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Visas in Dahab

Visa-free stay
See details
Digital nomad visa
No
Overall5/10Harder visas than about 65% of cities

Good to know

Good to Know

  • Because Dahab sits inside the Sinai free-entry zone, many nomads flying directly into Sharm El Sheikh airport get a free ~14-15 day entry stamp automatically instead of paying for a visa — but this only works if you stay within Sinai resort towns and don't cross into mainland Egypt.
  • If your nomad plans include a Cairo or Luxor side trip, or you want to stay longer than ~2 weeks, get the standard 30-day Visa on Arrival or e-Visa instead — trying to leave the Sinai zone on the free stamp can cause problems at checkpoints.
  • Visa-on-arrival fees at Egyptian airports have increased recently (from $25 to $30 USD as of March 2026 per multiple travel-industry reports), so double-check the current fee close to your travel date rather than relying on older blog posts.
  • Pay in exact USD cash if possible — bank counters at airports frequently run short on change for larger bills.
  • Always use the official government portal (visa2egypt.gov.eg) for any e-Visa application; several unofficial third-party sites charge inflated markups.
  • There is no Egyptian digital nomad visa — the realistic path for a longer stay in Dahab is stacking 30-day tourist extensions and/or applying for the 6-month renewable residence permit ('the plastic') rather than any remote-work-specific scheme.
  • If you fly directly into the South Sinai area (which includes Dahab) and stay only within South Sinai, you may qualify for a free 14-15 day entry permit instead of paying for a visa — but this restricts you from traveling to Cairo, Luxor, or mainland Hurghada without upgrading to a full paid visa.
  • All visa and residence-permit fees must generally be paid in EGP using an official bank exchange receipt (you exchange USD/EUR at a bank counter and bring that stamped receipt), not by paying dollars directly at the passport office.
  • Working remotely for foreign clients while on a tourist visa or residence permit is common in practice among nomads in Sinai destinations, but no route described here confers actual local work authorization — take that as informal tolerance, not a legal work permit.
  • Track your cumulative days in Egypt carefully if you plan to stay long-term: crossing 183 days in any rolling 12-month window can trigger Egyptian tax residency and worldwide income tax exposure.

Visa Free Entry

Process
No advance application, no form, and no fee — you simply get the entry stamp at immigration at the Sinai airport on arrival, provided you're staying only within the Sinai resort strip.
Duration
Sources disagree slightly on the exact cap: the Egyptian Consulate General in the UK states a maximum of 14 days for this Sinai-only stamp, while the Timatic/airline reference used by Wikipedia's visa-policy page cites a maximum of 15 days. Either way, it's a short window built for short beach/dive trips, not month-long stays.
Baseline Rule
Egypt has a special free entry stamp that applies specifically to Sinai Peninsula resort areas — including Dahab itself — rather than the whole country. Most Western nomads arriving directly into a Sinai airport get this automatically instead of a paid visa.
Who Qualifies
Nationals of the EU, the US, the UK, and Israel (and, per the Timatic industry database used by airlines, effectively all nationalities) arriving specifically at Sharm El Sheikh, Saint Catherine, or Taba airports for tourism purposes only.
Geographic Restriction
This free stamp is valid ONLY within the Sinai resort towns of Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba, and Taba. You must not leave this zone (e.g. no trips to Cairo, Luxor, or the Egyptian mainland/Nile Valley) or the exemption is void and you're expected to hold a full visa instead.
Official Government Source
https://visa2egypt.gov.eg
Passport Validity Requirement
Passport must be valid for at least 6 months from the date of arrival, regardless of which entry route you use.

For Longer Stays Or Travel Outside Sinai

Duration
Up to 30 days, single entry.
Extension
To stay beyond 30 days, an extension must be requested in person at a local immigration office inside Egypt.
Requirement
If you want to stay longer than the ~14-15 day Sinai-only window, or want to leave the Sinai resort strip (e.g. an overland trip to Cairo or a desert safari outside the coastal zone), you need the standard single-entry tourist Visa on Arrival or e-Visa instead of relying on the free stamp.
Fee Single Entry
EGP 1,500
Fee Multiple Entry
EGP 3,000
Payment Notes
Visa-on-arrival fees at Egyptian airports are paid almost exclusively in cash USD (exact change strongly recommended, as counters often lack change); the e-Visa can be paid online by card via the official portal.

Digital Nomad Visa And Tax

Renewal Path
After using two consecutive 6-month residence-permit terms, holders must exit Egypt and re-enter (a 'visa run'), after which they receive a fresh 30-day tourist visa and can begin the residence-permit process again.
Visa Ease Tier
moderate
Visa Ease Tier Rationale
There is no dedicated digital-nomad visa and formal local work authorization is restricted, but the baseline 30-day tourist entry is cheap and extendable, the multi-term residence permit ('the plastic') offers up to roughly a year of legal stay without an income threshold, and foreign-sourced income can escape Egyptian tax if the 183-day residency trigger and 'center of activities' test are avoided.
Work Authorization Note
None of these tourist/residence routes grant formal permission to work for an Egyptian employer; foreign nationals working for an Egyptian company need a separate sponsored work permit, and Egyptian labor law caps non-Egyptian staff at a limited share of any company's workforce.

Tax Notes

Double Tax Treaties
Egypt has double taxation treaties with a number of countries (e.g., UK, Germany, France) that can affect how the 183-day rule interacts with home-country tax residency; no comprehensive US-Egypt tax treaty exists, so US citizens should plan around FEIE/FTC separately.
Tax Residency Trigger
183 days, continuous or intermittent, within any 12-month period, or maintaining a permanent home/center of economic interests in Egypt.
Non Resident Treatment
Non-residents (under 183 days, no permanent home/center of activities in Egypt) are generally only taxed on Egypt-sourced income; foreign-sourced income is not subject to Egyptian individual income tax as long as Egypt is not the center of the person's commercial, industrial, or professional activity.
Residency Tax Treatment
Tax residents are taxed on worldwide income under Egypt's progressive personal income tax system (bands from 0% up to 27.5% on the highest bracket), with an annual personal exemption of EGP 20,000.
Special Nomad Tax Regime
No special digital-nomad tax regime, tax holiday, or reduced-rate scheme exists for remote workers in Egypt.

Dedicated Digital Nomad Visa

Exists
No
Summary
Egypt has no dedicated digital nomad visa. Remote workers currently rely on the standard tourist e-visa/visa-on-arrival system plus the renewable tourist residence permit (locally called 'the plastic').

Application Paths For Longer Stays

  • Tourist visa extension
    Details
    The 30-day e-visa/visa-on-arrival can be extended at a passport office (in Sharm el-Sheikh for the Dahab/South Sinai area) for an additional period, typically requiring a bank receipt showing USD/EUR exchanged into EGP to pay the fee.
  • Foreign Residence Permit ('the plastic')
    Cost
    EGP 6,875
    Details
    A tourist residence card valid up to 6 months per term. Two consecutive terms can be obtained without leaving Egypt, giving up to roughly a year of legal stay before a visa run (exit and re-entry) is required.
    Income Requirement
    No formal minimum-income document is required for this residence permit route; the main financial requirement is the currency-exchange receipt covering the fee itself, plus proof of accommodation.
    Cost Note
    Standard processing (~2 months) costs roughly 6,875 EGP; a ~10-day express service is available for a separate $65 USD fee.

    Documents Required

    • Passport (original + photocopies of photo page and current visa/entry stamp)
    • Shahr Aqari-registered rental contract (2 copies)
    • 2 recent passport-style photos
    • Currency exchange bank receipt showing EGP purchased with USD/EUR to cover the fee
    • Completed application form (obtained at the passport office)
  • Announced 5-year multiple-entry tourist visa
    Details
    Egyptian authorities have discussed introducing a 5-year multiple-entry tourist visa (allowing stays of up to 180 days per entry) aimed at boosting tourism revenue, but at the time of research it is not yet confirmed to be broadly issuing and requirements are not published.

Baseline Visa Free Or On Arrival Entry

Cost
$30
Cost Note
Egypt's visa-on-arrival/e-visa fee is itself quoted in USD (not EGP) and rose to $30 for single entry (from $25) as of March 1, 2026; multiple-entry is $65-70.
Description
Most nationalities eligible for the e-visa or visa-on-arrival get a 30-day single-entry stay (multiple-entry sticker allows up to 30 days per visit over a 6-month validity window).
Sinai Only Note
Travelers flying directly into Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab, Taba, or Nuweiba and staying only within South Sinai can get a free 14-15 day entry permit instead of a paid visa, but this does not allow travel to Cairo, Luxor, or Hurghada.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026

This section has no cited sources.

More About Dahab

Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.