Egypt’s Warm Welcome to Foreigners Goes Cold
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:33 pm
Egypt’s Warm Welcome to Foreigners Goes Cold!
Sep - 24
In a sudden, hush-hush rule; not explained by any of the visa officials; all (and we mean ALL) foreigners in Egypt now must leave the country after maximum of six-month stay, with no guarantee to be allowed back to the country. This includes even the foreign mothers who have kids and stable homes across the country!!
Many foreigners have married Egyptians and have children here. Also a large number of foreign couples got their families settled here. And they all must now leave every six month, stay out of Egypt a minimum of two days, then go to the Visa office and pay for a new Visa; whether they will be permitted the new Visa or not is open to question.
The new rule means them leaving their homes for a minimum 3-day trip. In the case of a family where one parent is Egyptian, there’s the trouble of finding care for the children while the foreign parent is away. If both parents are foreign, it means taking the whole family out of Egypt (including the kids who might be school-enrolled).. not to mention finding care for any pets the family might have had. And all of this is not for one time, but it’s on every 6 months!!!
To leave Egypt every six months will cost a minimum of 10,000LE for a single person, and much more for a family, when previously you only had to go to the Visa office and pay just under 100LE for up to 12 months Visa. Why is this a problem? All foreigners are rich and can afford to come in and out of Egypt, can’t they? No. Not everyone can afford to leave every six months and return, there is a misconception that all foreigners have a lot of money. Many live like average Egyptians, and some foreigners are what would be considered poor even by Egyptian standards. For all foreigners; there is the risk that if you are not permitted to re-enter the country, you have left your home and maybe your husband and children in Egypt, and have no easy option to be with them again.
You may think – “So what? Who needs foreigners anyway?”
Foreigners who stay here are here because they like Egypt, they encourage other foreigners to visit Egypt and this supports the tourism industry. That industry remains, despite hard times, a core industry for Egypt.
If it becomes impossible for foreigners to stay long-term, as these new rules imply for many due to the expense and risk of not being permitted to stay, Egypt will lose an enormous amount of good will. It will lose all those resident foreigners telling their friends to come visit and see Egypt.
Also keep in mind that foreigners, even those who live on very little, are putting money into the economy and sustaining and creating jobs for Egyptians. Not only does their money create jobs in tourism, but in everyday areas – they use markets, banks, hairdressers. They buy food, clothes, furniture. They rent houses, use taxis, go to doctors and dentists – all the services used by a born-in-Egypt. They give tips and baksheesh, even for services they would not pay tips for in their own countries. They often have to pay higher prices than Egyptians, simply because they are foreigners. They grumble sometimes about that, but it is part of the price they pay for being a guest in Egypt.
Visa offices couldn’t give any reason for these changes. The authorities may see this change as necessary for national security; and believe there is a need to do security checks on all foreigners, and closely monitor their movement by getting them out of the country every six months. But how many foreigners do you know that you would consider dangerous to Egypt? The foreign grandmothers and grandfathers who come to enjoy long stays during their retirement? The young families who have their children in schools here and lead a normal, settled life? Are those a security risk?
Many of these people are the best possible advertising voice for Egypt. At a time when international media and the governments of many countries mark Egypt out as being “unsafe to travel”; they live here, they love their Egyptian friends and families, they show the world that thousands from many different countries are here having normal, safe lives. They send home and to the world via TripAdvisor, Facebook and other social media beautiful images of Egypt. They do much more than the Egyptian government’s planned multi-million-dollar advertising campaign can ever do to encourage people to see Egypt differently, in a positive light.
The Visa office staff just follow orders when they tell those foreigners that they must leave. The authorities don’t see or simply don’t care about the financial difficulties and heartache this will cause. Those who cannot afford to leave the country every six months are now faced with leaving forever. That leaves them with a very sad feeling toward Egypt, not the love they have had for this country and its people until this month.
We hope the government could hear the sounds of hearts breaking from this decision, and be touched by that thunderous sound to change the rules again. Because right now, there are many foreign hearts breaking as they think of leaving Egypt, the country that once felt like home!
http://magnificentonline.com/3250/egypt ... goes-cold/
Sep - 24
In a sudden, hush-hush rule; not explained by any of the visa officials; all (and we mean ALL) foreigners in Egypt now must leave the country after maximum of six-month stay, with no guarantee to be allowed back to the country. This includes even the foreign mothers who have kids and stable homes across the country!!
Many foreigners have married Egyptians and have children here. Also a large number of foreign couples got their families settled here. And they all must now leave every six month, stay out of Egypt a minimum of two days, then go to the Visa office and pay for a new Visa; whether they will be permitted the new Visa or not is open to question.
The new rule means them leaving their homes for a minimum 3-day trip. In the case of a family where one parent is Egyptian, there’s the trouble of finding care for the children while the foreign parent is away. If both parents are foreign, it means taking the whole family out of Egypt (including the kids who might be school-enrolled).. not to mention finding care for any pets the family might have had. And all of this is not for one time, but it’s on every 6 months!!!
To leave Egypt every six months will cost a minimum of 10,000LE for a single person, and much more for a family, when previously you only had to go to the Visa office and pay just under 100LE for up to 12 months Visa. Why is this a problem? All foreigners are rich and can afford to come in and out of Egypt, can’t they? No. Not everyone can afford to leave every six months and return, there is a misconception that all foreigners have a lot of money. Many live like average Egyptians, and some foreigners are what would be considered poor even by Egyptian standards. For all foreigners; there is the risk that if you are not permitted to re-enter the country, you have left your home and maybe your husband and children in Egypt, and have no easy option to be with them again.
You may think – “So what? Who needs foreigners anyway?”
Foreigners who stay here are here because they like Egypt, they encourage other foreigners to visit Egypt and this supports the tourism industry. That industry remains, despite hard times, a core industry for Egypt.
If it becomes impossible for foreigners to stay long-term, as these new rules imply for many due to the expense and risk of not being permitted to stay, Egypt will lose an enormous amount of good will. It will lose all those resident foreigners telling their friends to come visit and see Egypt.
Also keep in mind that foreigners, even those who live on very little, are putting money into the economy and sustaining and creating jobs for Egyptians. Not only does their money create jobs in tourism, but in everyday areas – they use markets, banks, hairdressers. They buy food, clothes, furniture. They rent houses, use taxis, go to doctors and dentists – all the services used by a born-in-Egypt. They give tips and baksheesh, even for services they would not pay tips for in their own countries. They often have to pay higher prices than Egyptians, simply because they are foreigners. They grumble sometimes about that, but it is part of the price they pay for being a guest in Egypt.
Visa offices couldn’t give any reason for these changes. The authorities may see this change as necessary for national security; and believe there is a need to do security checks on all foreigners, and closely monitor their movement by getting them out of the country every six months. But how many foreigners do you know that you would consider dangerous to Egypt? The foreign grandmothers and grandfathers who come to enjoy long stays during their retirement? The young families who have their children in schools here and lead a normal, settled life? Are those a security risk?
Many of these people are the best possible advertising voice for Egypt. At a time when international media and the governments of many countries mark Egypt out as being “unsafe to travel”; they live here, they love their Egyptian friends and families, they show the world that thousands from many different countries are here having normal, safe lives. They send home and to the world via TripAdvisor, Facebook and other social media beautiful images of Egypt. They do much more than the Egyptian government’s planned multi-million-dollar advertising campaign can ever do to encourage people to see Egypt differently, in a positive light.
The Visa office staff just follow orders when they tell those foreigners that they must leave. The authorities don’t see or simply don’t care about the financial difficulties and heartache this will cause. Those who cannot afford to leave the country every six months are now faced with leaving forever. That leaves them with a very sad feeling toward Egypt, not the love they have had for this country and its people until this month.
We hope the government could hear the sounds of hearts breaking from this decision, and be touched by that thunderous sound to change the rules again. Because right now, there are many foreign hearts breaking as they think of leaving Egypt, the country that once felt like home!
http://magnificentonline.com/3250/egypt ... goes-cold/
