Originally Posted by
Dave Noble
What is cumbersome about it? I just did it for myself and foster son and it was a pretty quick and easy activity
Oddly enough, i've just used the e-visa service, curiosity led me to it. It would have been easier if I'd had a scan of my passport ready, in the format and size required. But I hadn't. So that was a bit of a faff.
Then there was a bit of a problem understanding what they wanted from me in terms of identifying my sponsors/hosts: I am hostless and sponsor-free.
I thought I'd finished, but got sent back to re-do my address: and eventually discovered they wanted me to enter it with lines separated by commas rather than paragraphs.
It wasn't too bad, but it took a goodly chunk of my evening, and has left me, four days' later, $25 lighter and still without a visa. But no worries, if necessary I can write that off and buy a stamp when i arrive
Originally Posted by
Dave Noble
The length of time to apply was less time than it took to get stamps last time
It saves me from having to go to bank and get $50 USD per entry to pay the required entry fee in cash and paying cost of currency conversion
I'm baffled about why it took so long for you to get stamped, arriving at CAI. I've rarely had to wait more than a couple of minutes behind someone at the bank counter, and the transaction itself is very quick. Since the Mogamma stopped issuing multiple entry visas, I've bought single entry stamps on each arrival.
Perhaps your problem was T2 and a midnight arrival. I've switched almost entirely to T3.
Note that you're wasting time (and money!) buying dollars in the UK to pay for a visa at Cairo airport. You don't need dollars: they are happy to accept most currencies and give you change in EGP. They operate a very tight exchange rate. It's an ideal opportunity to get cash for taxis. I've never been short-changed, but it's probably smart to have idea of more or less what you should be getting back in EGP.