Egypt · Africa
Moving to Cairo
Cairo quick facts
Egypt at a glance
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
Economy
World Bank · 2025Religion
% of populationCIA World Factbook / national censuses
Cost of living in Cairo
Can you move to Egypt?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter Egypt — and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice — confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in Egypt
Work permit and residence visa — two ministries, in order
A work permit from the Ministry of Manpower authorises you to do a specific job. A residence visa from the Ministry of Interior authorises you to remain in Egypt. Both are required and they are sequential. Employer-side approval typically lands within about two weeks, but the Interior security check can take up to 30 days after that. Permits are commonly one or two years, at roughly EGP 3,000 and EGP 5,000.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting an Egyptian driving licence
You may drive on a valid international driving permit for six months. After that an Egyptian licence is required, and there is no administrative conversion available: all foreign nationals sit both a written and a practical test at the Traffic Department of the governorate where they are registered as resident. A bilingual certificate of residence from your consulate is part of the paperwork.
Read the full step-by-step guideBanking, and why you should hold dollars
CIB, QNB, NBE and Banque Misr all serve foreigners, with CIB generally the most flexible. A passport, valid visa or residence permit, proof of address and a modest minimum deposit are the usual requirements. The important decision is currency: all the major banks offer USD accounts alongside EGP, and given the pound's trajectory, holding foreign currency is standard practice rather than caution.
Read the full step-by-step guideHealthcare, private hospitals and the universal insurance rollout
Egypt is implementing universal health insurance across six geographic phases, targeting near-universal coverage by 2027 — accelerated from an original 2032 target. Cairo, Giza and Qalyubiya are in the last phase. Most foreigners fall outside the scheme regardless and use private hospitals, which are numerous and good in Cairo, with international insurance. Private facilities typically want proof of cover or a payment guarantee before admission.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting an Egyptian mobile number
Four networks: Vodafone Egypt, Orange Egypt, Etisalat (e&) and WE (Telecom Egypt). SIMs must be registered to your passport, and shops take a copy of the passport and the entry-stamped visa page. Vodafone and Orange have the strongest coverage; WE is the smallest and least consistent. Data is cheap and the process takes about five minutes.
Read the full step-by-step guideIncome tax, the personal exemption and the 2024 increase
Egypt taxes personal income progressively across seven bands, from 0% to 27.5% on income above EGP 1.2 million. Every taxpayer gets an annual personal exemption of EGP 20,000, raised from EGP 15,000 by Law No. 7 of 2024, and the first EGP 40,000 of taxable income is charged at 0%. In combination, income up to roughly EGP 60,000 a year is effectively untaxed. Employment tax is withheld at source.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas — sourced from official government pages. Last verified July 2026.
Essential Arabic phrases
Reading a list isn’t learning it. Globe Quest turns these into a trainer — hear each phrase spoken, drill them with spaced repetition, and get scored as you say them out loud.
What to know before you go
Working here needs two permits from two ministries
CriticalA work permit from the Ministry of Manpower authorises the specific job; a residence visa from the Ministry of Interior authorises you to be in the country. They are separate, sequential approvals and both are required. Employer approval typically comes within about two weeks, but the Interior security check can take up to 30 days on top. Budget the sequence, not just the paperwork.
Your degree must be translated into Arabic, and an HIV test is mandatory
CriticalWork permit applications require original diplomas or professional certificates translated into Arabic, a police clearance certificate from your home country, and a mandatory HIV/AIDS test conducted at the Central Laboratory of the Egyptian Ministry of Health. The test cannot be substituted with results from home. None of this is optional and all of it takes time.
Hold dollars, not just pounds
CriticalThe Egyptian pound has lost most of its value against the dollar over recent years. Major banks including CIB, QNB and NBE offer USD accounts alongside EGP ones, and keeping savings in foreign currency while converting only what you need is standard practice among residents. This matters more to your finances than any tax question.
There is no driving licence exchange — everyone tests
ImportantEgypt has no arrangement letting foreign nationals convert a licence without testing. All foreigners sit both a written and a practical test at the Traffic Department in their governorate. You can drive on an international permit for six months, after which an Egyptian licence is required.
The new universal health insurance mostly won't cover you
ImportantEgypt is rolling out universal health insurance in six geographic phases, aiming for near-universal coverage by 2027 — but Cairo is in the final phase, and most expatriates fall outside the scheme regardless. In practice foreigners use private hospitals with international insurance, and private facilities usually want proof of cover or payment guarantees before admission.
Egyptian Arabic is the dialect everyone else understands
Good to knowA century of Egyptian film, television and music means Egyptian Arabic is the most widely comprehended dialect across the Arab world. If you are going to learn one, learning it here is unusually portable — it will carry you further from Morocco to the Gulf than any other regional variety.
Top industries & employers
Fintech & payments
Fawry, Paymob, MNT-Halan, Valu
Egypt's strongest startup sector by some distance. Fawry became the country's first tech unicorn and Paymob and MNT-Halan have both raised heavily on the back of a large, underbanked population.
Outsourcing & shared services
_VOIS (Vodafone), Orange Business, Concentrix, Teleperformance
A very large multilingual outsourcing sector serving Europe and the Gulf — the most reliable source of English-language white-collar employment in Cairo.
Oil, gas & energy
Eni, BP, Apache, EGPC
Eastern Mediterranean gas has made Egypt a significant regional energy player, with the international operators' regional offices in Cairo.
Construction & new cities
Orascom, Talaat Moustafa, ACUD
The New Administrative Capital east of Cairo is one of the largest urban construction projects anywhere, and the sector employs at enormous scale.
Film, television & music
Cairo studios, regional broadcasters
Cairo has been the Arab world's screen capital for a century, which is precisely why Egyptian Arabic became the region's common dialect.
Tourism & heritage
Grand Egyptian Museum, hotel and tour operators
The Grand Egyptian Museum's full opening reset the sector, and heritage tourism remains a major foreign-currency earner.
Where to go in Cairo
Grand Egyptian Museum
Culture · Giza, beside the pyramids
The largest archaeological museum in the world, holding the complete Tutankhamun collection for the first time.
Local tip: Decades in the making and worth a full day rather than a morning. Book ahead and go on a weekday — and see it before the pyramids, not after, so the site makes sense.
Al-Muizz Street & Islamic Cairo
Landmark · Historic Cairo
A concentrated open-air museum of Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottoman architecture along a single pedestrianised street.
Local tip: Go in the late afternoon and stay past sunset, when the monuments are lit and the street belongs to Cairenes rather than tour groups. Climb the Bab Zuwayla minarets for the view.
Khan el-Khalili
Neighborhood · Islamic Cairo
The great medieval bazaar, going since the 14th century, plus El Fishawy café which has reputedly never closed.
Local tip: The outer lanes are for tourists; go deeper and the market becomes a working one where Cairenes buy gold, spices and copper. Haggling is expected, cheerful and not personal.
Zamalek
Food · Gezira Island
A leafy island district of embassies, galleries, bookshops and the best concentration of restaurants in the city.
Local tip: Where most foreign residents gravitate, and the easiest introduction to Cairo. Walk the Nile corniche at sunset and eat somewhere on Road 26 July.
Al-Azhar Park
Nature · Above Islamic Cairo
A large hillside garden built on 500 years of accumulated rubble, with the restored Ayyubid city wall running through it.
Local tip: One of the great urban restoration projects anywhere, and the best view over historic Cairo at sunset. Cairenes come here in the evening; almost no visitors do.
Manial Palace
Hidden gemCulture · Rhoda Island
An eccentric early-20th-century royal palace mixing Ottoman, Moorish, Persian and Art Nouveau styles across separate pavilions.
Local tip: Extraordinary, meticulously restored and almost entirely empty. Twenty minutes from Zamalek and you will likely share it with a handful of people.
Emergency numbers in Cairo
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