Egypt
Egypt (no formal digital nomad visa): health insurance requirements
No insurance mandate for this visa
Egypt has no dedicated digital nomad or remote-work visa. Remote workers enter on a 30-day tourist visa (e-visa from US$25, or about US$30 on arrival) and extend it locally, or pursue a longer residence permit. A 5-year tourist visa costing around US$700 has been announced to boost tourism but has not launched as of mid-2026.
The requirements at a glance
| Local-licensed insurer required | No: compliant international IPMI is accepted |
|---|---|
| Accepted proof | Not applicable: no visa requires proof of insurance. For the tourist e-visa or visa on arrival, you need a passport valid at least six months and the visa fee; insurance is not requested. |
Tourist visa is 30 days, single or multiple entry, extendable at the local passport office (the Mogamma in Cairo or regional equivalents). Direct arrivals into the Sinai resorts (Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba, Taba) staying within them up to 15 days can get a free entry stamp instead of a paid visa.
Our take
Because no visa forces the decision, insurance in Egypt is a judgement call, and the honest answer is to carry strong cover anyway. The US State Department describes ambulances as rare, unreliable in most areas and without advanced equipment, and private hospitals are pay-as-you-go, so a serious case means either a large self-paid bill or evacuation. Prioritise a policy with real medical evacuation cover, not just inpatient.
If you plan to dive the Red Sea out of Dahab, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh or Marsa Alam, treat diving cover as non-negotiable. Standard travel policies routinely exclude scuba accidents, hyperbaric chamber treatment and the evacuation around them, so buy a policy (or a diving-specific add-on) that names diving to your planned depth and covers chamber treatment.
What happens if you get it wrong
Assuming a tourist visa equals a quiet long-term base. There is no nomad status, so long stays mean repeated extensions or border hops, and the announced 5-year tourist visa is not live, so do not plan around it yet.
Buying a cheap travel policy and diving on it. Diving accidents, hyperbaric treatment and evacuation are the classic exclusions, so an uninsured chamber case in the Red Sea can become a five-figure problem fast.
Interactive
Verified pricesWhat would it cost in Egypt without insurance?
You pay, out of pocket
$1,000–$6,000
A serious private admission or common surgery.
Bars to scale. A flight home is in another league.
That is the bill you carry alone. Insurance exists for exactly this.
See what cover costsTypical private-care estimates for illustration, not a quote. Actual bills vary by hospital, city and severity.
FAQ
No. There is no formal digital nomad or remote-work visa. Nomads enter on a 30-day tourist visa and extend it locally, or pursue a residence permit. A 5-year tourist visa has been announced but has not launched as of mid-2026.
No. Neither the tourist e-visa nor the visa on arrival requires proof of insurance. You need a passport valid at least six months and the fee. Insurance is a sensible choice, not a legal requirement.
All four can get a 30-day tourist visa, either online as an e-visa from US$25 (US$60 multiple entry) or on arrival for about US$30. Sinai resort arrivals can get a free 15-day stamp if they stay within the resort area.
There is no purpose-built remote-work visa, so people work remotely for foreign clients on tourist entries in a legal grey area that Egypt does not actively police for nomads. There is no local work authorisation involved, and you should not take local employment.
Egypt has announced a 5-year tourist visa costing around US$700 to boost tourism, but as of mid-2026 it has not launched and there is no confirmed date, so it cannot be relied on for planning.
Reviewed by Lukas Schönberg, Founder & researcher, Nomad Insurance Broker OÜ
Nomad Insurance Broker OÜ (Estonia) is an information and matching platform, not currently registered as a regulated insurance intermediary in any jurisdiction. See /how-it-works for the full disclosure.
Source: travel.state.govLast verified
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