Egypt e-Visa Photo: The Portal Lists No Photo Spec

Egypt's e-Visa portal is unusual for a visa site: nowhere on its public pages does it ask you to upload a photo. We read the home page, the FAQ, the How to Apply steps, the Disclaimer and the Contact page on visa2egypt.gov.eg on September 20, 2026, and the word photograph appears in none of the requirements. If a third-party site tells you the Egypt e-Visa wants a 2 x 2 inch photo upload or a specific pixel size, it did not get that from the portal — it is recycling the consular photo rule, which is real but belongs to a different process.

Photo upload on the e-Visa

Not described on any public page

e-Visa application steps

Register, confirm account, fill form, pay, download and print

Entry requirements on arrival

Passport valid 6+ months, e-Visa printout, itinerary, supporting letter, hotel bookings

e-Visa fee

$30 single entry, $65 multiple entry (tourism)

Lead time

Apply at least 7 days before departure

Consular photo (paper visa)

2 x 2 in, recent, white background, max 6 months old

Photo pixels, KB limit, format

Not published anywhere we could read

Source: Egypt e-Visa Portal - Ministry of Interior

What the e-Visa portal actually asks for

The How to Apply page lists nine steps: create an account, confirm it, log in, choose Apply Now, pick the visa type and "read the instructions carefully", fill in the form, pay by Visa, MasterCard or other debit card, then download and print the approved e-Visa. No step mentions a photograph. The FAQ's requirements list is about the border, not the upload: on arrival you present a passport valid at least six months from the arrival date, the e-Visa printout, a travel itinerary, a supporting letter for business or family visits, and hotel bookings if you are a tourist.

The Disclaimer adds the rules that cost people money: the processing fee is non-refundable, incomplete applications are rejected, the printout must be presented at the port of entry, and passports of the diplomatic, service, special, temporary and refugee families cannot use the portal at all — those go to an embassy or consulate. Each visitor needs their own e-Visa application, though parents can file for their children from a parent's account.

The FAQ's eligible-country list covers most of Europe, the Americas, the Gulf and Asia — the US, UK, India, China, Japan, Australia, South Africa and the GCC states are all on it. The portal is the only official e-Visa site; it is run by the Ministry of Interior, and third-party lookalikes charge extra for the same form.

We did not create an account, so we have not seen the application form itself. If the logged-in form does ask for an image — some portals add a passport-scan step inside the form — prepare a sharp, flat, full-frame image of your passport's bio page and follow whatever format and size that screen states. What you should not do is buy a "guaranteed compliant" photo file from a third party for a spec the portal has never published.

The photo people confuse it with: the consular 2 x 2

Egyptian consulates do have a photo rule — for the paper visa application, not the e-Visa. The Egyptian Embassy in Washington's visa-requirements page asks for one 2 x 2 inch, recent, high-definition personal passport photo on a white background, no more than six months old, stapled to the application form. Longer lists — business visas and non-US passports — ask for two or three of the same photo, plus copies of the passport information page and, for the Washington consulate, a driver's licence proving residency in the states it serves.

That is the classic US-style square photo: the same 2 x 2 inch format the DS-160 visa photo and the 2 x 2 photo size guides cover. If you apply through a consulate, that is the photo to prepare. If you apply online, nothing we read asks for it.

Digital file versus printed photo

The two routes want different things, and mixing them up is the common failure. The e-Visa produces a document you print and carry — Egypt is explicit that the printout is presented at the border — but asks you for no portrait file on any public page. The consular visa wants a physical print stapled to a paper form; a digital file alone will not do, because a photo is glued to the application.

For the printed photo, "2 x 2 inch" is a physical size, not a pixel count — our passport photo size in pixels guide explains how the two relate (2 x 2 in at 300 ppi is 600 x 600 px). Print it on photo paper, not plain office paper; "high-definition" is the embassy's word for a sharp, properly printed image, and the printing options guide covers where to get a real print made.

1. 1

   Decide which route you are on

   Online at visa2egypt.gov.eg for the e-Visa, or through an Egyptian consulate for a paper visa. The photo question only exists on the consular route.

2. 2

   For the e-Visa, prepare documents, not a photo

   Passport valid 6 months past arrival, itinerary, accommodation details and a supporting letter for business or family visits. Apply at least 7 days before departure.

3. 3

   For a consulate, take a real passport photo

   2 x 2 inch, white background, no more than six months old, sharp and printed properly. Someone else takes it against a plain wall, you facing the camera.

4. 4

   Print and staple it to the form

   The embassy asks for the photo stapled to the signed application form, with the stated number of copies of the form and passport page.

5. 5

   Keep the e-Visa printout with your passport

   Egypt requires the printed e-Visa at the port of entry — a PDF on your phone is a backup, not the document.

Checklist

• Apply only on visa2egypt.gov.eg, at least 7 days before departure
• Passport valid 6+ months past arrival, with the e-Visa printout at the border
• For a consular visa: 2 x 2 in photo, white background, under 6 months old
• Itinerary, hotel bookings and supporting letter ready for arrival
• Buying a 'e-Visa photo' file for a spec the portal never published
• Diplomatic, service or refugee travel documents on the e-Visa portal
• An incomplete application — the fee is not refunded

If the trip continues elsewhere in the region, the rules differ sharply: Turkey's e-Visa does require a biometric profile photo, Saudi Arabia's eVisa wants an exact 200 x 200 px file, the UAE visa photo rules are published by ICP and GDRFA, and Indonesia's online visa names a passport-size photo under 200 kb. Kenya's eTA is looser still — a selfie passes. For a photo we can size for a supported document, start here.

Frequently asked questions

What size photo does the Egypt e-Visa need?

None is published. The Egypt e-Visa portal's public pages — its FAQ, How to Apply and Disclaimer — list entry requirements and application steps, and none of them mentions uploading a photo. The document the pages name is your passport. The application form sits behind an account we did not create.

Do I upload a photo when applying for the Egypt e-Visa?

The portal's public pages do not describe one. The nine application steps cover registration, the form, payment and downloading the e-Visa, with no photo step. If the logged-in form asks you for an image, follow its own upload instructions — that screen is the authority, not a third-party summary.

What photo do Egyptian consulates ask for on a paper visa?

The Egyptian Embassy in Washington's visa requirements list asks for a 2 x 2 inch, recent, high-definition passport photo on a white background, no more than six months old, stapled to the application form. The number required varies by visa type: one for a US-citizen tourist visa, two or three for others.

What are the Egypt e-Visa fees?

The portal's FAQ lists 30 USD for a single-entry tourism e-Visa and 65 USD for a multiple-entry one, paid by credit or debit card on the site. The Disclaimer states the processing fee is non-refundable and that incomplete applications are rejected.

How far in advance should I apply for the Egypt e-Visa?

The home page says you have to create an e-Visa application at least 7 days before your departure. Processing is confirmed by email, after which you download and print the e-Visa and present the printout at the port of entry.

Which passports cannot use the Egypt e-Visa portal?

The Disclaimer says applications cannot be made with Diplomatic, Service, Special, Official, Temporary, Nansen, Refugees, Mission, Alien's or July 51 Agreement passports — holders must go to an embassy or consulate. Each traveller needs their own application; parents can file for children from the parent's account.

Sources

• Egypt e-Visa Portal - home page (application steps, 7-day lead time)
• Egypt e-Visa Portal - FAQ (eligible countries, fees, entry requirements)
• Egypt e-Visa Portal - How to Apply (nine application steps)
• Egypt e-Visa Portal - Disclaimer (non-refundable fee, excluded passport types)
• Embassy of Egypt, Washington DC - Visa Requirements (consular photo: 2 x 2 in, white background, under 6 months)