Living in Hurghada Full time - Regarding Visa?

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?

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.