Citizens of Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia who are currently residing in Gulf countries can now reportedly visit Egypt without having to apply for a visa prior to their arrival; they can obtain it instantly upon their arrival to Cairo International Airport.
Other reports suggest that the visa-upon-arrival system will encompass all the nationals of these countries.
This step was approved by the Egyptian government in order to boost tourism. The decision has come into effect on Monday. However, it’s still unconfirmed if the decision includes all nationals or only limited to those residing in Gulf countries.
Sudan, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine will still have to apply for visas and security permits in order to be allowed into Egypt, a source from the airport told the privately-owned Al-Watan.
Meanwhile, the Defense and National Security committee in Egypt’s House of Representatives has approved a new bill suggesting that Egyptian citizenship be granted to foreigners in return for $US 250,000 deposits. The bill resulted in a severe backlash from parliamentarians.
In March, Egypt’s cabinet approved to raise the price of multiple entry tourist visas from $US 25 to $US 60, but decided to maintain the price of the single entry visas at $US 25.
The tourism sector in Egypt has severely suffered since the 25 January uprising in 2011. The economic turmoil has even increased when a Russian plane had crashed shortly after it took off from Sharm Al-Sheikh airport, leaving all 224 on board dead.
However, the sector has recently shown slight signs of improvement.
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