Do I need a visa for transit through Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh?

Under Cairo’s trial procedure, the visa can still be arranged on arrival and paid for in cash: pay $36 at the bank window, receive a paper QR code, and take it to passport control for the entry stamp. The self-service terminal accepts only foreign bank cards.

According to a recent report, no visa is needed for a Cairo connection if you remain in the international transit area. If you leave that area, you need to obtain the $36 electronic visa.

For Kyrgyz citizens, a stay in Sharm el-Sheikh of up to 15 days is visa-free, but a trip to Cairo requires arranging a visa in advance in their home country; it cannot simply be bought on arrival.

If you plan to leave the transit zone in Cairo, a visa is required. The Cairo visa is now electronic — you can apply in advance paying with a foreign bank card, or get it on arrival, but the price has increased from $30 to $36.

Similar to Cairo, if flying via Alexandria on a charter you'll also need to buy a visa there — another airport with no visa-free transit to Sharm el-Sheikh.

According to one discussion participant, a forum admin previously stated that arranging a Cairo visa (outside the Sinai zone) for Kazakh citizens via a tour operator's guarantee letter is not entirely legal and effectively amounts to bribery.

For Kazakh citizens, in addition to the visa (embassy in Astana, tour operator guarantee letter, or visa application center), registration at Gauzet is also required — except when the visa is processed via a visa application center, which reportedly handles this automatically.

One traveler paid $80 in total on arrival for the visa plus an invitation/guarantee letter, and had no issues traveling onward to Cairo by bus. The visa was valid for a month and could be extended at Gauzet for 925 Egyptian pounds for another month.

The visa fee at Cairo airport can be paid in euros — staff will convert the $30 amount using that day's official exchange rate. The visa/bank payment window is directly along the walking route to passport control, so there's no need to search for it.

Unverified report: Kazakh citizens are reportedly now required to pre-book a pyramids excursion through a tour operator (at roughly triple the usual price) in advance, otherwise the visa for Cairo may be denied at the airport.

Uzbek citizens cannot buy a visa on arrival in Egypt. They must apply in advance at the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara or the Egyptian Consulate General in Istanbul, where the exact document list will be specified. A clearance from Egypt's National Security Service is also required; the whole process can take a month or more, so it should be started well ahead of travel.

To arrange a visa through a guide/agency you typically just need to provide: flight number, departure city, passport number, and the name of your hotel in Egypt — no other documents required.

If you don't get the visa right at arrival but later book a Cairo excursion, the tour agency can still arrange the visa at the same price — but the sticker/stamp gets applied at airport passport control, and the agency charges an extra $8-10 for this service.

If buying the $30 visa on arrival in Cairo yourself, make sure the officer actually stamps the visa mark/sticker — otherwise the visa may not be valid.

As of July 2026, a new (streamlined) visa process is being tested only at Cairo airport for now. Elsewhere the process is unchanged: you fill in the entry card by hand and go pay for the visa at the window labeled "Bank".

If you are flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to Cairo, you can pay for a visa on arrival at the airport — the cost is $30 per passport.

One traveler reports that when visiting Cairo from Sharm el-Sheikh, the hotel guide arranged visas for the whole group on the spot — without needing to purchase any excursions or tours.

Kazakh citizens face different visa rules compared to Russian citizens: visa on arrival is not available to them. They must either obtain a visa in advance at the embassy in Kazakhstan (not an e-visa), or have a guarantee letter from an Egyptian tour operator upon arrival.

On a routing through Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh, a visa is mandatory because Cairo falls outside the Sinai visa-free zone. Without a visa, you will not be allowed to board the connecting domestic flight.

Cairo does not offer a free visa or entry stamp like Sharm el-Sheikh does. Since you cross the international border in Cairo, there is no airside transit option — you must have a valid visa to proceed to a domestic connection.

Firsthand experience from two separate trips: both times, passengers without a visa were denied boarding the onward flight to Sharm el-Sheikh in Cairo. Appeals to staff did not help.

Since August 2025, purchasing a visa on arrival in Cairo is no longer available without conditions. Three options remain: apply at the embassy before departure, use a visa application center, or book a Cairo excursion through a tour operator and use their guarantee letter to buy a visa at the airport.

The Egyptian e-visa is not available to all nationalities. If you are ineligible, your options are the embassy, a visa application center, or a tour operator guarantee letter tied to a purchased Cairo excursion.