Do You Need A Visa To Travel To Egypt?

Yes — most visitors need a visa for Egypt, and there are three ways to get one: an e-Visa before you fly, a visa on arrival at the airport, or a free Sinai-only entry stamp if you are staying in the Red Sea resorts. As of 4 August 2026 a visa on arrival costs 30 US dollars in cash, and Cairo airport has just added a digital option at 36 US dollars paid by card. The right choice depends on where you land and where you plan to go.

Key takeaways

• Visa on arrival is 30 US dollars, cash only — bring clean US notes, not a card.
• Since 1 August 2026 Cairo airport also offers a digital visa at 36 US dollars, which includes a 6 dollar service fee and is paid by card.
• The e-Visa is applied for online in advance through Egypt’s official government portal and is valid for up to three months.
• If you are only visiting Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba or Taba for under 15 days, you may not need a paid visa at all.
• Your passport needs at least six months’ validity from arrival and one blank page.

Which of the three routes applies to you?

Pick the row that matches your trip. All three are legitimate; they differ in cost, timing and where they let you go.

All of the above was checked against the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office entry-requirements guidance for Egypt on 4 August 2026. Fees and rules are changed by the Egyptian authorities without notice — the 1 August change above is a live example — so confirm the current position with the official Egyptian e-Visa portal or your own government’s travel advice before you book. Do not rely on the figures in any article, including this one, on the day you fly.

How does the e-Visa work?

The e-Visa is applied for online through Egypt’s official government portal at visa2egypt.gov.eg, before you travel. You complete the application, pay online, and receive the approval electronically to print or show on arrival. A tourist e-Visa is valid for up to three months from issue, and the stay it permits is separate from that — the validity is the window in which you must enter, not the length of your holiday.

One caution that matters more than the process itself: apply only through the official government portal. A large number of commercial lookalike sites charge a substantial markup for submitting the same form, and some are outright scams. If the address is not the government one, you are paying someone to fill in a form you could complete yourself.

How does visa on arrival work, and what changed on 1 August 2026?

Visa on arrival is bought at the airport before you reach passport control, and until recently it was a cash-only transaction at 30 US dollars. That option still exists and still requires cash.

What changed is that from 1 August 2026, Cairo International Airport added a digital route: self-service machines, or the visa-on-arrival portal, at 36 US dollars — the extra 6 dollars being a digital service fee — paid by card. In practice this removes the single most common visa problem travellers hit, which is landing without US dollars and finding the bank counter closed or the ATM dispensing only Egyptian pounds.

Practical recommendation: if you are landing in Cairo, carry 30 US dollars in clean, undamaged notes as your primary plan, and treat the card option as your backup. Torn or heavily marked notes are sometimes refused. This is our recommendation based on how the counters behave, not an official rule.

What is the Sinai entry stamp, and what is the trap?

If you fly directly into Sharm El Sheikh and stay within Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba or Taba for no more than 15 days, you can receive a free entry permission stamp instead of buying a visa. For a straightforward Red Sea beach holiday, that is genuinely all you need.

The trap is that the stamp is geographically limited, and the most popular excursion from those resorts breaks it. If you intend to do any of the following, you need a full visa rather than the free stamp:

• A trip to Cairo and the Pyramids
• A trip to Luxor or any Nile destination
• St Catherine’s Monastery or Mount Sinai, which sit outside the permitted coastal strip
• Any stay longer than 15 days

Travellers are turned back at checkpoints for exactly this reason. If there is any chance you will leave the resort strip, buy the visa — the cost is small next to a cancelled excursion.

What are the passport requirements?

Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your arrival date and must have at least one blank page for the stamp. Check the expiry date now rather than the week before you fly: renewals take time, and a passport with five months left will not be accepted regardless of the visa you hold.

When does this not apply?

• Visa requirements vary by nationality. This article describes the general position for the passports Egypt’s tourist visa system is built around. Some nationalities must obtain a visa in advance and cannot use visa on arrival at all. Check your own passport’s position on the official portal.
• Land borders work differently from airports. Charges at the Taba crossing have been increased at short notice during 2026, and land entry rules are not identical to air arrivals.
• This is not immigration advice. Work, study, residence and long stays are outside the scope of a tourist visa entirely.
• Rules change without notice. The 1 August 2026 change is proof. Re-check close to departure.

Frequently asked questions

Can I pay for a visa on arrival by card?

At Cairo International Airport, yes — since 1 August 2026, via self-service machines or the visa-on-arrival portal, at 36 US dollars including a 6 dollar digital service fee. The traditional counter remains 30 US dollars in cash. At other airports, plan on cash.

How long does an Egyptian tourist visa let me stay?

A standard tourist visa permits a stay of up to 30 days. The three-month figure often quoted refers to the e-Visa’s validity — the window during which you must enter Egypt — which is a different thing from how long you may remain.

Do children need their own visa?

Children travelling on their own passport are treated as individual travellers for entry purposes and need their own visa or entry stamp. Confirm the current position for minors on the official portal, as requirements for accompanying documents can differ.

Is the e-Visa better than visa on arrival?

Neither is universally better. The e-Visa removes uncertainty and the airport queue, which suits nervous or tightly-connected travellers. Visa on arrival is usually cheaper and perfectly routine at major airports. Choose the e-Visa if you want it settled in advance; choose on arrival if you are comfortable and carrying US cash.

What happens if I overstay?

Overstaying carries a fine, payable on departure, and can complicate future entry. If your plans change while in Egypt, ask about extension at a passport office rather than assuming a short overstay will be waved through.

Where should I check the current rules?

Egypt’s official e-Visa portal for the fee and application, and your own government’s foreign-travel advice for entry requirements — the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the US Department of State, or your national equivalent. Those are the only sources that are updated when the rules change.

The bottom line

Most travellers to Egypt need a visa, and for most trips the decision is simple: apply for the e-Visa in advance if you want certainty, or bring 30 US dollars in cash and buy it on arrival. If you are landing in Cairo and would rather pay by card, the new 36 dollar digital option has been available since 1 August 2026. Only a Red Sea resort stay of under 15 days escapes the fee entirely — and only if you stay inside the permitted coastal strip.

Once entry is sorted, our Egypt booking tips cover the decisions that actually shape the trip.