Yalla Egypt!: How to Apply for An Egyptian Visa

I decided to write this blog, because I couldn’t find one quite like it during the “research” process of my visa application.

— Which is weird because I can’t be the first Filipino national, U.A.E. resident applying for an Egyptian tourist visa, right?

My unexpected journey began last July when The Bae invited me to spend my vacation month in his home country this year.

As this was the first visa I personally applied for, I left nothing to chance.

The first thing I did was to look up the address of the Egyptian Consulate in Dubai, and, lo and behold, it turned out to be just 3 bus stops away from my building.

— Not that the geographical accessibility encouraged me to inquire personally.

The thought of going there empty-handed terrified me like a toddler lost in a mall.

The second thing I did was to do my own googling of the documents required for the application.

Naturally, the first website I drifted to was the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (http://mfa.gov.eg) which listed the following requirements:

1. Visa application form (available online and/or at the consulate)

2. Valid passport (up to 6 months at least)

3. Two (2) personal photos with white background

4. Residence card in the foreign country (in the case of expats)

I visited many personal blogs by run-of-the-mill travelers, but as anyone would tell you, “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.” A blog said one thing and another blog said another contradictory thing.

Pretty soon, my initial list of 4 requirements tripled in size.

What’s worse, some of the bloggers had awful experiences at the consulate.

I was even more scared than ever to go by myself.

It was time to face my fears – well, sort of.

I reached out to the consulate in the comforts of my email.

I was very specific about my situation that:

– I am a Filipino citizen who

– Is not living in the Philippines ATM but

– Is a resident of the U.A.E. on company-sponsored visa (I’ll get to that later)

In less than 24 hours, I received a reply with the following requirements:

1. Visa application form (available online and/or at the consulate)

2. Valid passport (up to 6 months at least)

3. Two (2) personal photos with white background

4. Residence card in the foreign country (in the case of expats)

5. No objection letter

6. Bank statement (for at least 3 months)

As you can clearly see, there are requirements included in the email which were nowhere to be found in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. These are:

1. No objection letter and

2. Bank statement (for at least 3 months)

There are two lessons to be learned here:

One, whoever said the Egyptian Consulate does not respond to inquiries is a liar.

I got a detailed response in less than 24 hours, whereas I received no such attention from my own embassy who still has not replied to my email (but I digress).

Two, being specific is everything.

Had I not mentioned that my residence visa is sponsored by my company, I would not have been informed about the additional requirements.

I emailed them a second time if they had a specific format in mind for the No Objection Letter;

If there was a required minimum amount for the bank statements; and

If the bank statement could be substituted for a salary certificate.

Again, in less than 24 hours, I got a response stating that a normal N.O.L. was acceptable;

That there was no required minimum balance; and

That a salary certificate could very well take the place of a bank statement.

The last question I posed was about the tourist visa validity period.

I was told that upon receiving my visa, I had up to 3 months to make my entry in Egypt and a maximum of 30 days to stay from the time of my entry.

Since my trip was scheduled to be in December, the earliest I could apply was in September.

That was in July.

I still had 2 months to prepare all of the requirements.

The third thing I did was to get my boss to sign my annual leave form.

Spoiler alert: He didn’t.

He said it was still too early in July to sign a leave form for December.

So then I explained to him that I had no intention of vacationing in the Philippines (as was the office norm – to spend one’s 30-day annual leave in the motherland after a year of non-stop work).

Boss: Egypt? Why Egypt?

Me: Why not Egypt, sir? It’s got the pyramids, the sphinx, the Nile – who doesn’t                   want to go there?

At which point he inquired about my companion, and I cryptically responded with, “A friend.”

Anyhow, the good news was, arbab gave me the green light to apply for my visa, saying that if I did get it, he’d have no choice but to sign my leave form.

That was still better than nothing.

When I approached the admin manager for the required documents, she happily agreed and even pitched in the idea of consulting an agent from  – Travel and Tours. They have been handling all our company’s business travel needs for some time now. Because I was assured I would get the best rates possible, I decided to give them a shot.

When I first started emailing the travel agent, he seemed really cool. But less than a week into our correspondence, he sent me a bill worth AED100.00.

What for, you may ask?

For sending me the visa application form (which he simply downloaded from the MFA website) and for sending me an even longer list of requirements which now included:

– Sponsor company’s trade license

– Bank statement for 6 months

– Round trip air ticket

– Hotel confirmation

I badgered the agent with questions comparing his list to the one I got directly from the consulate. He just told me not to worry about the additional requirements, because he would “take care of everything” – oh, and don’t forget to send the payment for all those annoying questions.

To save my company from potential embarrassment, I begrudgingly shelled out AED 100.00.

I talked to The Bae about the pros and cons of getting a travel agent.

Initially, we found the idea of hiring somebody to do all the dirty work appealing.

On the other hand, the service charge for the full service was a whopping AED 550.00 – at least four times the actual fee charged by the consulate.

I suspended the decision and instead busied myself with preparing my remaining documents.

By early September, The Bae had already booked two round trip tickets from Abu Dhabi to Cairo.

I also got a dummy hotel confirmation for a one month stay in Cairo which cost me AED 50.00 from Travel Visa Bookings (https://travelvisabookings.com).

And boy am I glad I did!

The travel agent tried to rip me off of  another AED100.00 for a dummy plane ticket and hotel confirmation and was probably very disappointed that I had managed both on my own (TYVM!)

The last straw was when he told me that their company had a strict No Refund policy, even if my application got denied for whatever reason.

As a point of reference, I knew that that should not be the case, because I had applied for a Chinese visa through a travel agency in the Philippines. When my application was denied, the agency gave me a full refund and wished me better luck next time.

Ultimately, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Granted or denied, at least I would not have to risk AED550.00 for nothing.

I made my way to the consulate on an early morning in mid-September armed with my folder of requirements.

It was my first time in any consulate (I haven’t even visited the Philippine embassy!) here, so I was, for the lack of a better word, scared shitless.

After a couple of wrong turns, I found my way to the main lobby filled with Egyptians of all ages.

I approached one manning the priority number machine and told him I wanted to apply for a visa.

He gave me a number and waited for the 16 other applicants before me.

The lady behind the counter was very efficient and served each applicant for no more than 5 minutes.

However, when it was my turn, the applicant before me would not budge.

I figured that there was something wrong or missing in her requirements, even though I could not understand her Arabic.

Where she did not succeed in convincing the visa lady to take in her application, she succeeded in pissing her off.

By the time the annoyingly persistent applicant left, the woman behind the counter scolded me for bringing too many unnecessary documents.

That’s right! The travel agent lied – no surprise there.

She only took in what were absolutely necessary, gave me my receipt and priority number, and told me to come back on Tuesday (as the process takes between 3-4 working days to complete).

I’ll save you the drama of the 5 sleepless nights and skip to Tuesday afternoon when I finally (finally!) got my Egyptian tourist visa stamped on my passport.

And tomorrow, The Bae and I are flying to Egypt!

I wrote this blog last October whilst the unnecessarily prolonged but recently concluded visa application process was still fresh in my mind.

In keeping with Egyptian superstition, I decided to wait until the last minute to publish it online to avert the so-called Evil Eye.

So for anyone interested in visiting Egypt soon, you may find the following information of vital importance:

Consulate General of Egypt

Address: Street 6, Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road, Umm Hurair 1, Consulate Area, Dubai (Near Burjuman Metro Station)

Phone: 04 397 1122

Fax: 04 3971033

Website: http://mfa.gov.eg

Email: egyptconsulatedubai@gmail.com

Schedule: Sunday to Thursday 9:00AM-12:30PM & 2:00PM-3:00PM

Visa Application Requirements (as of September 2016)

1. Passport – Original and copy; Valid for at least 6 months

2. U.A.E. Residence Visa – Original and copy

3. No objection letter – Original only; Printed on company letter head and signed and stamped by proper authority

4. Trade license – Copy only; Company names must match in the trade license and in the residence visa

5. Bank statement (at least 3 months) OR Salary certificate (at least 1 month)

6. Two (2) copies of passport photos – White background; Glossy finish; 35mmx45mm

Other Important Notes:

– You may apply for your visa as early as 3 months before your scheduled trip.

– Upon receiving your single entry tourist visa, you have up to 3 months to make                     your entry in Egypt (also see the expiration date on your visa stamp).

– Upon entering Egypt, you have up to 30 days to stay in the country.

– Visa applications are only accepted from Sundays to Thursdays, 9:00AM-12:30PM.               They will not be accepted during the afternoon working hours (2:00PM-3:00PM)                     which are reserved for the distribution of visa-stamped passports.

And last but not the least, remember that you are just as good as – if not even better than – any travel agent out there. Do your research and process your own application as a personal challenge.