Do You Take Visa?

I am absolutely sure that if you have perused the Facebook postings of your friends abroad at one time or another then you have heard story upon story of visa traumas. 

“Please pray that I get my visa…”

“Almost at the last step of my visa…”

“I need only one more signature for my visa…”

“I got a 5-year visa!”

“My visa got cancelled! I’m kicked out!”

“$1000 bucks for my visa this time!”

Honestly, before I lived this life I had very little idea what visas were even for in relationship to my passport, country visited or length of stay. I simply had no idea.

Visas are like an admission ticket into a country for a certain length of time for specific purposes. You can request a tourist visa or a resident visa which sometimes also requires permits, stamps and very official looking papers. (Some countries don't require them at all based on the entrant's nationality.)

In Sudan, we had a full-time guy that worked on visas. It was a complex system and it was his job to keep us all up-to-date. Not an easy task. It took weeks and sometimes months to get one. They were expensive and not easily procured. When one did secure it, there was much merriment and celebration for a brief season, before one had to start the process again for the next year.

In Egypt, it’s quite the opposite. Upon arrival at the airport, you walk to the window and say, “Visa please.” The man then says, “$25.” You give him the money, he gives you the visa. That’s it. No questions asked. No long drawn out trips to multiple offices. Simply a sticker to put in your passport. Beautiful.

This visa is good for 30 days which is great for most tourists. If you decide to stay longer, then you can go to your local friendly government office and request an extension. Our first trip in we were given 7 months. That seemed like a rather arbitrary amount of time, but for us 7 months represented the most stability we had had in 2 years! 

Since then we’ve received a 5 month and then a 6 month. We asked for a longer time on the last visit to which the lady said, “Next time, get one at the airport!”

Why? Ours is not to question why. At least that’s what her face said. To the airport it is. Or so we thought.

We just read that a department in Egypt’s government has now made it a requirement to get all visas at consulates prior to entering the country. That means no more visas at the airport. That means a lot more time and paperwork and trips outside the country.

I’ve followed the media on this and as you can guess there are many for this decision and many against. Those for it say that it will increase Egypt’s security. Those against it say it will hurt an already fragile tourist industry.

I understand both sides, but I’d still rather not have to visit an Egyptian consulate in another country with a pile of papers if I’m given the choice.

I also read that the last time they tried to implement something like this it lasted a total of 3 days. I laughed out loud when I read that. It seems in this new dawn of burgeoning democracy, rules and regulations are being tested albeit short-lived at times. So we’ll see. 

Since the new visa information came out, a new law was passed stating that 15-passenger vans can only transport 8 foreigners and 24-passenger vans can only transport 15 AND no more than two nationalities per vehicle please.

You may shake your head at all this and I do too, but this is life here. It’s changing, frustrating, mysterious and comical. It also burns a lot of energy trying to make plans, follow the rules and stay out of Egyptian prisons. 

So next time you’re in a store and you ask, “Do you take Visa?” breathe a prayer for your friends abroad and ask God to give them tenacity to navigate the visa maze that is their life.
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BONUS: When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home