New visa requirements will now be imposed by the Egyptian government on Canadian passport holders. As of October 1, 2023 holders of Canadian passports will not be able to obtain visa upon arrival at Egyptian airports. This is completely opposite to the Egyptian government attempts to extend the visa upon arrival to many new nationalities. Most recently, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism announced that Indian and Chinese nationals can have visa upon arrival IF THEY HOLD A CANADIAN VISA but Canadian nationals holding a valid Canadian passport cannot! Why? As per the statement posted on the official Egyptian embassy Facebook page, this is in retaliation for the Canadian government adopting harsher measures in dealing with Egyptian nationals asking for visas to Canada.

While we understand the principle of reciprocity, and indeed support the Egyptian government in pushing for fair, respectful treatment of Egyptians applying for visas to enter Canada, this unexpected change is not in the best interest of Egypt or Egyptians at all. Why?

1. Canadian tourists wishing to visit Egypt will now have to deal with the known problems (including the emotional ones) of physically going to the Egyptian consulate in Ottawa or Montreal to obtain the visa in person with the associated serious challenges of distance and time for those thousands of miles away or taking the risk of mailing their valuable documents. Indeed, they can use the online application but those who used the it, including embassy staff, have indicated it is difficult to use and unreliable. Subjecting Canadian tourists to these unnecessary hassles will ensure they warn their friends and others against going to Egypt and if they really want to visit the area, Jordan or Morocco will be much easier. Why complicate things for those Canadians that we, Egyptian Canadians, are desperately trying to attract as to visit Egypt? Why add to the load of embassy personnel who are already overloaded?

2. Egyptian Canadians have for years travelled to Egypt with the Canadian passport (with no visa requirements to board the plane). Upon arrival, non-Egyptian Canadians got their visas at the airport while Egyptian Canadians proceeded to passport control and were granted entry using any Egyptian ID with the Canadian passport. While the embassy decided to issue visas for free for Egyptian Canadians, this creates a multitude of problems similar to those of non-Egyptian Canadians in obtaining visas in person or online as well as the frustration with removing this concession Egypt provided for many many years to Egyptians abroad. A concession that was deeply appreciated by all Egyptians who regarded it as a gesture of welcome from their home country.

We the undersigned call on Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (through the ambassador of Egypt to Canada) to stop this ill-advised decision before it even goes into effect as we move into the tourism season in Egypt starting October. While Canadians may not be a very large percentage of tourists to Egypt, they represent a huge market that is rapidly growing as the Egyptian community in Canada becomes more and more visible and effective. We now have the Egyptian Heritage Month officially recognized in Ontario. We have Egyptian members of the Ontario Parliament and we just had a huge Egyptian heritage festival in the Toronto area.

As Egyptians in Canada work hard to promote tourism to Egypt, we need the Egyptian government to support our efforts. At the same time, as the frustration of Egyptian Canadians grows with all the difficulties faced in Canada, Egypt and the world, we do not need to add another reason for frustration.

We call on the embassy to share with the Egyptian community in Canada its reasons for frustration with the Canadian visa system and rather than escalate the situation, we are prepared to work with our own MPs in Canada to ensure Egyptian applicants to Canadian visas are treated fairly and respectfully.

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Tyseer Aboulnasr CA

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