What you need to enter Egypt with a Saudi passport

The Sinai Peninsula: different entry rules

Flying into Sharm El Sheikh to stay under fifteen days at resorts in Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba or Taba needs no visa: you get a free entry permission stamp at the airport. That stamp does not cover leaving the area or longer stays, which need a visa. At the Taba land crossing from Israel the FCDO describes three different border taxes depending on how far you travel, and going beyond Sinai also needs the ordinary entry visa plus a letter of guarantee. The figures are the FCDO's and are worth confirming before you travel, since payment is in cash at the crossing itself.

Source: FCDO, gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt/entry-requirements (comprobado 18/09/2026)

Authorization system

e-Visa

Portal managed by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, operational since 3 December 2017. Available for more than 70 nationalities, single or multiple entry. Watch out for third-party websites that charge extra fees while imitating the official portal.

Fee

USD 25.00

~25 USD single entry / ~60 USD multiple entry (some sources cite 30/65 USD as of March 2026 — verify the exact current fee before publishing).

Processing time

3-7 business days.

Required documents

• A passport valid for at least 6 months from the travel date.
• A scanned copy of the passport’s biographical page.
• A recent photo.
• Accommodation details (hotel or host) for the stay.
• If you intend to obtain the visa on arrival at the airport, your passport must have MORE than 6 months of validity at the moment you arrive, and your nationality must not be on the list of countries requiring prior approval.
• Since 1 September 2026, Egyptian airports have replaced the visa-on-arrival sticker with an electronic QR code.

Vaccinations

• No mandatory vaccines for general entry. A yellow fever certificate is required from travellers over 9 months of age arriving from —or having transited more than 12 hours through the airport of— a country with risk of transmission. Travellers arriving from Sudan must show the yellow fever certificate or an official Sudanese certificate that they have not been south of latitude 15°N in the previous 6 days.

Health insurance

Not mandatory for this destination.

Transit rules

EGYPTAIR, the flag carrier, publishes a free transit visa for layovers of between 8 and 96 hours. You obtain it on arrival at the EGYPTAIR transit office at Cairo airport by filling in a data form; the procedure takes 30 to 45 minutes and your passport is held at that office while you are out of the airport. One condition rules a fair number of people out: only nationalities that can obtain an emergency visa on arrival in Cairo are eligible. This comes from the airline itself, not from a ministry, so confirm it with them before planning the layover.

Customs limits

Cash

Declare foreign currency if it exceeds 10,000 USD; maximum 5,000 EGP in local currency.

Alcohol

2 liters paying ~1% duty (minimum 13 USD/liter); possibility of buying up to 3L more at duty-free shops within 48h of arrival. Prohibited for under-20s.

Tobacco

200 cigarettes, 25 cigars or 200 g of tobacco per traveller over 20. Figure taken from consistent travel sources (IATA Travel Centre and others), not confirmed against the Egyptian customs authority.

Overstay penalties

Leaving the country on an expired visa can cause trouble at exit control, and there is a fine once it has been expired for more than fourteen days. The amount could not be confirmed against an official Egyptian source, so what we report is the consequence rather than a figure.

Common reasons for denial

• Holding a passport that does not cover the required 6 months of validity from arrival.
• Being of a nationality on the list of countries requiring prior approval: those passport holders cannot obtain the visa on arrival and must arrange it beforehand.
• Not having confirmed with the airline that you do not need a visa in order to board: the embassy names this expressly as a prior step.
• The most important thing to accept in advance: the official e-Visa portal warns that Egyptian port authorities have the right to refuse entry to an e-Visa holder WITHOUT any explanation. Holding a granted visa does not guarantee entry.