Alexandriaculture & etiquette

A work permit from the Ministry of Manpower authorises the specific job; a residence visa from the Ministry of Interior authorises you to be in the country. Both are required and they run one after the other. Employer-side approval typically lands within about two weeks, but the Interior security check can add up to thirty days behind it. Tell an Alexandria employer your realistic start date is about six weeks out, not two.

Egypt's administration is governorate-based for the things you will actually queue for. You apply for a driving licence at the Traffic Department of the governorate where you are registered as resident, and residence registration and much of the routine paperwork follow the same rule. Guides written for Cairo will send you to the wrong building, and turning up in the wrong governorate means starting again.

The Raml tram, running since the 1860s and one of the oldest street tramways anywhere, was taken out of service in early 2026 for a rehabilitation into a modern light rail expected to take around two years, with European Investment Bank funding forming part of a project costed in the hundreds of millions of euros. The Abu Qir suburban rail line was separately suspended for conversion into a metro. A fleet of buses and microbuses is covering the Corniche and Abu Qir routes in the meantime, and congestion has worsened. Do not choose a neighbourhood on the assumption that either line is running.

Alexandria has a Mediterranean climate rather than Cairo's desert one: mild, humid and properly wet between November and March, with named storms — the nawwa — that flood low-lying streets and the Corniche. Drainage is limited and the city stops for the worst of them. Summers are noticeably cooler and less punishing than Cairo's. If you are choosing a ground-floor or basement flat, ask directly what happens to that street in a heavy nawwa.

Alexandria and the north coast west of it are where Cairo goes in July and August. Furnished flats near the sea are worth far more as short summer lets than as annual tenancies, which means some landlords will not offer a twelve-month contract at all over the season, and quoted rents on the seafront rise sharply. If you are arriving in spring, either sign before the summer market starts or plan to look inland.

The Egyptian pound has lost most of its value against the dollar in recent years. The major banks all offer USD accounts alongside EGP ones, and keeping savings in foreign currency while converting only what you need each month is ordinary practice among residents rather than a precaution. This will matter more to your finances than any tax bracket does.