Job Discussion Forums

Ally951 · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 35

Hi all -

I have a question about visas in Egypt: can tourist visas turn into working visas? If so, is there a process or time period when this happens? I'm aware of a school that has a lawyer who advises employees that the tourist visa automatically changes into a working visa in two months. Is this accurate? If this is accurate, is working on the tourist visa legal?

I've recently read up about foreigners being encouraged to work on tourist visas by schools - and these schools being raided and shut down... Does anyone else know more about this? Is there a site that has more about Egyptian immigration and/or labour laws?

Thanks for your help -
A

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

I think it is pretty safe to say that this lawyer is full of... (insert favorite choice)... What country in the world would have a tourist visa automatically turn into a work visa??? Your employer is the one who has to do the work to get you a work visa. And, naturally it is illegal for you to work without one. That said, there are many people who work without them - but usually only for about a semester. Even at the best employers, it can take a semester for them to get it converted over to a full work visa.

But... would I do it? No way. Stay far away from any employer who is feeding you this line of bull... they are obviously in the business of abusing both their country's laws and most probably also their employees. They are trying to save money and hassle... by not getting you the legal visa... why risk breaking the law?

It makes one wonder... what other lies are they telling you?

VS

Ally951 · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 35

Thanks for the response - I think this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of shady things going on at the school... It's unfortunate and I know that they pay their employees poorly.

A

madhouseminx · Joined: 03 Dec 2005 Posts: 70 Location: I am here.

Can you share the name of the school with the rest of us so that we can steer clear of it?

Ally951 · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 35

Given that I'm still working at the school, I'm not sure I should name it. It's me and another foreign teacher - we both had this question, and I met another teacher at another school who had the same question. I guess this might happen more often than we'd like to think?

The other teacher at my school is going to ask the lawyer about this in a couple of days when she gets her visa, working or otherwise...

A

teacherincairo · Joined: 16 Nov 2005 Posts: 12

Absolute BS. It does not suprise me your school might say this. By the time you figure it all out it won't matter much anymore. I also would not be suprised to hear of laywers giving this type of info. "Pay me and I'll get you your work visa." It doesn't work that way at all.

First, a tourist visa in Egypt never automatically turns into a work visa. Never. To get you a work visa your school has to jump through a whole series of governmental hoops. They have to prove you are not taking a job an Egyptian could have, they have to show that for every one foreigner on the payroll there are (I believe) ten Egyptians working, the school has to show a certain level of financial investment in Egypt... A school with its act completely together might get you your work visa in two to three months. A school new to the game or whatever will take, as in my case, six months to get you your work visa. It is not easy no matter what you are told. If you are working for a language school of some kind you will never get a work visa. If you are working for an international school, and were an overseas hire, you MAY get a work visa at some point.

There are loads of people working here in Cairo though that do not have work visas. I know of professional expats working for top end companies that do not have work visas. It all depends. I mean who is going to check? You can easily get a one year tourist visa with no questions asked. Actually getting a work visa is a lot of hassle and I'd rather not make the trips to the Mogamma just to stand around while our fixer takes care of this stuff, but a work visa does get you good prices on hotels in Egypt and flights as well. (That's about the only benefit I can think of. Except of course I'm not doing anything illegal in Egypt.)

You can live without the visa. But... when I went home to the USA this summer I did get a bit of extra hassle because despite the fact that I said I was "working in Egypt since August" I had two Egyptian visas that clearly stated work was not allowed. "Keep turning the pages," I told the customs guy. (Half my passport is now filled with Egyptian visas of one sort or another.)

Ally951 · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 35

That's pretty much what I figured... I'll continue to work the 5 months remaining on my contract on the tourist visa - and given that I'm getting paid so low, I can attribute my salary as a living stipend, which is how another teacher rationalized it...

A