Sinai visa for Russians. What are the benefits of the Sinai visa

Egypt has been at the top of the list of favorite vacation destinations for several years now. This country attracts Russian tourists with its cheapness, an abundance of ancient attractions, excellent all-inclusive service and an excellent climate that allows you to relax on the shores of the Red Sea even in winter. Also, an important factor in the universal love of travelers to Egypt is the absence of delays in obtaining an entry permit. Yes, you need a visa to enter the country. But they open it (if the purpose of the trip is tourism) upon arrival and to everyone. You don't need to beg anyone or prove anything. The visa costs little money. It used to be fifteen dollars. However, since the first of May last year, it has become twenty-five! A hundred people are already running into a family of four. How to save money? For this, there is a Sinai visa to Egypt. How to open it, what advantages it gives and what limitations it has - read in this article.

History of the Sinai Visa

In the late 1960s, Israel invaded Egypt. During the war, the country conducted economic activities on the occupied territory - the Sinai Peninsula: it built roads, bridges, airports, hotels, and developed infrastructure. Israel has made huge investments in the development of the region. The war ended in 1978 with the Camp David Peace Agreement. According to this agreement, Israel was supposed to return the occupied territory. But so that capital investments did not disappear, the former aggressor country demanded indulgences for its citizens: to freely enter Sinai. And the Egyptians living in the previously occupied territories could visit the border city of Eilat for this. Previously, the Sinai visa was only issued to Israelis. But the 1982 amendments adopted to the Camp David Agreement extended its receipt to all tourists, regardless of nationality and citizenship.

What are the benefits of the Sinai visa

The main plus of this stamp is that you don't have to pay twenty-five dollars for it. In addition, you save the time of going through the check-in procedure upon arrival. After all, what should ordinary tourists do to be admitted to the territory of Egypt? Fill out the migration card form. It is issued on the plane (mind you, free of charge). Further, tourists, having just stepped off the plane and having received their luggage, line up in the checkout window. Having defended a decent amount of time and parting with twenty-five dollars, they receive a sticker in their passport. And only after that they go to the border guards, who put an entry stamp on top of the stamp. The same tourists who want to open a Sinai visa simply go to the border guards. You just need to say three magic words "Sinai onli, pliz" - and that's it. You will be stamped in your passport.

Restrictions for Tourists with a Sinai Visa

This method has an entry permit and the other side of the coin. What restrictions does the “Sinai onli” stamp impose on a tourist? First, the length of stay in Egypt. A regular paid tourist visa entitles you to stay in the country for a month. And Sinai - only fifteen days. But the lion's share of tourists come to the Red Sea resorts only for a week or two. In addition, this time limit can be circumvented. Below we will tell you how. It is much more difficult to get around the other limitation - the spatial one. The Sinai visa is not valid in Hurghada, Cairo, Luxor. You cannot go with her to the pyramids or to Alexandria. The English word "only" means "only". And this means that you will not be able to leave the Sinai Peninsula. And even more so. The Camp David Agreement clearly defined the territory to which it applies. That is why it will not be possible to go to Thiselgorm, a favorite place for divers, where a sunken ship lies at the bottom among the corals.

Where can you go with a Sinai visa

Basically, our compatriots go to Egypt for the sea and the sun. Those who have chosen Hurghada as their place of rest do not have to choose. They need to buy a visa anyway. But if we want to relax in Sharm El Sheikh, why not take advantage of the Camp David Accord and save twenty-five dollars? It's another matter if our plans include traveling around the country. What territories does the Sinai visa cover? Sharm el-Sheikh and its surroundings, Mount Moses, Dahab, St. Catherine's Monastery, Nuweiba and Taba. As you can see, even with a Sinai visa, the traveler will have something to see and where to go. Previously, tourists had difficulty visiting the Ras Mohammed nature reserve. It lay outside the validity of the Sinai visa. But since 2015, the Egyptian government, given the popularity of the tourist site, has allowed people to visit Ras Mohammad with this stamp.

Filling out the Sinai Visa

Even on the plane, you will be given a migration card form free of charge. It needs to be filled in. There is nothing complicated about it. Standard boxes with name, year of birth, country of your citizenship, passport number. The only thing you need to be serious about the correct spelling of your holiday destination in Egypt: indicate the name of the hotel and resort. Further, on the back of the card, you need to make a mark in capital Latin letters: "SINAI ONLY". And it's all. At the airport, go straight to the border guards window. Give your passport and migration card to the guard of the state cordon. Say: “Sinai only, please”. You have no right to refuse.

What to do if you are asked to pay

In some cases, unclean border guards may not issue you a visa. They may say that such a stamp is issued only to citizens of Israel, or that your resting place Taba is no longer the Sinai Peninsula. A visa, according to the amendments to the Camp David Agreement of 1982, is given free of charge to everyone who wants to enter this territory. And Taba, as noted above, is part of the lands covered by the provisions of the treaty. Therefore, feel yourself in your right and calmly demand a meeting with the "bikbashi" (chief). This latent threat returns the bribe-taker to the mainstream of the law. Because, according to the adopted agreement, no one should be refused to receive the Sinai stamp. But the receipt of it must also be declared. Sinai visa in Sharm is not issued automatically, just upon arrival at the airport. Maybe a tourist sees this border town as a transit point and intends to take a ferry to Hurghada? Therefore, indicate "SINAI ONLY" on the migration card and repeat this requirement verbally at the border control.

Sinai stamp is not a sentence

But what if you suddenly decide to travel? What if you liked the excursion to the pyramids or you want to go diving in Thiselgorm by all means? There is nothing easier than changing the Sinai stamp to a regular visa. To do this, you need to go to the Sharm el-Sheikh airport. There are ticket offices for the sale of visas almost around the clock. Pay $ 25 through the window, get the coveted stamp, which you then extinguish at the border guards. Everything. With it, you can live in the country for a month and travel around it from end to end.

What is the threat of a delayed visa

Any government seriously punishes violators of migration laws. And the Egyptian is no exception. Recipients of the Sinai stamp should take this into account especially, because, unlike a regular visa, its validity period is only fifteen days. If you stay on the peninsula for at least a day longer, you will be in big trouble. If your violation is discovered on departure, at the airport, you will be charged a fine of one hundred and fifty-seven Egyptian pounds (about $ 18). Pay and fly home - you got off easy yet. If you are stopped by the police in Egypt and it is found that you have an expired Sinai visa, this threatens to stay in prison for three days, deportation on a regular regular flight from Cairo at your expense and a mark that you are banned from entering the country for several years.

How to renew the Sinai stamp

If you see that the deadlines are running out, and you still want to rest, you can ... go on a one-day excursion to Israel. So you will combine business with pleasure - see the Holy Land and extend your visa. You can take not one, but a two-day excursion: then you will see not only Eilat, but also Bethlehem, the Dead Sea and other sights of Israel. At the border when leaving Egypt, your Sinai visa will be canceled. And then it will be reopened for you at the Taba overland checkpoint. And you will have a legal basis for another fifteen days to enjoy your vacation in Egypt. No restrictions on the frequency of such trips or the length of stay abroad are provided by law.