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Egypt To Introduce Electronic Visa System Within Months, Requiring Visitors To Obtain Visas Before Arrival

April 7, 2015

Egypt will install an electronic visa system in six to eight months and individual tourists will only have to take three steps to obtain a visa, the tourism minister said on Monday.

Minister Rami Khaled was cited by state news agency MENA as saying that the government’s decision to cancel on-arrival visas for individual tourists is related to installing the new system, during a meeting with members of the association of tourist writers.

The cancellation of on-arrival visas was due to be implemented starting May 15 but the government postponed the cancellation in a decision on Thursday until it activates a system for electronically obtaining visas.

Rami said last week that the cancellation of on-arrival visas aims to organise the entry of foreigners into Egypt in the framework of “respecting national sovereignty” and “considering the state’s national security” in a manner that would “not affect the flow of tourism.”

Rami said tourists who arrive in groups will still be issued on-arrival visas.

The decision to cancel on-arrival visas was met with wide criticism from travel agencies, which warned that it could negatively affect the flow of tourism into the country.

Tourism was a main source of income in Egypt until a popular uprising which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime in 2011 triggered four years of political turmoil, taking its toll on the sector.

Tourism revenues jumped to almost $4 billion from $1.9 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year 2014/2015, the central bank announced on March 19.

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Comments (2)

  1. Paula McLoughlin Boswell-Joine says:

    This is good news, online visas is the best solution for everyone. Am I to assume everything the same as usual until we hear further?

    1. Elf Jr says:

      True and if it works it will make visitor’s live easier.