Immigration
Entry and residence under Law 89/1960, with a large de facto refugee population
Foreign entry, residence and work permits run under Law 89/1960 and its implementing decrees. Egypt hosts a very large refugee population, but registration and status determination are conducted by UNHCR rather than by a domestic asylum authority.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Ministry of Interior for entry and residence; Ministry of Manpower for work permits; UNHCR Cairo for refugee status determination.
- Deadline — Residence permits are issued in tiers, commonly one, three or five years
- Deadline — Work permits are tied to the employer and must be renewed annually in most categories
Governing law
- Law 89/1960 on the Entry and Residence of Aliens
- Law 26/1975 on Egyptian Nationality
- Labour Law 12/2003 — work permit requirements for foreign employees
In practice
Egypt has acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention but has never enacted a domestic asylum statute, so refugee status determination is carried out by UNHCR under a memorandum of understanding and a recognised refugee holds a UNHCR card rather than a domestic status. That distinction has practical consequences for work authorisation and for access to services. Nationality passes through the father and, since the 2004 amendment to Law 26/1975, through the mother as well, which resolved a long-standing category of statelessness among children of Egyptian mothers. Employment of foreign nationals is subject to quota rules capping the foreign proportion of a workforce, and exemptions are administrative rather than automatic.