Organize your move to Egypt

Hi Julie
I am an Egyptian and i would like to share my opinion about the car's question....I suggest to bring your car along with you and if you wanna buy one you should be advised by a trusted Egyptian who knows about car, because....taxi drivers are not so well in english, forigners suffer a lot when they move from one place to another.

bring your car with you?? Do you really think it is that easy?? I think there are already topics about it, you can also find more info if you google it.

Thanks for your help.

Harmonie.

Hello. I’d just like to share about my experience to move in Egypt.
Most of houses (villas/apartments) are offered furnished. If you want empty one since you’re bringing your own things, you must make a deal with the owner, but most of the time they don’t want to reduce the price.
- What would you bring and what would you leave behind?
All the basic requirements are available in Egypt especially in Cairo (I don’t have any idea outside Cairo), even the quality and the models are not always satisfying. Sexy cloths, maybe better to leave it. Or, you can keep a few for expat parties. Domestic animal, in my opinion, maybe better you leave it. You will not give stress to your lovely pet, if you really love him. You’ll find also problem when you have to have long vacation to your country. Some pets’ hostels are available but some of my friends are disappointed with the care.

- Is it a good idea to bring furniture or domestic appliances?
If you have particular furniture that you love so much, it’s a good idea to bring it to give a “home feeling”. There’re many furniture shops and manufacturers but it’s not always meet your “taste”. The wood is very young, not very solid and laminated. I bought two furniture. They are not cheap. One is just OK, and the other one ... I’m not very happy. But some friends are happy with their furniture that they bought here in Egypt.
Domestic appliance: basic “white goods” are available. If you bring your own, you may change the plugs. See: http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm. In Egypt the plug is like in Europe. Sometimes you will need connector that you can buy in electric shops or even big supermarkets. There’re plenty of fake brands that we must be careful because the name is just slightly different with the big-famous ones.

- Any foodstuffs that are banned in Egypt?
I don’t know so much as I’m not complicated about food. But most of Asian’s ingredients are not available, even though some shops are claimed to sell import foods.

- Is it better to bring a car or to buy one once settled in Egypt?
It will be better to buy one. The procedure to bring car will give you grey hair. It will be even cheaper than to rent IF you stay for more than 3 years. If you stay only 1-2 years may be better to rent. After that to register it you MUST bring somebody to go with you to the “Traffic Department”. Another one, it’s not in the question, is about driving licences. It’s already in the forum but until now I still struggle to get the local driving licences. It is very complicated and there’s no fix rule where foreigners must go to proceed. “You must check with your embassy” (sorry, it’s classic suggestion). I’ve been wondering if there is PROFFESIONAL agent who can do things like car registration, local driving licences, etc.

I hope it will help and give a little idea to plan moving in Egypt.

[moderated: off topic.]