Living in Egypt as a French National: Settling In, Cost of Living, Cities, Visa and French Schools

Egypt appeals through the density of its ties with France: the bilateral relationship was raised to the rank of strategic partnership on 7 April 2025 (France Diplomatie), French companies have 180 subsidiaries there employing more than 50,000 people, and the country welcomed a record 19 million tourists in 2025, which has fed the supply of flights, hotels and services. Cairo has 22.6 million inhabitants and Alexandria 5 million. The official language is Arabic, and daily life offers direct access to archaeological sites, the Nile valley and the Red Sea seabed.

• Advantages: many French schools, a French community of nearly 7,600 registered nationals, consulates in Cairo and Alexandria, sunshine all year on the coast, purchasing power that favours anyone with an income in euros.
• Points of caution: particularly high air pollution in Cairo (France Diplomatie), accident-prone roads, local law that differs from French law, inflation and fluctuations of the Egyptian pound, private care to be paid for on the spot.

Visa, residence, health insurance, school and housing are all prepared before departure. The checklist for the first 90 days helps you put these steps in order.

Cairo and Giza concentrate the embassy (Charles de Gaulle avenue, Giza), the consulate general and most of the French schools. Maadi, Zamalek and New Cairo are among the districts where the campuses of the Lycée français du Caire are located, alongside Mearag; other accredited lycées are found in the east and west of the urban area. Choosing a district often means choosing a school and a commuting time.

Alexandria offers a Mediterranean setting, a French consulate general and two accredited French schools. The Cairo-Alexandria rail link is one of the two train routes that France Diplomatie considers preferable, with Cairo-Luxor/Aswan.

The Red Sea brings together Hurghada, El Gouna, Safaga and Marsa Alam. For living in Hurghada, the official benchmarks are clear: a French school (the École française d’Hurghada), a consular representative attached to the embassy, two decompression chambers for diving, and care facilities listed by France Diplomatie for Hurghada and El Gouna. The Red Sea governorate is not yet among the governorates of universal health insurance: health cover is therefore arranged privately (see the Egyptian healthcare system).

Sharm el-Sheikh (South Sinai governorate) has a French school and a consular representative; France Diplomatie recommends choosing secure accommodation there. Luxor is covered by an honorary consul and is among the governorates covered by universal health insurance.

Entry: a passport (or national identity card) valid for at least six months after the date of return to France is required, and a visa is compulsory. It is obtained from an Egyptian consulate or on arrival, the option France Diplomatie considers preferable: USD 30 for a single entry, valid for one month, extendable at the immigration office (in Cairo, the “Mogamma’aa” in Abbasseya) for passport holders. The Ministry of the Interior’s official e-visa portal opens the procedure to French nationals, to be filed at least seven days before departure, with payment by card; it shows USD 30 for a single entry and USD 65 for multiple entries, while France Diplomatie indicates USD 60: the fee should be confirmed before paying. Travellers who arrive in Sharm el-Sheikh and stay within the governorate can request a special Sinai visa, which cannot be changed once on site.

Residence: the tourist visa is only a starting point. The Ministry of the Interior’s passport service page describes a temporary tourist residence of up to one year, renewable, as well as one-year residences for owners of a property bought for at least USD 100,000 transferred through an Egyptian bank, for employees holding a work permit from the Ministry of Labour and for certain people over 50 who can show five years of stay and resources. Foreign investors can obtain a one-year, renewable residence through the General Authority for Investment (GAFI, 2023 announcement relayed by the State Information Service), and France Diplomatie mentions a visa of up to five years. Categories, thresholds and documents change: the Egyptian consulate and the passport service confirm the current conditions.

• Consular registration: beyond six months of stay, registration on the register of French nationals living abroad is strongly recommended; registration on the Ariane portal completes the alert system.
• Customs: entry is allowed with at most 5,000 Egyptian pounds and USD 10,000 in foreign currency; the excess is seized.
• Dual nationals: men aged 18 to 30 who also hold Egyptian nationality settle their military status before travelling.
• Work: the work permit, which can last up to three years, is requested by the employer; see working in Egypt.

In 2023, the government asked foreigners without a valid residence permit to regularise their stay (Egyptian host, USD 1,000 in fees, deadline extended to 15 March 2024, State Information Service): a long stay requires a permit in order.

The private-sector minimum wage, set at 7,000 Egyptian pounds a month (about €119), gives a measure of local price levels: the products and services consumed by Egyptian households cost little in euros. The central bank shows, on 04/10/2026, between 58.77 and 58.93 EGP per €1, and annual inflation of 14.5% in August 2026 (core inflation of 14.9%). France Diplomatie quoted a rate of 50.2 EGP per USD 1 on 5 March 2026, against 52.2 EGP on 04/10/2026 at the central bank: the pound has continued to depreciate. An income in euros therefore gains purchasing power on spending in pounds, but inflation eats back part of that gain from one year to the next.

The heaviest items for a French family are housing in a sought-after district, the international school and private healthcare. Prices for these three items vary by establishment and area; they are checked quote by quote, as some operators express them in foreign currency. The guide to budgeting for health abroad offers a method for including insurance in the budget.

Buying or renting: France Diplomatie reports property purchases concluded to the detriment of European buyers, for lack of a faithful translation of the deeds, and points out that in some regions developers do not own the land, so the buyer obtains only a right of use. It advises against any purchase without the opinion of a specialised lawyer chosen by the buyer, ideally from the list of reputable professionals kept by the Cairo consulate general. In 2025, the Prime Minister announced a digital platform intended to make it easier for foreigners to buy homes in dollars (State Information Service). Renting during the first months lets you get to know the district before any commitment.

With small shopkeepers, France Diplomatie advises paying in cash or checking the amount and the currency (EGP or euros) displayed by the card terminal.

Egypt has one of the most extensive French-curriculum school networks in the world. In 2025, 15 accredited schools welcome 10,032 pupils (7,718 in 2017): 11 in Cairo, 2 in Alexandria, 1 in Hurghada and 1 in Sharm el-Sheikh. The baccalaureate pass rate reached 99.5% in 2024, with 80% of pupils gaining honours (French embassy). The Lycée français du Caire, a school managed directly by the Agency for French Education Abroad, founded in 1911, has several campuses (Mearag, Zamalek, Maadi, New Cairo); the Lycée français d’Alexandrie, the École française d’Hurghada and the École française de Sharm el-Sheikh complete the offer outside Cairo.

Families whose child of French nationality attends an accredited school can, under certain conditions, apply for a school grant through the consulate. For higher education, the Université française d’Égypte (founded in 2002, in Shorouk) and several dual-degree programmes welcome more than 3,000 students. The guide to children’s cover abroad and the page on expat family insurance deal with the family’s health.

France Diplomatie updates its advice (21/09/2026) by zone. The north of the Sinai peninsula (north of a Suez-Taba line), the western desert border area and the border with Sudan are formally advised against. The oases (Siwa, White Desert) call for heightened vigilance, while in the rest of the country travel is possible provided the general recommendations are observed: vigilance at busy sites in Cairo and Alexandria, secure accommodation on the South Sinai coast, compliance with the instructions of the authorities. The terrorist threat is described as permanent and diffuse, the latest attacks in Cairo dating from 2018-2019.

• Road: night driving between cities is formally advised against, as are minibuses; taxis are negotiated or ordered by app.
• Local law: alcohol allowed in hotels and tourist restaurants, very heavy penalties for drug offences (up to twenty-five years), CBD and tramadol banned, drones, satellite phones and binoculars subject to authorisation, photography restricted, trade in archaeological objects prohibited.
• Behaviour: covering clothing (knees and shoulders), caution in political conversations and in social media posts, which fall under Egyptian law.

France Diplomatie specifies that the Egyptian judicial system differs from the French one, even for minor offences. The Ariane portal lets you receive alerts; the embassy answers emergencies on +20 2 35 67 32 00.

Desert covers 95% of the territory; density reaches 1,500 inhabitants per km² in the delta and the Nile valley against 99 on average nationally (France Diplomatie). The climate is hot and dry across most of the country; France Diplomatie recommends protecting yourself from the heat (hydration, sun protection, suitable clothing) and, in Cairo, limiting outdoor activities during pollution peaks. Arabic is the official language: a few basics make daily life easier, from administrative procedures to relations with neighbours.

4G covers most of the territory; France Diplomatie notes that WhatsApp calls over the mobile network are blocked by the operators. The expat health insurance page presents the cover options, and the guide to reimbursements in Egypt details who pays depending on your status.