400 offers greater flexibilty for shots taken inside museums, temples,
tombs. etc.
Although I always recommend that people employ a polarising filter, to
reduce glare & enhance
the colour of the gloriously blue sky on outside photos & reduce the
reflections from glass
cases in museums (bear in mind also that most of the open tombs are now
fitted with perspex
screens to protect the walls from inadvertent damage), though if your
camera can't be fitted
with one it isn't a major problem.
One advantage of the ISO/ASA 400 film is that, on most SLR cameras, it
can be pushed/pulled
in speed from ISO/ASA 100 - 1600, thus allowing it to be used for both
brightly lit exteriors &
the, somewhat darker, interiors of tombs & museums (In both these cases
flash photography is
not allowed, due to it having the potential to damage ancient paint - &
also proving very
distracting for other people.).
You will find that at museums & tombs there is an additional fee for
photography
for museums (but not the Karnak Open Air Museum) , Although this is
sometimes reported as being just a means of ripping off tourists, in
some of the backpacker oriented guide books, the actual amounts
involved;, are insignificant & do help in a big way to fund the
activities of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
In respect of what I would consider unmissable, I am currently
involved in writing a guide to the
monuments that one will encounter on the "classic" first time tour of
the Nile Valley; starting
with the non-royal tombs of the Theban West Bank (as a lot of the
shorter tours start & finish
in Luxor & never actually make it as far north as Cairo). This should
start to appear in the
magazine, work schedules permitting over the next couple of months, &,
hopefully, should be
complete before your trip.
|
