Visa for Egypt - middleman or not

[smeyer418]

Just wanted to add my info regarding Egupt visas - we leave in 3 weeks.

 

I was going to get them at the airport, but also read that lines and chaos in general at the airport is huge ---- so I called the consulate in Montreal and they told me the site to download the forms - 2 photos ($18), $44 for visas (1 US, 1 Canadian) - 2 Express Post envelopes (one for mailing in, one for return -$16.00) and it is all done.

 

I sent express post on Monday 3:30 pm from Ontario to Montreal - the passports with visa were back on Friday in my noon mail.....

 

May be a little more expensive than doing it at the airport, but definitely less money than doing it through a visa service...the questions were pretty straightforward....

 

 

where did you read that the lines in the airport are hugh? When I went it took less than a minute to get the visa. The only line was the actual immigration and whether you had the pre issued visa or the one in the airport it was the same line for everyone....many people don't like the idea of sending their passport to anyone...

[Riverroad]

Our experience with getting our Egyptian visa at the Cairo airport in November '08 was exactly like smeyer418's. Purchasing the visa at one of the many banks took about one minute and we waited maybe ten minutes in the immigration line. There was no chaos at the airport and no long lines.

[cruisemom42]

Our experience with getting our Egyptian visa at the Cairo airport in November '08 was exactly like smeyer418's. Purchasing the visa at one of the many banks took about one minute and we waited maybe ten minutes in the immigration line. There was no chaos at the airport and no long lines.

 

 

Ditto for me in February 2008. It was as simple as could be.

[Kayelache]

About three weeks ago, I arrived in Cairo without a visa in my passport. I was relying on info from this board, but shaking in my shoes. My tour company (OAT) had recommended getting the visa ahead of time, with a visa company and a charge of something like $165. I got off the plane, went through customs, got in line (two people ahead of me), paid $15 US and got the stamp in my passport (which is the visa) in something like two minutes, absolutely NO problem. Also, I needed a "multiple entry" visa, as I would be on a Red Sea cruise that went first to Saudi Arabia, and then to Sharm el Sheihk in the Sinai of Egypt. And the Cairo airport only issued "single entry" visas. In Sharm, I shook in my shoes every time I went through the entry area, and I never once had to produce my passport to authorities. So, for $15 as opposed to the recommended $165. I had absolutely no problems with visas. I'd recommend not getting a visa in advance.

[Benita]

We returned from Egypt last week. We got off the plane and just before passport control was a bank with a sign saying "Visas sold here". I had been told it was $20 per person for the visa, but guess what? - the price had gone down to $15 per person. They just handed me the visa and I peeled off the back and stuck it on an empty page in the passport and then went through passport control. There was no line for the visas, but even if there were, it only took about 5 seconds to buy, so I can't see much of a backup.

While waiting for luggage, I was chatting with a couple who were going on a GCT and they had paid about $150 a couple to GCT to obtain their visa and were told the line would be too long to get it in Egypt. Maybe, that is why we were the only people buying visas, as there were about 100 people on our plane travelling with GCT. Quite a markup, on GCT part, plus we never had to send away our passports and worry about them getting lost in transit.

[2travelers]

We returned from Egypt last week. We got off the plane and just before passport control was a bank with a sign saying "Visas sold here". I had been told it was $20 per person for the visa, but guess what? - the price had gone down to $15 per person. They just handed me the visa and I peeled off the back and stuck it on an empty page in the passport and then went through passport control. There was no line for the visas, but even if there were, it only took about 5 seconds to buy, so I can't see much of a backup.

While waiting for luggage, I was chatting with a couple who were going on a GCT and they had paid about $150 a couple to GCT to obtain their visa and were told the line would be too long to get it in Egypt. Maybe, that is why we were the only people buying visas, as there were about 100 people on our plane travelling with GCT. Quite a markup, on GCT part, plus we never had to send away our passports and worry about them getting lost in transit.

 

Hi Benita - We traveled to Egypt with GCT in April. I was the one who started this thread. We read and listened to the responses and as you said there was no line for visas in Cario and the price was $15. What was interesting was that I had read you could get a multiple visa for $23pp if you were traveling to Jordan and then coming back to Cairo -which we were. Turns out they would only sell us a single entry visa, so when we got back to Cairo after our post-tour to Jordan, we had to get visas again. It cost us $60 instead of $46, but it was still a big difference from the $135 that they wanted from GCT using a middleman. That is why we do our homework and listen to the CC'ers on this board. There were many folks getting their visas in Cairo, but I still got them in less than five minutes. No problem :D

Ronnie