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Strictly speaking the information is incorrect. Everyone should have a current visa regardless of age, however over 60's will have any fines waived. But technically you are illegal, there's a big difference between don't need and not being fined. If there was no need for any visa you wouldn't need to purchase one on arrival. You still need a current visa for anything official such as your mobile phone, driving license etc, and may need to show if you make any bank transactions. Having worked in hotels here, we never checked the visas but just took a copy of the actual ID part of the passport. I know people over 60 who have travelled over Egypt without a current visa with no issues. You should also be aware that if you do not have a temporary residence card you may be charged tourist rates if you need medical assistance.

@denisehayward050

Actually Denise,

There is no official rule in Egypt regarding exemption from visa renewal for over 60. It depends who you talk to at the time. The only official rule is that you need a visa to stay longer than 14 days (30 if you buy the extra sticker). Without a visa you are in the country illegally and can lose internet, mobile, satellite and bank services as well as encountering problems with vehicle licences.

When you leave the country you can still be liable to pay any overstay, but over 60 may avoid additional fines. This will depend anyone noticing you have no visa and their interpretation of visa rules.

I live in Sharm and am 67 yrs old. I have had to buy a visa every year and have had my internet, mobile and satellite disconnected twice for not notifying them that I have renewed my visa (even though I had) and providing the new details. My wife is 63 and we have both had to pay overstay fines when our visa did expire and we were both told we had to leave the country and return. They even tried to charge my wife twice, once at the visa office and again at the airport.

The fact is you need a visa but you may get away with it sometimes, for a while.

@traceydsaunders thank you for that I went to the Visa office in Hurghada and spoke to the Captain, he told me I didn't need to buy an extension , but I was unsure about staying in hotels ,I haven't had a problem with purchasing a sim card, I signed up to Vodafone for a month, then changed to WE , where they wanted to see my passport and I had no problems they let me sign up with them for a maximum of 6 months, as we are only in Egypt for another 3 months that won't be an issue.

@kerry96 Hi ,we are only here for 4 months ,obviously the 1st 30 days is covered by your entry visa at the Airport, which of course everyone has to buy regardless of age, I haven't had a problem buying a sim card , even when I changed provider after a month, they took a copy of my passport and signed me up and all was fine ..It was just the staying in hotels I was unsure of as they always need a copy of your passport

Thank you for your reply