Has anyone been recently to Egypt....I need a Covid test to enter of course, but I read it should be in English and Arabic. How the heck do I manage that from the US? Also, do I need to have a QR code too ( what is that exactly? A bar code?). TIA. I don't think I'm dumb, it's just confusing!
Posted by
WestCentral MN
355 posts
Hi Jill, We are headed to Egypt in December. Our tour manager said that we don't need a covid test if we are fully vaccinated. He said that a negative PCR test will get us through immigration much faster/easier though. If you are not fully vaccinated, from what I understood from him, you need a negative PCR test with a QR code. I recently tested at Walgreens, and the test included a QR code.
Posted by
WestCentral MN
355 posts
A QR code is an image that they can scan to verify your test results. It would just be printed along with your test results.
Posted by
Last Frontier aka Alaska 🏔️
3560 posts
Hi Jill, here is my trip report. We just got back from Egypt. I talk about the testing. Feel free to ask more questions. It does not need to be in Arabic!
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/egypt-5-000-years-in-13-days
Posted by
OP
Sun City West, Arizona
152 posts
Thank you so much all. I am vaxxed up and boosted. Just want to make sure I have what I need to get in! It's not ticket science but for some reason I'm finding it confusing...I mean R
Arabic????
Posted by
18 posts
Hi Jill,
We travelled to Egypt for the last week of October, but we departed from Turkey, so our requirements might not be the same as what you experience. Be sure to check what your airline requires, because it might be different than what the Egyptian government requires. For us, we needed a negative PCR test with QR code to enter Egypt, but Turkish Air required the PCR test and proof of vaccination.
There are a number of QR-generator web sites that you can use to add a QR code to any document. They'll require a little trial and error on your part, but it can be done. My wife did with her vaxx card and had no trouble with it being accepted.
And yes, it's all very confusing. There's a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of personal accounts about entry into Egypt that are not consistent. Safe travels.
-Steve
Posted by
Atlanta, GA
783 posts
A QR code is a form of barcode that looks like a random checkerboard. It's similar to a barcode, but it can hold more data.
I returned from Egypt and Turkey a few weeks ago. Egypt requires a PCR test with a QR code. (They also accept a vaccination record with a QR code, but they do not accept the little CDC cards that most Americans have.) You have to show them something with a QR code.
When I boarded the flight to Egypt, I showed them my PCR test results with a QR code that simply pointed to a website with my test results. Nobody actually scanned the QR code. They just wanted to see a printed test result with a QR code on it. I had no problem boarding the plane. My thrice-vaccinated travel companion, however, had a negative PCR test without a QR code, and they (Turkish Airlines) refused to issue a boarding pass to her. At the last minute, someone suggested that the CDC offers some kind of vaccination survey that will generate a QR code based on your self-reported vaccination status. (I am sorry that I don't have a URL for it.) That survey was enough to keep the authorities happy, and my friend made it to the plane about five minutes before the doors closed.