Extending a Tourist Visa in Cairo June 2021

I came to Cairo to see Egypt a bit. I would take my time and slowly migrate South snapping photos and taking videos. To do this however meant I would either need to leave the country and come back every 30 days (also known as a visa run) or I could legally stay for 3 - 6 months and apply for a foreign residence permit. It seemed smarter to me to just apply for the permit and more the "proper" way to be visiting. This is a walk-through of that experience. Some of you may be considering to extend an Egyptian e-Visa or want to apply for temporary residency. It is my understanding that there are shortcuts for women and depending on your nationality you may need to go through a slightly different process. I can only share what I experienced.

For security reasons photographs and videos from around or of the office are not allowed.

Before you go I recommend you have the following on hand:

1. A copy of the picture portion of you passport.
2. A copy of the entry stamp you received on arrival.
3. A couple passport sized photos.
4. A copy of your Egypt Visa / e-Visa.
5. 2000 EGP cash.
6. A pen.
7. A hotel business card / full address for accommodation.
8. A bottle of water.
9. Hand sanitizer.
10. An Uber account.
11. An Egyptian SIM card and phone number.
12. Notebook (optional but your friend).
13. Power bank to charge your phone (one of the 2 days you may need it).

The location I went to is called the Egyptian Passports, Immigration and Nationality Administration Office. <-- Map ;) and on Google Maps its called General administration of passports immigration and nationality (just incase you would like to search it yourself). I am told it is the old police academy, which can further add to the confusion but knowing the names may also help.

To do this I took someone with me that speaks Egyptian. This was extremely helpful but not necessary. It is in your best interest to hire someone to go with you and cut out some of the confusion. The smoother the process the faster it will go for you.

Travelling by Uber we arrived around 9:30 on the morning of June the 2nd. Uber is inexpensive and very reliable in Cairo. No haggling required and good conversion rates online.

First you walk through a security checkpoint. I was recording video and was asked to delete it. So heads up, don't get caught taking or worse posting images or videos from in this area.

Next you will approach the actual building. Head inside and up to the 3rd floor.

Once you reach the third floor over in the right hand corner is window 36. There are 3 desks in that grouping. You need to cut into the line and get your application. The people waiting are there for the next step in the application process. That means it is completely OK to get on in there and get that application. If you are too shy about it or too polite, you will never get your application. Just walk up to one of the empty slots and ask for an application form.

The application is easy. If you don't read Arabic or English ask your Egyptian friend to assist you. Otherwise it is pretty straight forward. If you are only applying for one person the front page is enough. If you are applying for a family or have a minor with you then you will need to complete the inner page as well.

Once your application is filled out you need to take it over to the section of desks that has window 50 in it. Its on the opposite side of the room from window 36 where you got the application. Get a feel for that line if there is any. This window all they do is look at your documents and issue you a number. This is not a long process and you may need to just walk up to a window and get a number. Being pleasant and aggressive but not pushy can help you get through this part of the process. Once you have your number things get more civilized.

Now you need to go to the second floor. If you get off the escalator there will be a coffee shop directly in front of you. Make a really hard left and you will walk into a waiting room. Check the screen for where they are with your series of numbers and which window you will need to go to. If you are many numbers away you have time to grab a coffee. It takes this window several minutes to get through the next steps for each person in queue.

Once your number is called go up to the window. For me it was to window 6. Pay attention when it gets close to your number. The reason for this is the sign can just shut off. If the number is within one or 2 of yours get up and go ask at the window. Chances are they will tell you to just wait a moment and then after several minutes process some of your ID, checks your forms and hands you a form to take over to the bank and pay. I am told the fees are different for everyone, but I applied for a 3 month temporary residence permit and it cost me 1170 Egyptian Pounds the first day.

If you turn and walk away from the previous window and head towards the outside of the waiting area on the right, there just happens to be a bank. Here you will pay and get several papers.

Now head back to your original window. There you may wait a bit and be mindful of whomever is in front of you in queue. This is where things calm down a bit. Once you reach the window, give the person behind the counter.

You will now have your photo and fingerprints taken. You are almost in the clear for the day. Once the clerk has finished they will tell you a time to return. For me it was 9 am the next day.

After that you can head on your way, you are finished the first step in getting your Egypt Tourist Visa extended and converting it into a temporary residence card. This whole process took me about 2 hours and I spent 20 minutes of that time in a coffee shop. The rest of it I was occupied performing small tasks going from window to window. It was not very crowded for a government office. It is still a confined space though and there are still a lot of people. They do take COVID-19 precautions and the office was very clean but getting in and out of the office quickly was a huge plus.

Day 2

Ok so day 2 for me was longer. It was more of a waiting and less go here and there kind of day. This was a day that was about being where you need to be when you needed to be there and it seemed like a lot more people were waiting than the day before. My day 2 was on a Thursday, which is like Friday I am told. So that probably added to the amount of people in the office.

Make sure you have at least 1000 EGP for fees and any additional money you may want to use for a coffee or any other necessities. If you are taking a taxi instead of Uber you will need to have funds for that as well. You will have already gone to the office so you should have an idea of what you will spend. It cost me 50 EGP an hour to sit in the coffee shop.

There is an ATM next to the coffee shop but I would never recommend pulling money out in front of that many people watching. You don't want to have to pay a bribe or commission for having your Egyptian colleague with you.

You will want to bring all of the paper work from the day before. You may not use all of it but who knows what they may ask you for so its best to be prepared.

We arrived at the office as I was instructed. I started by heading back to my original window from the previous day. I was told to go to floor 3, window #4. Odds are if you check there first and look in the bank of 3 windows that #4 is in and you ask you will be given a set of numbers. You want to keep both sets of numbers with you.

Return to the waiting area and look for your number sequence being called. The sequences were grouped by the first number in the series. For example if I was 565 I just had to look for a number that was 500 - 599 and that would tell me where I am in line and at what window I am at. This is when the waiting began. No problem.

After about an hour and 15 minutes my number was called and I had to go up to window 10. Here there was a delightful and efficient woman working and she processed my papers quickly, keeping my passport as well as one of the papers with my number on it. She then handed me a form to take over to the bank.

I then turned around and went and queued for the bank. This is not a long process. I waited maybe 5 minutes and had my receipt. This was my second fee and it came to 765 EGP. Your fee may vary depending on the length of time you request or your nationality. I'm Canadian and I requested 3 months.

Now I returned to window 10 and turned in the receipt. I was told to wait an hour and then watch for my number to be called. This is why it is important to keep both copies of your number that were given to you a few steps back. That second number matches the one the person at the window will take and is how you collect your final ID card proving you have extended your stay.

Now came the waiting. This was a very long wait. The numbers are not called in any sequential order either. You can't just time it so you come back within 10 numbers and go sit in the coffee shop.

After four and a half hours of waiting I received my residence permit ID card from window 5. That actually isn't that bad but at the time it felt like it went longer.

Over the 2 days I spent a total of 11.5 hours performing this task including my travel time. Staying in Giza 3 hours of that is travel time. The first day it was only about 2 hours in the office once we had ourselves together. If you are going by using signs and or are shy about queueing than you can probably add some time to that. The second day was much longer but still not horrible. It took me about 2 hours to get my set of numbers and then another 4.5 hours of waiting to get my ID. I had to pay fees but I have ID and don't need my passport with me. I can stay for 90 days and not have to worry about an overstay. So there are a few pros to waiting.

My total costs including transportation and the coffee shop were about 2,585 EGP. That includes 400 EGP in Uber fees back and forth from Giza twice, 250 EGP at the coffeeshop for 3 bottles of water, 1 Turkish Coffee and 4 cappuccinos. 1935 EGP was what I paid in fees.

It is also important to note I already had passport photos and I had my hotel do all my photocopies for me. Because of that you could end up spending additional time and money getting your paperwork in order.

If you enjoyed reading this article and would like to see what my adventures in Egypt were like you can find Lovin' it on Phuket on YouTube by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/lovinitonphuket. If images and social media are more of your thing, Lovin' it on Phuket is also on Instagram and Facebook under the same name and logo.