We researched the visa extension process and we were unable to find reliable information, even on the Egypt government site.  We are sharing this process to help others.  Although we are US Citizens, we believe this process is used for all nationalities.  We completed a 30-day visa online, prior to our arrival in Egypt.  That process was easy and inexpensive.  We had read that we could extend our visa 30 days, however, we would need to do that in person.  So, six days after our arrival we started the visa extension process.  Listed below is a recap of the process for us.  Note:  If you aren’t up for navigating all of this fun on your own, we think you can pay someone locally to hold your hand through the process. 

1. We are staying in Heliopolis.  We took a 15-minute Uber ride (less than $3 USD) to the “New Mugamma for Visa Process” government office.  We had read to go on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday and to arrive early and bring water and snacks as there are long lines and wait times (fyi – they have snacks and drinks available in the building to purchase).  We arrived at 8 am on a Tuesday.   
2. We had to show our passports in our hands to enter through the guarded gate (they didn’t actually look at our passports).
3. There was a women’s and men’s security line to enter the building.
4. We had to ask several people where to go for visa extensions.  We ended up on the 5^th floor where we talked with an agent.  He gave us each an application and told us that they don’t do 30-day extensions, we needed to do a 6 month extension, which cost $150 USD.  We knew we had to pay in cash, however we thought we only needed the equivalent of $80 USD in Egyptian pounds each so we went to two ATMs (the 1^st one we tried didn’t work) inside the building and withdrew the equivalent of $300 USD.
5. We were told to go to the 6^th floor to get two separate receipts (one for each of us).  At 9:15 am we took number 108 (they were on number 43) and waited an hour to be called to see an agent to get our two separate receipts.  The agent told us we needed US dollars, that they don’t take Egyptian pounds.  We asked where we could get USDs.  They said we needed to go outside the building and go to a bank. 
6. Long story short, we walked, tried a couple of banks and we were told that they don’t do this type of transaction, asked where we could go and took an Uber 15 minutes away to a Banque Misr location near Roxy Park.  We got a number and waited to talk to a bank representative.  When our number was called, he told us they don’t exchange Egyptian Pounds for USD.  We needed to wire the money at Western Union and then they can give us USD.  They had a Western Union representative in the lobby.  We downloaded the Western Union app onto Mike’s phone and completed the wire transfer details on the app and paid using Apple Pay.  There was no Western Union fee for the 1^st time using the app. 
7. We took an Uber 15 minutes back to the visa office.  We saw the agent that told us we needed USD, and he was kind enough to take us at the counter without making us take another number and wait another hour before our number was called.  They took the USDs, gave us 2 receipts and a huge stack of Egyptian Pounds (we were so confused….we already have a bunch of Egyptian Pounds that we were told we couldn’t use…later we researched the reason why they do it this way – it simplifies things for them by not having to deal with exchange-rate fluctuations, reduces the risk of accepting less-valuable currency, and avoids managing multiple forms of payments inconsistently).
8. We took our completed application and our two receipts to the 5^th floor.  The agent reviewed everything, made some notes on the paperwork, looked at our passports and gave us a number to wait. 
9. We waited an hour for our number to be called.  This agent told us we needed to make 2 copies of our passport page and Egypt entry stamp page (a total of 8 copies for the two of us).  We were able to do this at a photocopy station near the agent counter.  The copies cost about $1.60 USD (we paid in Egyptian Pounds).  Then the agent told us we needed to take our big stack of Egyptian Pounds to another area and get another receipt.  We had to pay 100 Egyptian Pounds (approximately $2 USD) when we turned in the money and got our receipt. 
10. Then we got our visa photos taken, they scanned each of our hands, gave us our passports with a piece of paper and told us to come back in 1 week.  After nearly eight hours, we finished the process at 3:30 pm. 
11. We returned seven days later (on the day we were told to come back).  As we got out of the Uber, I realized I only had passport copies in my purse and our actual passports were in our apartment safe.  We were able to get into the building with our passport copies, so we went through security and proceeded to window 17 on the 5^th floor.  The agent asked for our passports and the copies were not sufficient.  We got another Uber at 9:10 to go home and get our passports.  We asked the Uber driver if he would wait for me to get something and take us back to the visa office.  He was willing and we paid him 100 EP ($2.13 US) cash for the return ride to the visa office.  We went back to window 17 on the 5^th floor.  The agent took our receipt and passports.  She looked our information up in the system and told us to wait 30 minutes and then go to window 4 (across the room). 
12. After 30 minutes passed, at 10:30 am, we went to window 4.  There were several people in line ahead of us.  There was no agent at the window.  We learned that some of the people had been waiting in line for 2.5 hours (which made us wonder if we should have gotten in line at 10:00).  The line really didn’t matter.  They call out passport country names and surnames (in no logical order) to come to the window and get your documents.  At 11:20, we could see the agent was working on our passports and trying to find the corresponding visa extension cards.  After she looked through two huge stacks of cards she called us and told us to come back in 1 – 2 days.  We were so confused.  It didn’t make sense that the agent at window 17 would have sent us to window 4, unless our documents were ready (after all, she did look in their computer system).  We decided to ask our “friend”, the agent at window 1 (who helped us multiple times when we completed our applications a week ago).  We explained to him that we gave our receipt at window 17 and the agent told us to wait at window 4.  The agent at window 4 told us to come back in 1 – 2 days.  He looked at the visa section in both of our passports and asked to keep my passport while he checked into it.  He handed us a package of biscuits and told us to enjoy them while we waited. 
13. At 11:45, our “friend” called us to window 1 and told us our visa extensions were printed at the warehouse but not delivered yet.  He told us to come back in 2 days (on Thursday) before 2:30. He apologized. We were there about 2 hours, after returning with our actual passports. 
14. We arrived at the visa office two days later, on Thursday, at 11:00 am (with our actual passports).  This was nine days after we submitted our application.  We went to window 4 on the 5^th floor.  The agent asked for our receipt.  We told her we were there on Tuesday and the agent kept the receipt.  She told us to go to window 17 and get a receipt.  Mike waited until our “friend” was available and asked him.  Our friend asked for our passports and told the agent to find our visa extensions.  We talked with our “friend” before leaving and asked his name (Ahmed).  We told him he was the best part of the entire process and shook his hand.  We are extremely grateful for his help throughout the process.  We had our visa extensions in our hands and left the building 15 minutes later.

What would have made the process faster? 

• If we knew we had to pay in USD, we would have wired the money from Western Union and took the proper type of currency we needed to the visa office with us. 
• If we had brought our own 8 copies (2 copies of each of our passports, 2 copies of each of our Egypt entry stamps).  We did bring our own passport size photos (we carry extras with us for visa purposes), which we didn’t need as they used their camera system to take our photos. 
• We aren’t sure if it was an anomaly that our visa extensions weren’t ready 7 days later or if it’s common that it actually takes 9 days.   

We are grateful that Uber costs are inexpensive, since we made multiple trips to the visa office.  And we are extremely grateful we are done with the process!!