Visa for Egypt

Agricola

Heading in a few weeks with the Travel Department. Im wondering is it ok to just get the Visa on arrival? Is it a simple stamp and go or is there some form filling to be done?

Pythia

Just get it at the airport when you land. I think you might fill out a small form but it's very simple.

coylemj

Pythia wrote: »

Just get it at the airport when you land. I think you might fill out a small form but it's very simple.

+1 The only potential for hassle is if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport.

The Travel Department will be transferring you from the airport to your hotel so it's in their interest to make sure that you don't encounter any problems at the airport.

You should double-check with them but I suspect they've already told you the procedure.

Agricola

coylemj wrote: »

+1 The only potential for hassle is if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport.

The Travel Department will be transferring you from the airport to your hotel so it's in their interest to make sure that you don't encounter any problems at the airport.

You should double-check with them but I suspect they've already told you the procedure.

No they havent but its early days yet. I'd just like to know if its their policy to make sure ppl on a tour have visas before arriving so safe time at the airport

coylemj

Agricola wrote: »

No they havent but its early days yet. I'd just like to know if its their policy to make sure ppl on a tour have visas before arriving so safe time at the airport

The Travel Department policy seems to be just that - they want you to have a visa in advance thereby saving time at the airport. You will need to apply either through them at a cost of €55 or direct via the Egyptian embassy in Dublin for a fee of €25 and note that your passport will need to have at least 6 months remaining on it.

http://www.thetraveldepartment.ie/Travel-Services/Visa-Services/Visa-Services---Egypt.aspx

To be honest I think that's a load of b****x, I was in Egypt in 1998 with Michael Stein (now Stein Travel), we filled in a form in Cairo airport and they stamped a visa in our passports, it was all pretty painless.

The Egyptian Consulate in London says that all EU citizens can apply for a visa on arrival so it looks like nothing has changed since, see the fourth bullet 'In addition to UK and EU nationals...'

http://www.egyptianconsulate.co.uk/visas.php

Agricola

Cheers Coyle, ordinarily I wouldnt even think of this. Its just when your part of a group you might not be able to swan in and stand in a queue for a half hour while the rest of them are waiting to go on the bus.

I'll probably go with the embassy then.

coylemj

Agricola wrote: »

Cheers Coyle, ordinarily I wouldnt even think of this. Its just when your part of a group you might not be able to swan in and stand in a queue for a half hour while the rest of them are waiting to go on the bus.

I'll probably go with the embassy then.

I'd agree, you might as well sort it out in advance and get the visa if that's what everyone else is going to do.

Siuin

coylemj wrote: »

+1 The only potential for hassle is if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport.

Are you sure? I know Israelis who go on holidays to Egypt and they don't have any problems

coylemj

Siuin wrote: »

Are you sure? I know Israelis who go on holidays to Egypt and they don't have any problems

I know that a lot of Israelis go to Sharm El Sheikh and they are probably processed through the Egyptian border with no problem. I think a citizen of a third country presenting at any arab point of entry who has an Israeli stamp on his/her passport is potentially liable to encounter some 'issues' depending on the official they meet.

The Irish government is prepared to give it's citizens a second passport to circumvent this situation i.e. one passport to hold Israeli stamps and another 'clean' passport to use when travelling to arab countries, that speaks for itself.

Siuin

coylemj wrote: »

I know that a lot of Israelis go to Sharm El Sheikh and they are probably processed through the Egyptian border with no problem. I think a citizen of a third country presenting at any arab point of entry who has an Israeli stamp on his/her passport is potentially liable to encounter some 'issues' depending on the official they meet.

The Irish government is prepared to give it's citizens a second passport to circumvent this situation i.e. one passport to hold Israeli stamps and another 'clean' passport to use when travelling to arab countries, that speaks for itself.

Wow, I'm really surprised by this- I have a few Israeli stamps on my passport but always thought that as a 'friendly' country, I wouldn't have problems with going to Egypt. Thankfully I have no plans to visit in the near future! :P

LiamMc

Siuin wrote: »

Wow, I'm really surprised by this- I have a few Israeli stamps on my passport but always thought that as a 'friendly' country, I wouldn't have problems with going to Egypt. Thankfully I have no plans to visit in the near future! :P

The previous poster doesn't know, he's just making it up.
'Egypt alllows Israeli citizens into Egypt but not tourists from third countries.#

Here's a clue from 1979
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/26/newsid_2806000/2806245.stm

These Travel Forums on boards.ie are very poor in accurate information.

coylemj

LiamMc wrote: »

The previous poster doesn't know, he's just making it up.
'Egypt alllows Israeli citizens into Egypt but not tourists from third countries.#

These Travel Forums on boards.ie are very poor in accurate information.

The only lack of accuracy is in your incorrect interpretation of what I said. I did not say that Egypt denied entry to people with Israeli stamps in their passports.

This is what I said.....

coylemj wrote: »

+1 The only potential for hassle is if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport.

coylemj wrote: »

I think a citizen of a third country presenting at any arab point of entry who has an Israeli stamp on his/her passport is potentially liable to encounter some 'issues' depending on the official they meet.

It's well known that entering any arab country with an Israeli stamp in your passport can lead to delays, aggravation and gratuitous delays. Yes they will let you in (Saudi Arabia has been known to refuse a visa outright) but if you have a choice it's recommended that you get a second passport.

Siuin

coylemj wrote: »

It's well known that entering any arab country with an Israeli stamp in your passport can lead to delays, aggravation and gratuitous delays. Yes they will let you in (Saudi Arabia has been known to refuse a visa outright) but if you have a choice it's recommended that you get a second passport.

I'd say both of ye have some fair points. There is a list of countries which will simply not accept a person with Israeli stamps (such as Saudi) but I'd say if one was to try visit Egypt they would get questioned more than usual but there's no explicit ban on their entry. Personally, I wouldn't get a second passport to travel to Egypt or other 'friendly' Arab countries- much easier to just answer their questions. It'd be highly unusual if they were to refuse entry to someone for Israeli stamps and I've known people who travelled from Israel into countries such as Jordan and Egypt without any issues.

coylemj

Siuin wrote: »

I'd say both of ye have some fair points. There is a list of countries which will simply not accept a person with Israeli stamps (such as Saudi) but I'd say if one was to try visit Egypt they would get questioned more than usual but there's no explicit ban on their entry. Personally, I wouldn't get a second passport to travel to Egypt or other 'friendly' Arab countries- much easier to just answer their questions. It'd be highly unusual if they were to refuse entry to someone for Israeli stamps and I've known people who travelled from Israel into countries such as Jordan and Egypt without any issues.

I agree with your attitude. I think Egypt is probably the 'friendliest' arab country for Israelis to visit and similarly a person from a third country who has an Israeli stamp in their passport will probably not encounter any major difficulty when entering the country.

I wasn't trying to scare the OP but I have visited Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Egypt itself on separate trips. Prior to each trip, the people co-ordinating my travel asked me straight out if I had an Israeli stamp in my passport. In the case of Saudi Arabia I definitely would have needed a 'clean' second passport.