Egyptian employee counting dollars.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly issued a decree requiring foreigners applying for residency either for tourism or other purposes to convert the value of the relevant fees from US dollars or other hard currency to Egyptian pounds through a local bank or a registered foreign exchange company and submit an invoice of that transaction.
The decree also gave foreigners who have not valid residencies three months to legitimize their stay on the condition that they have an Egyptian host and pay $1,000 in administrative fees.
Around 9.1 million foreigners from 133 countries are living in Egypt, according to a report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
That number has increased since the beginning of the Sudanese civil war in April 2023, which resulted in more than 200,000 people fleeing to Egypt.
The decree is the latest in a series of moves aimed at collecting more foreign currency. Egypt is suffering from a shortage of US dollars amid rising debt and inflationary pressures.
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