Quick Answer
Do You Need a Visa for Egypt? The 2026 Answer
Yes, almost certainly. But the Egypt visa is one of the easier ones in the world to get, and the two things worth your attention are not “will I be allowed in”. They are which of the two routes you take and which website you type in.
The fees moved twice this year. Visa on arrival went from $25 to $30 on 1 March 2026. The e-Visa followed on 27 April 2026, rising to around $30 single entry and around $65 multiple entry. Every blog still quoting $25 is pre-March.
The second thing costs more than the visa itself. There is exactly one official portal, and it is not the one at the top of the search results.
Travel advisory note (updated August 2026): the US State Department currently rates Egypt Level 2, exercise increased caution, overall, with Do Not Travel zones limited to North and Middle Sinai and parts of the Western Desert near the Libyan border, none of which this guide covers. The UK FCDO advises against all travel to North Sinai and all but essential travel to parts of the Sinai interior, while Red Sea coastal resorts such as Sharm El Sheikh sit in the FCDO’s excepted coastal areas. Check your own government’s advisory before booking, and see the Egypt travel insurance guide for what to look for in a policy.
VoyageHacks verified every fee, validity period and portal address on this page on 6 August 2026. Visa rules are the definition of YMYL travel information: this guide is a map, and visa2egypt.gov.eg is the territory.
Egypt Visa Costs in 2026, After Two Increases
Both fees rose this year, and they rose on different dates. That is why price figures across the internet currently disagree with each other.
| Visa type | Fee (2026) | Previous fee | Changed | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| e-Visa, single entry | around $30 | $25 | 27 April 2026 | 3 months from issue, stay up to 30 days |
| e-Visa, multiple entry | around $65 | $60 | 27 April 2026 | Confirm on the portal at application |
| Visa on arrival, single entry | around $30 | $25 | 1 March 2026 | Issued at the border, stay up to 30 days |
| Sinai-only stamp (SSH arrivals) | free | free | unchanged | About two weeks, South Sinai coastal resort zone only |
Two honest notes on that table. The single-entry fee is now identical whichever route you take, so the choice is about convenience and queue length, not money. And the multiple-entry option only exists online: you cannot buy one at the airport desk.
e-Visa or Visa on Arrival? Pick by Your Airport, Not by Price
Since both single-entry routes cost around $30, this is a logistics decision.
| e-Visa (visa2egypt.gov.eg) | Visa on arrival | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost, single entry | Around $30 | Around $30 |
| Multiple entry available | Yes, around $65 | No |
| Where you do it | At home, before you fly | Bank desk before passport control |
| Payment | Card, online | Cash US dollars in practice |
| Queue risk | None on arrival | One extra queue, worst on peak charter arrivals |
| Airline check-in | Printout satisfies a nervous check-in agent | Occasionally questioned by carriers |
| If something goes wrong | You have days to fix it | You are fixing it at 3am at the airport |
| Best for | Anyone with a fixed plan, families, first-timers | Confident travelers on a quiet arrival |
Get the e-Visa if you are traveling with kids, arriving late at night, connecting straight onto a domestic flight, or you simply want the trip admin closed before you leave home.
Take the visa on arrival if you are a comfortable independent traveler, you already carry clean US dollar notes, and you are arriving at an off-peak hour. It genuinely is a five-minute transaction when the hall is empty.
The honest flaw in the e-Visa route: processing is not instant, and the single-entry e-Visa expires 3 months from issue rather than from arrival. Apply too early for a trip you booked far ahead and it can lapse before you fly. Apply once your dates are locked, not the day you get the idea.
There Is Only One Official Egypt e-Visa Site
This is the section that saves readers real money, so it goes before the how-to.
The Egyptian government’s e-Visa portal is visa2egypt.gov.eg . That is the whole list of official channels.
Everything else is a third-party operator: a checkout page bolted onto a government form. Some of them do file the application for you. All of them charge a markup on a $30 fee, and several are designed to look like the real thing, complete with eagles, flags and “official” in the page title.
How to spot the wrong site in five seconds:
| Signal | Official portal | Lookalike fee site |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | Ends in gov.eg | Anything else, however official the name sounds |
| Single-entry price | Around $30 | $70, $90, $120, or “$30 plus service fee” |
| How you found it | You typed it | You clicked the top search ad |
| Extras offered | None | “Expedited”, “premium”, “guaranteed approval” |
| Support pitch | Government contact page | Live chat urging you to complete payment now |
Guaranteed approval is the clearest tell. No intermediary can guarantee an Egyptian visa decision, because no intermediary makes it.
How to Apply for the Egypt e-Visa, Step by Step
- Lock your travel dates first. The single-entry e-Visa runs 3 months from issue, so applying before your dates are firm risks it expiring before departure.
- Type visa2egypt.gov.eg into the address bar yourself. Do not search for it, and do not click an ad. This is the single highest-value instruction on this page.
- Create the account and have your passport in hand. Passport number, issue and expiry dates, and your first Egyptian address. Copy the passport number character by character.
- Choose single or multiple entry. Around $30 versus around $65. Single entry covers a standard one-country trip; multiple entry only pays off if you are leaving Egypt and returning within the visa’s life.
- Pay by card and save everything offline. Screenshot the approval and store a PDF on your phone, not just in your inbox. Airport Wi-Fi at 2am is not a plan.
- Print one copy anyway. It costs nothing and it ends any discussion at a check-in desk.
- Repeat for every traveler, including children on their own passports.
Passport validity: Egypt sets its own requirement and this guide could not pin a current figure to an official source, so check the validity rule on visa2egypt.gov.eg before you book. As a general travel habit, a passport inside six months of expiry is worth renewing before you price flights, because no visa saves you if you cannot board.
The Free Sinai-Only Stamp, Explained Properly
This one confuses a lot of Red Sea travelers, and getting it wrong strands people.
Definition: the Sinai-only stamp is a free entry permission, granted automatically on arrival at Sharm El Sheikh airport (SSH) to most nationalities, that allows a stay inside the South Sinai Red Sea coastal resort zone only. It is not a visa. There is no application and no fee.
What it means in practice:
- It costs nothing. Nobody should be charging you for it.
- Validity is about two weeks. Sources disagree on whether the allowance is 14 or 15 days, so read the date written on your stamp at the counter rather than counting from a blog post.
- It does not cover the rest of Egypt. Cairo, Giza, Luxor and every other part of the country are outside it.
- Reach Sharm El Sheikh by air. SSH has direct international service and that is how this guide routes you.
So who should refuse it and buy a visa instead? Anyone whose trip is not purely a Red Sea resort stay. If you have any intention of adding the pyramids, a Nile leg, or a domestic hop beyond the resort zone, take the full tourist visa: e-Visa in advance, or around $30 on arrival. The stamp saves you $30 and costs you the rest of Egypt.
If the Red Sea is the whole trip, the stamp is a genuinely good deal, and it pairs with the resort-heavy pricing we break down in the Egypt budget guide .
What Else the Border Actually Checks
The visa is rarely the problem. These are.
- Cash for the arrival desk. The visa-on-arrival counter is a bank window that sits before passport control and the ATMs. Clean US dollar notes are the practical currency. Egypt runs at roughly EGP 50 to the US dollar as of early August 2026, and the rate floats.
- Drones are effectively banned for tourists. Bringing one without Ministry of Defense authorization risks confiscation at the airport and legal penalties, and the permit process is not built for individual visitors. Leave it at home.
- Photography rules start at the airport. Personal phone and camera photography without flash or a tripod is free at public sites, but “professional” kit (external flash, tripods, reflectors, commercial filming) needs prior authorization.
- Your onward plan. A confirmed hotel and return or onward ticket are the standard things an officer may ask about anywhere. Have them on your phone.
- A physical SIM needs your passport. Registration is mandatory in Egypt, so if you plan to buy a local SIM at the arrivals kiosk, do it before you pack the passport away.
The Mistakes That Cost Egypt Travelers Money
- Paying a lookalike site. A single-entry Egypt visa is around $30. If a site wants $90, it is selling you a $30 government form.
- Quoting the old fees. $25 and $60 are pre-2026 figures. Budget $30 and $65.
- Applying for the e-Visa months early. It runs 3 months from issue, not from arrival.
- Accepting the Sinai-only stamp with a Cairo flight booked. It does not cover Cairo, and finding that out after immigration is expensive.
- Landing at the arrival desk with no dollars. The ATMs are on the far side of passport control.
- Assuming a visa is a guaranteed right of entry. It is permission to present yourself at the counter. The officer decides, and the stamp you receive is what governs your stay.
Once You Are Through Immigration
Entry sorted. These figures were verified for this guide in August 2026 and, like all travel numbers, drift.
A few more things worth knowing before you land:
- Emergency numbers. Police 122, ambulance 123, tourist police 126. Fire is 180 and Egypt’s unified 112 hotline routes to all services.
- Rooms are the cheapest part of Egypt. On early-September dates, Giza rooms with a pyramid view priced from around $20 to $40 a night and Luxor’s 5-star Nile resorts around $67 to $96. Browse live rates on our hotels hub .
- Getting between cities is the decision that shapes the trip: see getting around Egypt for the Cairo to Luxor flight-versus-sleeper call.
- Insurance. Egypt does not require it of tourists, but if you are British and heading to Sharm El Sheikh, check that your policy explicitly names the FCDO-excepted coastal areas rather than assuming cover. Our travel insurance guide covers what to look for.
Sources
| Source | What it supports | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| visa2egypt.gov.eg (official Egyptian e-Visa portal) | The only official e-Visa channel, application flow | 6 August 2026 |
| 2026 coverage of Egypt’s official visa fee-increase notices | e-Visa and visa-on-arrival fee changes and their dates | 6 August 2026 |
| travel.state.gov, Egypt Travel Advisory (US State Department) | Level 2 rating, Do Not Travel zone wording | 6 August 2026 |
| gov.uk foreign travel advice, Egypt (UK FCDO) | Sinai advisory and the excepted coastal areas | 6 August 2026 |
| airalo.com Egypt eSIM page | eSIM starting price | 6 August 2026 |
The exact day count on the Sinai-only stamp (14 or 15 days) could not be resolved to a single primary source, which is why this page says “about two weeks, confirm at entry” rather than picking a number.
What Changed in 2026
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 1 March 2026 | Visa on arrival rose from $25 to $30 for single entry |
| 27 April 2026 | e-Visa rose from $25 to $30 single entry and $60 to $65 multiple entry |
| Unchanged | The Sinai-only stamp at Sharm El Sheikh remains free |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a visa to visit Egypt in 2026?
Most visitors do. Holders of US, UK, EU, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Japanese and South Korean passports all need a tourist visa, but they can get one the easy way: either the official e-Visa online or a visa on arrival bought at the airport. Roughly 46 nationalities qualify for visa on arrival and a longer list for the e-Visa, so confirm your own passport on visa2egypt.gov.eg before booking.
How much does an Egypt e-Visa cost in 2026?
Around $30 for a single-entry e-Visa and around $65 for multiple entry, following the increase that took effect on 27 April 2026. The single-entry e-Visa is valid for 3 months from issue and allows a stay of up to 30 days. Older guides still quoting $25 and $60 are out of date, so budget for the current figures and confirm them on the official portal at checkout.
What is the official Egypt e-Visa website?
visa2egypt.gov.eg, run by the Egyptian government. It is the only official channel for the Egypt e-Visa. Lookalike sites with official-sounding names and polished designs sell the same government form with a service fee bolted on, and they buy the top search ad slots. Type the gov.eg address yourself rather than clicking a search result, and stop if a site quotes far more than around $30.
Is the visa on arrival still available in Egypt?
Yes. Eligible nationalities can still buy a single-entry visa sticker at the bank desks before passport control at Egypt’s international airports, including Cairo, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, Luxor and Alexandria. The fee rose from $25 to $30 on 1 March 2026. Carry clean US dollar notes: the desk is a currency transaction, not a card checkout, and it sits before the ATMs.
What is the free Sinai-only stamp for Sharm El Sheikh arrivals?
It is a free entry permission granted automatically at Sharm El Sheikh airport to most nationalities who will stay inside the South Sinai Red Sea coastal resort zone. It costs nothing and needs no application. Sources differ on whether it runs 14 or 15 days, so treat it as about two weeks and confirm the exact date written on your stamp at the counter.
Can you use the Sinai-only stamp to visit Cairo or Luxor?
No. The Sinai-only stamp permits stays within the South Sinai coastal resort zone and nothing beyond it, so Cairo, Giza, Luxor and the rest of Egypt are off limits on it. If your trip includes the pyramids, a Nile leg or a domestic flight out of the resort zone, buy a full tourist visa instead: either the e-Visa in advance or the visa on arrival at the airport.
Next Step
The Egypt visa decision comes down to three lines. Single entry costs around $30 either way, so choose the e-Visa for peace of mind or the airport desk for speed. Use visa2egypt.gov.eg and nothing else. And accept the free Sinai-only stamp only if Sharm El Sheikh really is the entire trip.
With entry settled, build the trip. Start from the best time to visit Egypt pillar, because the month you pick decides whether Luxor is pleasant or punishing. Then shape your days with the Egypt itinerary , set your daily spend in the Egypt budget guide , work out the intercity legs in getting around Egypt , and pick your base in Cairo . Sort data with an eSIM so your visa PDF is on a working phone at passport control, and price the flight itself from our flights hub .