Living in Hurghada Full time - Regarding Visa?

Hi Anney,I lived there last summer .it wAs so affordable . Im anxious to come back . Im looking for  job there .any ideas

I'm unsure myself about rules around visa's so no ideas really

Yes I have the visa form. .last summer I didnt need one but now I do

Hi  Annie
Please have a chance to get to know Egypt before you decide to settle. Living here is quite different to having holidays here. Try staying in a few different place and then choose which one you would like it live. Every area has something different to offer. Eg the beach, shopping experience, work if you decide to work, where the most expats are etc
When and if you decide to buy a property unless you find an Egyptian Lawyer through a friend that you trust, only use a expat lawyer.  There are so many hidden rules and regulations here in Egypt that no one bothers to tell you about.  Try and buy somewhere that is in a populated area and affordable to both  Egyptian and expats that way you will have no problem selling if and when you decide

We are having quite a visa problem here in Hurghada for a couple of months now. Apparently, foreigners without a work permit need to leave Egypt once a year to being able renewing their visa.

Opening a business as a non-Egyptian is very expensive (I opened a deisgn agency here so I know what I am talking about).

Getting an employeed job at the moment is hardly possible, we are having a serious economic crisis and jobs are very rare since many hotels and businesses are closed.

Buying a property is not the worst option, but be very careful and don't buy while you are abroad. First rent a flat, get comfortable and then start to look around. There are many available flats, a lot of foreigners are currently leaving (due to the visa and economic problems) so you might find a good bargain. But don't buy before you know the country, the rules and the people!

If you are having regular income from abroad (i.e. retirement), you are willing to travel outside Egypt at least once a year and you are looking to live in a sunny environment, Hurghada still is a good option. But I advice you to try it out first for a couple of months before deciding to completely move here. It's not all as sunny as it seems, especially not at the moment.

Thank you that was the sort of information I needed

I agree with Anjainegypt and would also add be very wary before you purchase a property. There are so many scams going on in Hurghada and even Egyptians will tell you to trust no one. I have recently left Egypt after 3 years and I was lucky enough to sell my flat before I left. If I had my time again I would not buy I would only ever rent because if things go wrong or there is a political problem you can leave quickly.
I was so lucky to sell before the economic crisis but I had difficulty getting my money out of the country. I believe it is even harder now.
Hurghada is a great place to live but I wish I had known all the pitfalls before I went to live there. Do heaps of research before you go. There are some good expat groups on Facebook including Hurghada expats and there is also one called Expat women in Cairo... expats helping each other

Yaani (this means something like 'well' in Arabic), not all expats are helping each other. Many also try to get their benefits from them. Trusting no one, including foreigners from your own nationality living here, is a good advice...

Hello to everyone,
we are an italian couple (not married yet) and we were interested to move and live in Hurghada but we knew some new rules about visa and we are worried about it: we knew in the past it was possible to have a visa 1 up to 5 y  with deposit 50,000 dollar in bank or to buy a flat,  or a tourist visa for 6 m  and renew it was quite easy.   
Any changes? Can someone explain better  the problem about Visa for expat  in this period?  is there a really big problems right now?
Thanks

The best way is to get a tourist resident Visa. You can usually get it renewed fairly easily but they seem to change the rules on a daily basis. As I have said previously, on my post above, I would not encourage purchase of property or of bringing large amounts of money into the country. It is even harder now to get foreign currency out of Egypt and there are many new restrictions in place regarding bank accounts etc. It is better to rent a property than buy as it is extremely difficult to sell now and of course if you need to leave quickly it would be a nightmare. It was hard to get my money out of the country 6 months ago and now there are even greater restrictions. Here is a link for a Visa information Facebook group that you will find helpful and also one for a Cairo based expats women's group which is great for many questions and answers.

facebook.com/groups/937248653023647/
facebook.com/groups/1414611118750597/

good luck... Hurghada is a great place to live if you do it right!

Anjainegypt wrote:

We are having quite a visa problem here in Hurghada for a couple of months now. Apparently, foreigners without a work permit need to leave Egypt once a year to being able renewing their visa.

Opening a business as a non-Egyptian is very expensive (I opened a deisgn agency here so I know what I am talking about).

Getting an employeed job at the moment is hardly possible, we are having a serious economic crisis and jobs are very rare since many hotels and businesses are closed.

Buying a property is not the worst option, but be very careful and don't buy while you are abroad. First rent a flat, get comfortable and then start to look around. There are many available flats, a lot of foreigners are currently leaving (due to the visa and economic problems) so you might find a good bargain. But don't buy before you know the country, the rules and the people!

If you are having regular income from abroad (i.e. retirement), you are willing to travel outside Egypt at least once a year and you are looking to live in a sunny environment, Hurghada still is a good option. But I advice you to try it out first for a couple of months before deciding to completely move here. It's not all as sunny as it seems, especially not at the moment.

Hello,

with reference to your post, can you confirm if  a person with tourist visa can easily renew it  3+3+3+3 (1 year) without going out to the country? We are talking about Hurghada area.
Thanks a lot; your comment will be very appreciated.

Tigerlily3103 wrote:

The best way is to get a tourist resident Visa. You can usually get it renewed fairly easily but they seem to change the rules on a daily basis. As I have said previously, on my post above, I would not encourage purchase of property or of bringing large amounts of money into the country. It is even harder now to get foreign currency out of Egypt and there are many new restrictions in place regarding bank accounts etc. It is better to rent a property than buy as it is extremely difficult to sell now and of course if you need to leave quickly it would be a nightmare. It was hard to get my money out of the country 6 months ago and now there are even greater restrictions. Here is a link for a Visa information Facebook group that you will find helpful and also one for a Cairo based expats women's group which is great for many questions and answers.

facebook.com/groups/937248653023647/
facebook.com/groups/1414611118750597/

good luck... Hurghada is a great place to live if you do it right!

hi...can we ask a question?  You said you try to bring out your money and it was difficult (this is not a good signal for an expat). Did you decide to relocate out of Egypt?
We red many posts here and it seems some or maybe many expats decided to move out. Is it true? Is it really hard now in Egypt?

Hi am an expat and have invested money in Egyp via building a house and a business. It is true that it can be difficult to sell. However I guess you really need to know what your plan is. Do you intend to stay in Efypt doe a long time etc. I have opened an account in Cairo with no difficulties. But it you a transferring your money to this account from another country it must be converted to American dollars. Most of the big foreign banks like HBS will do this no problem
As for taking money out of the country, the government stipulates only $100'000 per year. I believe you can send more out if you have a good repore with your bank manager. Hope this helps. Another thing if you can prove you bought x amount of dollars into Egypt there is no problem. So, keep all your paper work

lynneroy2002 wrote:

Hi am an expat and have invested money in Egyp via building a house and a business. It is true that it can be difficult to sell. However I guess you really need to know what your plan is. Do you intend to stay in Efypt doe a long time etc. I have opened an account in Cairo with no difficulties. But it you a transferring your money to this account from another country it must be converted to American dollars. Most of the big foreign banks like HBS will do this no problem
As for taking money out of the country, the government stipulates only $100'000 per year. I believe you can send more out if you have a good repore with your bank manager. Hope this helps. Another thing if you can prove you bought x amount of dollars into Egypt there is no problem. So, keep all your paper work

thanks for your kind answer

Anney 1 wrote:

Can anyone let me know if I was thinking of living in Hurghada full time would I be in a better position if I owned property or a business regarding residency visa and working visa's. Thanks

Dear Anney, did you already move to Hurghada? We would like to do the same move  but the doubts regarding the VISA , stopped us  to dream. Really would like to know your thought because we have to decide within few months ,  we are a couple and we have also 3 pets. Thanks a lot.

Check that Facebook page I sent you... everyone has a different outcome when they apply for an extension to their Visa. You will get good information from it fromother expats

Hi Anney 1,
I live in the UK and have bought few properties in Hurghada for the sunny and warm days all around the year. If rain comes then that is a blessing. I think I read in one of the posts above, which said that if you buy a property with a green contract, you can obtain a renewable yearly visa. Makes sense because it has more weight than the normal contract. Then you do not need to travel abroad just for the sake of visa. I am planning to do same - get a green contract which is more expensive than the normal one and stay in Hurghada. Some lawyers will charge very high fees, please be aware!
But fortunately I have found a lot cheaper lawyer who does the same job but at lot cheaper rate.
All the best and Good luck.
Riz

A Green contract adds a lot of value to the property and it is much safer and easier if you buy a property that already has a green contract as it is proof of ownership. Many flats in Hurghada have been sold to unsuspecting foreigners many times over and they end up with nothing because the 'owner' is making false documents. That is why a Green Contract is safer.
For a foreigner to get a Green contract takes more than one year it is very slow.

Thanks Tigerlily3103, for this very important information. many foreigners like myself do not know this and many people cannot explain.
But what if a person had a normal contract and lives in the apartment then it cannot be sold on.
But you are right people can sell on and on to make make more money. Its a sad fact.

Yes if you are living in the apartment it could not be sold from under you. Often what happens is a person will own a flat and sell the same flat many times to many people.

Here is a link to a Real Estate companies buying guide for Hurghada - it is only a guide but will give you some insight.

http://rivermeadglobalproperty.co.uk/bl … -hurghada/

Yes! Thank You!

Now I understand - Great help.