Retiring in Egypt: Residence, Tax on a French Pension, Access to Healthcare and Popular Cities

The official sources consulted mention no dedicated “retiree” visa: entry is with the tourist visa (USD 30 for one month, extendable), then a residence permit is requested on site. The passport service of the Ministry of the Interior describes several routes. The page on living in Egypt details the visa and the arrival formalities.

• Temporary tourist residence: for up to one year, renewable, granted for tourism, visits or treatment.
• Property owner: one-year residence for the holder of a property contract registered with the Egyptian notary, as well as for their spouse and children, when the property is worth at least USD 100,000 transferred through an Egyptian bank. France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) also mentions a residence for owners of a property worth more than a threshold.
• Over 50: temporary residence for a person who has lived five consecutive years in Egypt and has means of support, or who is supported by a relative up to the fourth degree.

The resource amounts the passport service uses to assess “means of support” do not appear in the pages consulted: they are confirmed with the Egyptian consulate before departure. France Diplomatie points out that visa categories change and that all procedures are paid.

The Red Sea (Hurghada, El Gouna, Safaga, Marsa Alam) combines coastline and diving. To live there, the official benchmarks are a consular representative in Hurghada, a French school, two decompression chambers in Hurghada (one in El Gouna) and care facilities listed by France Diplomatie in Hurghada and El Gouna. The Red Sea governorate is not yet covered by universal health insurance, which puts private insurance at the heart of the choice.

Sharm el-Sheikh (South Sinai) and Luxor are among the governorates covered by universal insurance; Luxor is covered by an honorary consul, and the Cairo-Luxor/Aswan rail link is one of the two that France Diplomatie considers preferable. In Sharm el-Sheikh, France Diplomatie recommends choosing secure accommodation, and the special Sinai visa limits the stay to the governorate. Cairo (Maadi, Zamalek) and Alexandria offer access to the major healthcare facilities, the consulates general and the French community.

For a property purchase, France Diplomatie reports cases unfavourable to European buyers in the seaside resorts: deeds without a faithful translation, developers who do not own the land, buyers holding a mere right of use. It recommends the opinion of a specialised lawyer chosen by the buyer, ideally from the list of reputable professionals kept by the Cairo consulate general.

France and Egypt are linked by a tax treaty (signed on 19 June 1980, amendment of 1 May 1999). Its reading by category of pension (impots.gouv.fr):

• Private pensions and annuities (article 18, paragraph 1): taxable only in the state where the recipient is resident.
• Social security pensions (article 18, paragraph 2): taxable only in the state whose social security legislation pays them, therefore in France for a French basic pension.
• Public pensions (article 19): taxable only in the state that pays them.
• Residence (article 4): in case of dual residence, priority goes to the permanent home, then to the centre of vital interests, the habitual abode and nationality.

To avoid double taxation (article 24), France grants a tax credit and Egypt exempts income that is taxable in France. The classification of a supplementary pension into one of these categories is confirmed case by case: the pension fund and the tax office competent for non-residents (impots.gouv.fr) inform you of the applicable withholding or declaration, and personalised tax advice is useful before departure. See also the guide to receiving your pension abroad.

Form S1 is used in the European Union, the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In Egypt, Assurance Maladie specifies that, because of the departure from France, healthcare costs are no longer covered, and names only twelve states or territories with an agreement covering retirees (including Morocco and Tunisia). Three options exist.

• CFE (retirees’ plan): from €147 a month, for retirees drawing a pension from the French basic scheme, with no medical questionnaire and no possible exclusion. It covers care abroad; cover is immediate if enrolment takes place before departure or within three months of moving, then the waiting period is three months before age 45 and six months from age 45. On returning to France, the CFE indicates there is no waiting period.
• International insurance: actual costs within ceilings, direct access to private hospitals and medical evacuation, with a medical questionnaire, age limits and medical-history exclusions to read carefully. See medical questionnaire and medical history.
• Egyptian universal insurance: the law allows the UHIA to provide its services to resident foreigners under the conditions it sets, with reciprocity; Egyptian retirees contribute 2% of their pension. The eligibility of a French retiree is confirmed with the UHIA (15344) for the covered governorates.

Stays in France: a retiree of the general scheme registers with Cnarefe (the National Centre for Retirees of France Abroad); outside agreement countries, cover requires at least 15 years of contributions to French schemes since 1 July 2019. See the guide to retirees’ health insurance abroad, the page on retirement insurance abroad and the breakdown by situation in healthcare reimbursement in Egypt.

A pension in euros gains purchasing power on spending in Egyptian pounds: the central bank shows, on 04/10/2026, 58.77 to 58.93 EGP per €1, and the pound was worth 50.2 EGP per USD 1 on 5 March 2026 (France Diplomatie) against 52.2 EGP on 04/10/2026. This advantage is softened by annual inflation of 14.5% in August 2026 (core inflation of 14.9%), which raises rents, services and local products each year. Prices of housing in residences for foreigners, private care and imported goods are checked quote by quote.

A retiree’s budget includes four items: housing (renting at first, before any purchase), health insurance and medical evacuation, air travel to France, and a margin for exchange-rate fluctuations. The guide to budgeting for health abroad helps you put a figure on insurance, and the page on the Egyptian healthcare system describes the care on offer.

• Pension: inform the pension and health insurance funds of the departure and the new address, and expect the proof of existence they request periodically; see form S1: how it works to understand the European scope of the scheme.
• Consular registration: beyond six months of stay, registration on the register of French nationals living abroad is strongly recommended, with the Ariane portal for alerts.
• Safety: France Diplomatie formally advises against the north of Sinai and the border areas of the western desert and Sudan; night driving outside cities is to be avoided.
• Health: bring vaccines up to date, drink bottled water, carry treatments with a prescription, and keep the consulate’s address and 123 (ambulance).

Expavy helps you compare health contracts suited to a retiree settled in Egypt.