How long can you use your phone with an Egyptian tourist SIM before it gets blocked, and does leaving Egypt reset the timer?

According to a reported rule update, the exemption period for using a phone with an Egyptian SIM is 120 days and renews with each new entry to Egypt. In other words, leaving and then returning should start a new allowance rather than continue the prior countdown.

One user reported receiving an SMS after connecting a local SIM saying the phone would need registration after 120 days. This differs from the commonly cited 60–90 days, so the deadline in the carrier’s notification for the specific device may be the safest reference.

Someone asked whether a phone would work again on a new trip if, on a previous visit, they used a local SIM for only 10 days without registering or paying tax. The reply: in theory it shouldn't be blocked if more than 90 days have passed since the last use of a local Egyptian SIM, but in practice unexpected blocks do occasionally happen — attributed to inconsistent record-keeping by Egyptian carriers rather than an official rule.

Clarification on the blocking rule: if an imported smartphone uses a local SIM for more than 90 days without paying a tax (about 38% of the phone's value) or registering the device, only the port for local SIM cards gets blocked. International roaming from your home carrier continues to work fine — only the ability to use local Egyptian SIMs is blocked.

A different rule was mentioned: if the phone had never registered on an Egyptian network before 2025, it gets blocked 60 days after first joining the network (not 90). Unblocking requires registering the device.

The key timeframe mentioned is 90 days until the device is disabled after its first registration on an Egyptian mobile network. The rule was described as applying not only to tourists, but to everyone.

Leaving Egypt before the deadline, for example after 15 days, was not considered a way to reset the countdown. Once the phone has already appeared on an Egyptian network, the block is still expected later.

Switching from one local SIM to another, such as using one for 29 days and then a second one, was not presented as a solution: the block affects the phone itself, not just one specific SIM.