El Andalous - Visa Recap

My Identity Card

Time flies and regulations change weekly; it’s hard to keep up. Actually, since things have started to relax, there haven’t been so many changes. Nevertheless, it’s back to thinking about my visa yet again (oh how I long for a year’s visa!).

I think I never updated on my visa situation last time. Anyway, after applying, I went back to collect my visa on the allotted day only it wasn’t yet ready. We were told the post had been delayed and to come back in the afternoon. This isn’t really practical when you live half an hour’s drive away.

I ended up going back two days’ later and it was very quick. I am now the proud owner of an Egyptian identity card of sorts. It has my visa expiry on the back and my photo on the front and each person is given their own unique identification number. You don’t need to carry your passport with you now; your visa card is enough. It’s a good thing as the old visa stamp took up a lot of room in the passport and before you know it, you’ve run out of pages. I had to renew my last passport about five years early.

A few people reported that their photographs were refused because their hair had grown so much during the coronavirus (and they’d not been able to get it cut to how it used to be). Fortunately, because I was there on the first day, the woman merely laughed at the photograph of me with short hair but didn’t turn me away because of it. Anyway, they took a separate photo for the visa card, so my visa card has me with long hair.

And now, already, it’s time to think about renewing it. It’s due on 5^th October and I have to exit the country this time in order to renew it. I didn’t really want to travel during the pandemic, but in the end decided that maybe sooner would be better than later.

I believe Hurghada flies direct only to Ukraine, Belarus, and Zurich just now, although Istanbul has recently been added. Anyway, because there was a direct flight to Zurich, and because both Egypt and Zurich aren’t too bad for coronavirus (touch wood!), I thought I’d go while I could. It was also a chance to escape the very hot weather over here (I can’t use my balcony at all just now). I’ve somehow got less nervous after booking – not sure why. I did contemplate doing what they call a visa run to Istanbul – where you fly in one day, stay in the airport, come back the next day, just to have the exit and entry stamps in your passport to enable you to renew your visa – but going to Zurich will let me get quite a bit of admin done. And I can visit friends, and see some cultural stuff, and have some proper coffee.

I didn’t want to leave it until late September, in case there’s a second wave of the virus and airports close again; also I wanted to go to Zurich while there’s a chance of good weather and I can miss the hottest weather over here. And I need to be back before October 1^st as that’s when my maintenance money is due (and if I go to Zurich, I’ll be able to get some Euros). So, it’s a quick dash over for ten days. I’ve rented a studio in town. I had 40% discount, but it’s still pretty expensive. However, it’ll be nice to have my own place. I’m flying business so that I can have the seat next to me free on the plane and hopefully drink enough alcohol to kill any virus floating about.

Having to go through all the rigmarole of getting the visa again makes me feel tired, but I suppose it’s a small price to pay for the joy of living over here!