Egypt Visa Requirements

[ship101]

On 7/29/2024 at 11:34 AM, bleacher04 said:

Hooray!  We just got our passports back from the Egyptian Consulate in Montreal -- with our Egyptian visas.  Exactly 3 weeks from when we sent them (via Canada Post Expresspost).

Good news!  Thanks for the info. 

[seeriteR]

Lots of good information here. Thank you for posting your experiences and links to the forms.

 

Has anyone had experience with HAL cruises to Egypt for Canadians with US Residency? My parents are cruising in November, round trip from Florida with a stop in Egypt. Here is the info provided by HAL on the CIBTvisa website regarding visas:

Egypt - No visa required when in transit with the ship. *Except nationals of Canada need a visa for certain ports.

Not sure what is expected. Will the ship provide a visa? Which ports is it required? If he does not have a visa, can he board the ship and just not get off in Egypt? Is there a different process for him since he is a Canadian citizen but US Resident (w/green card)?

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, seeriteR said:

Lots of good information here. Thank you for posting your experiences and links to the forms.

 

Has anyone had experience with HAL cruises to Egypt for Canadians with US Residency? My parents are cruising in November, round trip from Florida with a stop in Egypt. Here is the info provided by HAL on the CIBTvisa website regarding visas:

Egypt - No visa required when in transit with the ship. *Except nationals of Canada need a visa for certain ports.

Not sure what is expected. Will the ship provide a visa? Which ports is it required? If he does not have a visa, can he board the ship and just not get off in Egypt? Is there a different process for him since he is a Canadian citizen but US Resident (w/green card)?

A Canadian citizen travelling on a Canadian passport is subject to the same rules and regulations, whether residing in Canada or the US. I've read nothing here, on the embassy website or elsewhere on the internet suggesting that the Egyptian government has made an exception for Canadians currently living outside the country.

 

For certain destinations, including Egypt, HAL will provide visas when required, so passengers do not need to acquire them in advance of a cruise. However, as the CIBTvisa website indicates, Canadians are an exception when it comes to Egypt. As this and similar threads point out, this is the result of an Egyptian government decision last year that Canadians can no longer acquire visas upon arrival, but instead must acquire them in advance from either the embassy in Ottawa or the consulate general in Montreal.

 

As to your question about boarding without a visa, that would not be allowed, even if a passengers says that they'll remain on the ship. This scenario comes up every year with Alaskan cruises out of Seattle that stop in Canada, typically Victoria. Would-be passengers lacking the required documentation to enter Canada think that they'll be able to board if they just stay onboard while in port, only to be advised that they won't be allowed on the cruise.

 

Based on the foregoing, I see no option other than to acquire a visa. It can be done by mail, and I'd recommend not delaying the application.

[seeriteR]

4 hours ago, Fouremco said:

 

Based on the foregoing, I see no option other than to acquire a visa. It can be done by mail, and I'd recommend not delaying the application.

That's about what I figured.

Thanks for your input.

[bleacher04]

8 hours ago, seeriteR said:

Has anyone had experience with HAL cruises to Egypt for Canadians with US Residency? My parents are cruising in November, round trip from Florida with a stop in Egypt. Here is the info provided by HAL on the CIBTvisa website regarding visas:

Egypt - No visa required when in transit with the ship. *Except nationals of Canada need a visa for certain ports.

Not sure what is expected. Will the ship provide a visa? Which ports is it required? If he does not have a visa, can he board the ship and just not get off in Egypt? Is there a different process for him since he is a Canadian citizen but US Resident (w/green card)?

 

4 hours ago, Fouremco said:

A Canadian citizen travelling on a Canadian passport is subject to the same rules and regulations, whether residing in Canada or the US. I've read nothing here, on the embassy website or elsewhere on the internet suggesting that the Egyptian government has made an exception for Canadians currently living outside the country.

 

For certain destinations, including Egypt, HAL will provide visas when required, so passengers do not need to acquire them in advance of a cruise. However, as the CIBTvisa website indicates, Canadians are an exception when it comes to Egypt. As this and similar threads point out, this is the result of an Egyptian government decision last year that Canadians can no longer acquire visas upon arrival, but instead must acquire them in advance from either the embassy in Ottawa or the consulate general in Montreal.

 

As to your question about boarding without a visa, that would not be allowed, even if a passengers says that they'll remain on the ship. This scenario comes up every year with Alaskan cruises out of Seattle that stop in Canada, typically Victoria. Would-be passengers lacking the required documentation to enter Canada think that they'll be able to board if they just stay onboard while in port, only to be advised that they won't be allowed on the cruise.

 

Based on the foregoing, I see no option other than to acquire a visa. It can be done by mail, and I'd recommend not delaying the application.

 

I agree with @Fouremco that country of residency makes no difference; if someone is a Canadian citizen travelling on a Canadian passport, then they need a real in-passport visa to enter Egypt.

 

In this case however, HAL has told us and other passengers on our Sept-Oct N. Statendam cruise that Canadian passengers without a proper Egyptian visa will still be able to board the ship, but must remain on-board in the Egyptian ports (in our case Port Said and Alexandria).  This is indeed contrary to the experience for Alaskan cruises starting in Seattle and passing through Canada, and my only explanation would be that the boarding agents in Seattle know what to look for, while those in Civitavecchia (again in our case) probably won't.

I would also add that regardless of what HAL says, the risk of trying to do this without a visa is high; if you are allowed to board without a visa you can still be removed from the ship mid-voyage, before the ship reaches Egypt.  In 2019 we watched as a group of Chinese citizens were removed from the ship in Okinawa, as our next port was in Taiwan and none of them had the required Taiwanese visas.  Obviously no one had checked this during boarding Hong Kong...

 

With regard to timing keep in mind that Egyptian single-entry visas are only valid for 90 days (although multi-entry visas are valid for 180 days).

 

Edited August 11 by bleacher04

[CDNPolar]

12 hours ago, bleacher04 said:

 

 In 2019 we watched as a group of Chinese citizens were removed from the ship in Okinawa, as our next port was in Taiwan and none of them had the required Taiwanese visas.  Obviously no one had checked this during boarding Hong Kong...

 

 

 

 

Ouch!  That would hurt for sure!

 

Visas are a nasty thing to understand and ensure that you have done your diligence.

 

We have been trying to fly my mother-in-law from China to Canada but we are so limited in airlines and routes because of things like the above... Chinese passport holders need a Visa to transit through Taiwan.  They also need a Visa to transit through the USA.  We were really only left with Korean Air through Incheon with 19 hour layovers each way.

 

If you are Canadian and if in doubt, get your Visa.

[stairMaster]

18 hours ago, bleacher04 said:

 

 

I agree with @Fouremco that country of residency makes no difference; if someone is a Canadian citizen travelling on a Canadian passport, then they need a real in-passport visa to enter Egypt.

 

In this case however, HAL has told us and other passengers on our Sept-Oct N. Statendam cruise that Canadian passengers without a proper Egyptian visa will still be able to board the ship, but must remain on-board in the Egyptian ports (in our case Port Said and Alexandria). 

 

 

I am booked on a HAL Oosterdam cruise this fall with a stop in Alexandria and have not received any information from them with regards to Visas for Egypt.  @bleacher04 Did you receive an email directly from HAL on this matter ?  

[bleacher04]

2 hours ago, stairMaster said:

 

I am booked on a HAL Oosterdam cruise this fall with a stop in Alexandria and have not received any information from them with regards to Visas for Egypt.  @bleacher04 Did you receive an email directly from HAL on this matter ?  

 

No, we got nothing from HAL.  And even on our booking confirmation there is no indication of "visa required for some" on the Egyptian ports (although there is for all of the EU ports, go figure...).  We were alerted to this situation late last year and did our own research, trying to communicate with the consulate and searching and posting in forums like this one and on our CC roll call.
 

This "visa required for Canadians" situation has been in place for almost a year, but as mentioned before (either on this thread or on our roll call), the responses others have received from HAL (and CIBTvisas) have been mixed and sometimes contradictory.

Since you live in BC, you will need to send your application to the embassy in Ottawa.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, our application took 3 weeks to process, including mailing times each way.

[CDNPolar]

On 8/12/2024 at 12:05 PM, stairMaster said:

 

I am booked on a HAL Oosterdam cruise this fall with a stop in Alexandria and have not received any information from them with regards to Visas for Egypt.  @bleacher04 Did you receive an email directly from HAL on this matter ?  

 

On 8/12/2024 at 2:24 PM, bleacher04 said:

 

No, we got nothing from HAL.  And even on our booking confirmation there is no indication of "visa required for some" on the Egyptian ports (although there is for all of the EU ports, go figure...).  We were alerted to this situation late last year and did our own research, trying to communicate with the consulate and searching and posting in forums like this one and on our CC roll call.
 

This "visa required for Canadians" situation has been in place for almost a year, but as mentioned before (either on this thread or on our roll call), the responses others have received from HAL (and CIBTvisas) have been mixed and sometimes contradictory.

Since you live in BC, you will need to send your application to the embassy in Ottawa.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, our application took 3 weeks to process, including mailing times each way.

 

I think that we have to remember that it is not the cruise lines responsibility to tell us exactly what we need.  They only have to tell you that you must be aware of the Visa needed to enter.

 

It really boils down to the fact that we as travellers have the full responsibility to know what  is required to enter a country.

 

Cruise lines generally offer general information, and they also will have a "responsibility disclaimer" in their terms or cruise contract detailing that it is your responsibility.

 

Cruise lines will also encourage you to verify these needs with official sites and governments.

 

 

[broberts]

18 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

 

I think that we have to remember that it is not the cruise lines responsibility to tell us exactly what we need.  They only have to tell you that you must be aware of the Visa needed to enter.

 

It really boils down to the fact that we as travellers have the full responsibility to know what  is required to enter a country.

 

Cruise lines generally offer general information, and they also will have a "responsibility disclaimer" in their terms or cruise contract detailing that it is your responsibility.

 

Cruise lines will also encourage you to verify these needs with official sites and governments.

 

 

 

While I understand and agree. It is annoying that cruise lines know enough to refuse boarding but are unwilling to communicate details prior to that.

[bleacher04]

3 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

I think that we have to remember that it is not the cruise lines responsibility to tell us exactly what we need.  They only have to tell you that you must be aware of the Visa needed to enter.

 

It really boils down to the fact that we as travellers have the full responsibility to know what  is required to enter a country.

 

Cruise lines generally offer general information, and they also will have a "responsibility disclaimer" in their terms or cruise contract detailing that it is your responsibility.

 

Cruise lines will also encourage you to verify these needs with official sites and governments.

 

Agree 100% -- I was simply commenting that 6 months ago, different people at HAL were giving different (and sometimes conflicting) responses to the question of Egyptian visas for Canadians.  And their visa-advice agent, CIBTvisas, was at that time saying "sorry, we can't help you -- you have to apply in person".  Which we know now is incorrect.  Maybe everyone has their story straight now, but at the time it was all very confusing.  And so we took matters into our own hands (and it worked out).

 

And yes, cruise lines are in the business of selling cruises, not providing visa advice -- ultimately it is the traveller's responsibility, as you say.  However to this point, when I was checking in online for our cruise next month, I had to check off a box labelled "I understand the visa requirements".  Beside it was a link -- it did not tell you what the visa requirements were, only that it was your responsibility to find out, and to contact CIBTvisas (a private company) for more information.  This strikes me as a legal dodge.

 

Contrast this with our river cruise on the Mekong last year.  Our cruise consultant for that trip asked for our flight information, and then sent back personalized step-by-step, field-by-field instructions for how to complete the Vietnamese e-visa that we needed to fly into Saigon.  Sure, I know that they run this cruise back and forth 8 months a year, and larger sea-going cruise lines handle 20-50 times as many passengers per ship, but I also know that larger sea-going cruise lines have a documentation department that is supposed to advise on these very issues.  I will also concede that very few large-ship cruise itineraries include Egypt, and so information and experience was short.  But I think that they could have done better nonetheless.

 

Sorry if this has turned into a rant.  I just feel that in this particular case, a lot of people, including those issuing the visas, took a long time to figure out the correct response.

 

[CDNPolar]

1 minute ago, bleacher04 said:

 

Agree 100% -- I was simply commenting that 6 months ago, different people at HAL were giving different (and sometimes conflicting) responses to the question of Egyptian visas for Canadians.  And their visa-advice agent, CIBTvisas, was at that time saying "sorry, we can't help you -- you have to apply in person".  Which we know now is incorrect.  Maybe everyone has their story straight now, but at the time it was all very confusing.  And so we took matters into our own hands (and it worked out).

 

And yes, cruise lines are in the business of selling cruises, not providing visa advice -- ultimately it is the traveller's responsibility, as you say.  However to this point, when I was checking in online for our cruise next month, I had to check off a box labelled "I understand the visa requirements".  Beside it was a link -- it did not tell you what the visa requirements were, only that it was your responsibility to find out, and to contact CIBTvisas (a private company) for more information.  This strikes me as a legal dodge.

 

Contrast this with our river cruise on the Mekong last year.  Our cruise consultant for that trip asked for our flight information, and then sent back personalized step-by-step, field-by-field instructions for how to complete the Vietnamese e-visa that we needed to fly into Saigon.  Sure, I know that they run this cruise back and forth 8 months a year, and larger sea-going cruise lines handle 20-50 times as many passengers per ship, but I also know that larger sea-going cruise lines have a documentation department that is supposed to advise on these very issues.  I will also concede that very few large-ship cruise itineraries include Egypt, and so information and experience was short.  But I think that they could have done better nonetheless.

 

Sorry if this has turned into a rant.  I just feel that in this particular case, a lot of people, including those issuing the visas, took a long time to figure out the correct response.

 

 

Agree with everything that you are saying, but I have always only relied on my own research to determine what I need for any country.  It can be arduous at times, but I search for and try to find the actual verifiable government sites for the country.

 

The most frustrating search that I have had in my travel history is this Egypt Visa.

 

Egyptian Consulate and Embassy do not answer or return calls, they do not reply to emails either.  Not that I would send anything to an email as they all seem to be Gmail or Rogers or something like that.

[d9704011]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

Not that I would send anything to an email as they all seem to be Gmail or Rogers or something like that.

The Egyptian Embassy email address is:

 

Embassy.ottawa1@mfa.gov.eg

[bleacher04]

15 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

The most frustrating search that I have had in my travel history is this Egypt Visa.

 

Again, agreed.  It seems that they made their decision in a huff, and then the bureaucrats spent 6+ months figuring out just exactly what the rules and process would be.

[bleacher04]

14 hours ago, d9704011 said:

The Egyptian Embassy email address is:

 

Embassy.ottawa1@mfa.gov.eg

 

Yes, but the consulate's email address was @videotron...  And their real preferred method of communication was Facebook Messenger...

[CDNPolar]

15 minutes ago, bleacher04 said:

 

Yes, but the consulate's email address was @videotron...  And their real preferred method of communication was Facebook Messenger...

 

Yeah, all very sketchy to me.  If you go to the site that seems to be their official site, there are only Sympatico and Gmail addresses.

[d9704011]

2 hours ago, bleacher04 said:

 

Yes, but the consulate's email address was @videotron...  And their real preferred method of communication was Facebook Messenger...

That is the Consulate in Montreal; I provided the email for the Embassy in Ottawa.

 

Good luck to all with the Egypt visa adventure... must be frustrating beyond belief.

[bleacher04]

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

That is the Consulate in Montreal; I provided the email for the Embassy in Ottawa.

 

Good luck to all with the Egypt visa adventure... must be frustrating beyond belief.

 

Yes, thanks -- based on where we live, we had to go through the consulate, not the embassy.  Their rules.

We have our visas now, so the frustration is over.  Hopefully the info in this thread will help others in the future.

[CDNPolar]

Yes, for us, because we are in Ontario but don't live in Ottawa, we must go through Montreal.  

 

I would have considered driving to Ottawa, but not going to drive to Montreal.  

 

We will do the mail thing with prepaid, insurance, tracking, and whatever available.

 

 

[seeriteR]

On 8/11/2024 at 12:19 PM, Fouremco said:

A Canadian citizen travelling on a Canadian passport is subject to the same rules and regulations, whether residing in Canada or the US. I've read nothing here, on the embassy website or elsewhere on the internet suggesting that the Egyptian government has made an exception for Canadians currently living outside the country.

While this is true, it seems there are different ways to APPLY for the visa. After further research and emailing, I was informed that a Canadian citizen who is a US Resident may apply to the Egyptian Embassy in the US for the visa. Following is the answer to my email requesting information:

Greetings,

 

He is welcome to apply by mail.

 

Kindly refer to the link here: Visa Requirements – Embassy of Egypt, Washington DC (egyptembassy.net)

 

If he choose not to disembark the ship, a visa is not needed.

 

Best Regards, 

Consular Section,

Embassy of Egypt - Washington D.C.

3521 International Court, N.W.

Washington, DC 20008

 

This is great news for my Dad as he is willing to stay onboard the ship when it arrives in Alexandria. He is not very mobile, has been to Egypt before and is not excited to spend about $300 to get a Visa he doesn't need. I called the HAL Documentation Center and they stated an Egyptian Visa was not required to board the ship in Florida and no visa was required if he remained on board in Egypt.

 

The above link is the Washington, DC Embassy. Be sure to notice the different US states that it serves. Each US Embassy serves different US states.

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, seeriteR said:

While this is true, it seems there are different ways to APPLY for the visa. After further research and emailing, I was informed that a Canadian citizen who is a US Resident may apply to the Egyptian Embassy in the US for the visa. Following is the answer to my email requesting information:

Greetings,

 

He is welcome to apply by mail.

 

Kindly refer to the link here: Visa Requirements – Embassy of Egypt, Washington DC (egyptembassy.net)

 

If he choose not to disembark the ship, a visa is not needed.

 

Best Regards, 

Consular Section,

Embassy of Egypt - Washington D.C.

3521 International Court, N.W.

Washington, DC 20008

 

This is great news for my Dad as he is willing to stay onboard the ship when it arrives in Alexandria. He is not very mobile, has been to Egypt before and is not excited to spend about $300 to get a Visa he doesn't need. I called the HAL Documentation Center and they stated an Egyptian Visa was not required to board the ship in Florida and no visa was required if he remained on board in Egypt.

 

The above link is the Washington, DC Embassy. Be sure to notice the different US states that it serves. Each US Embassy serves different US states.

Egypt's US and Canadian embassies are providing conflicting information, but that really doesn't matter if your Dad can board without a visa as long as he doesn't go ashore in Egypt. 

 

For most ports where a visa is required for entry, passengers still need one, even if deciding to remain aboard. You might want to ask the Documentation Center to reconfirm, preferably in writing, just to be safe. Hopefully all will go well and your Dad will have a great cruise!

[seeriteR]

Just one more bit of information from another source. At least right now, even HAL's recommended visa provider service, CIBTvisa, sends their "Canadian citizen/US resident in Florida" applications to Washington.

 

I got this response today...

Hello,

Thank you for your email.  If you decide to use our services, the visa application will be submitted in the US at the Washington DC embassy.  The fees you mentioned below are the preliminary fees and do not include any inbound or outbound shipping or any added services you may decide to include during the order.  Please note, the physical passport is required to complete this process.  When you are ready to begin, please proceed to the website to place your order: https://cibtvisas.com/visas?login=*****

Thank You!

Kind Regards,

Mxxxxx
Customer Service Team, Travel Services

CIBT

 

The total fee using this service for a single visa is $288 plus $55 return mail charge plus whatever it costs you to mail everything to them to start the process.

 

 

[CDNPolar]

On 8/26/2024 at 5:54 PM, Fouremco said:

Egypt's US and Canadian embassies are providing conflicting information, but that really doesn't matter if your Dad can board without a visa as long as he doesn't go ashore in Egypt. 

 

For most ports where a visa is required for entry, passengers still need one, even if deciding to remain aboard. You might want to ask the Documentation Center to reconfirm, preferably in writing, just to be safe. Hopefully all will go well and your Dad will have a great cruise!

 

I agree with @Fouremco and would get in writing from the Documentation Centre that the Visa is not required to board the ship.  I have always been under the understanding that even if you do not intend to disembark in a country that requires a Visa you still have to have the Visa.  This would put significant responsibility on the ship to ensure that this passenger does not leave the ship while in port.  I get that passenger cards can be flagged, but still, I would get that in writing on official letterhead so that when you check in you are not denied boarding.

[electro]

On 8/12/2024 at 2:24 PM, bleacher04 said:

 

No, we got nothing from HAL.  And even on our booking confirmation there is no indication of "visa required for some" on the Egyptian ports (although there is for all of the EU ports, go figure...).  We were alerted to this situation late last year and did our own research, trying to communicate with the consulate and searching and posting in forums like this one and on our CC roll call.
 

This "visa required for Canadians" situation has been in place for almost a year, but as mentioned before (either on this thread or on our roll call), the responses others have received from HAL (and CIBTvisas) have been mixed and sometimes contradictory.

Since you live in BC, you will need to send your application to the embassy in Ottawa.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, our application took 3 weeks to process, including mailing times each way.

This is what I got from HALs document department. Bolding is mine.

We have decided not to get the visa and stay on the ship as we have been twice before.

 

From HAL:

The port agents in Egypt have advised Canadian guests should continue to obtain a physical visa prior to boarding the ship.  Currently for Alexandria Canadian guests will be considered in transit guests via a cruise ship and can obtain an entry stamp like other cruise guests.  Canadian guests can board and remain onboard while in Egypt without a visa.  If you apply for a physical visa via an embassy they only issue visas 90 days prior to entry for this itinerary that would be on Monday, July 15, 2024.

 

Currently, Canadians are restricted nationalities due to heightened tensions with the Egyptian government and must have a physical visa to go ashore at certain ports.  Electronic visas issued  before October 1, 2023, remain valid until their expiry date, however, are no longer issued. Guests without a visa will have to remain on board at certain ports.  This could change, however, the only way to guarantee that guests will be able to get off the ship and not have to remain on board would be to get a physical visa prior to boarding the ship.  The Egypt Embassies in Canada issue visas 90 days prior to entry to entry, so for this itinerary the first date they would issue visas would be Monday, July 15, 2024.

[*Miss G*]

Here, also, is the Info on Cruise Critic.