Egypt: passport and entry requirements
Most trips to Egypt need a visa, sorted online before you fly or bought for cash when you land, and every passport needs six months' validity left. The Sinai beach resorts are the one exception.
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Your passport
Each passport needs to be valid for at least six months after the day you arrive, counted from your arrival date rather than your return. Egypt's entry rules also ask for at least one blank page for the entry stamp, so renew a nearly full passport before you go.
A child's passport comes up for renewal more often than an adult's, so it's the one most likely to be short. Look at the whole family's when you book, and there's time to sort a renewal if one's running low.
Getting in
Most trips to Egypt need a tourist visa, and there are two ways to get one. You can apply for an e-visa in advance through the official government portal at visa2egypt.gov.eg, which is a visa you buy and receive online, linked to your passport, rather than one arranged at an embassy. The other way is a visa on arrival, bought at the airport for $30 a person in US dollars cash (last checked August 2026), which is valid for up to 30 days. Applying online before you travel means you land with the visa already in hand instead of queueing to buy one.
Every traveller needs their own passport and their own visa, the youngest included, and no one can be added to a parent's passport or visa. The e-visa portal lets a parent apply for the whole family together. Children's passports need to meet the same rule as the adults'.
A free entry stamp covers the Sinai resorts, not the rest of Egypt
Egypt waives the visa for one corner of the country. If you fly into Sharm El-Sheikh and stay under 15 days at the South Sinai resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba or Taba, you don't need a visa and get a free entry stamp instead. Everywhere else needs the full tourist visa, Hurghada and the rest of the Red Sea coast included, since they sit outside Sinai. For a holiday anywhere other than those four resorts, plan on the visa, bought online in advance or on arrival.
Where we cover in Egypt
Our family guides to the parts of Egypt we've researched.
Official sources
Last checked 11 August 2026. Passport and entry rules change, so always confirm on GOV.UK before you book or travel.
