Anyone spending time in Egypt should know that its legal system runs on written codes rooted in French civil law and shaped by Islamic Sharia, and that several everyday activities treated casually elsewhere carry real criminal penalties here. The laws visitors and residents in Egypt need to know cluster around a few practical areas: what you can photograph, drink, post, and carry; how drug offenses are punished; how family and inheritance rules apply across religions; what foreigners can own; and how work, taxes, and residency operate. The rules below are the ones most likely to affect you.
Everyday Activities That Can Get You Arrested
Photography and Drones
Photographing military installations, police stations, government buildings, and infrastructure such as bridges is prohibited. Tourists have been arrested for unknowingly violating this restriction, and enforcement is unpredictable.
Drones are effectively banned for tourists. Egyptian law makes it illegal to import, possess, or operate a drone without a permit from the Ministry of Defense, and violations carry fines of EGP 5,000 to 50,000 or prison sentences of one to seven years. Flying a drone near an archaeological site or military zone puts the case in front of the military judiciary.
Alcohol
Egypt does not ban alcohol, but access is tightly controlled. The legal purchase age is 21, and sale is permitted only at licensed venues. Muslims technically need a consumption permit for medical reasons, though this is not enforced in tourist hotels. Drinking in public outside licensed establishments can attract police attention and charges related to public decency.
Currency Rules at the Border
You may carry unlimited foreign currency into Egypt but must declare any amount above $10,000 or its equivalent. You may bring no more than EGP 5,000 in local currency into or out of the country. On departure, non-Egyptians can take out foreign currency up to $10,000 or the amount declared on arrival, whichever is greater, plus up to EGP 5,000 in local currency.1Cairo International Airport. Customs Regulations Failing to declare or presenting false receipts can lead to confiscation and prosecution.
Egyptian customs also prohibits importing pornographic material, coral and seashells, antiquities, ivory, and cotton, alongside drugs, weapons, and unpermitted drones.1Cairo International Airport. Customs Regulations
LGBTQ+ Status and Public Morality
Egypt has no statute that criminalizes homosexuality by name, but prosecutors use “debauchery” provisions in Law 10 of 1961 to target LGBTQ+ individuals. Article 9(c) punishes anyone who “habitually engages in debauchery or prostitution” with one to three years in prison, and courts have read “debauchery” broadly enough to cover consensual same-sex relations. Police periodically conduct sting operations through dating apps. Article 278 of the Penal Code separately punishes any “scandalous act against shame” committed in public with up to one year in prison. These laws are actively enforced, and convictions carry real prison time.
Blasphemy and Religious Contempt
Article 98(f) of the Penal Code makes it a crime to “exploit religion to promote extremist ideologies” or to disparage any revealed religion, with penalties of six months to five years in prison. The wording is broad enough to reach public statements critical of Islam, Christianity, or Judaism. Both Egyptians and foreigners have been charged under this article for social media posts.
Social Media and Cybercrime
Law No. 175 of 2018 gave authorities wide power over the digital space.2World Intellectual Property Organization. Law No. 175 of 2018 on Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes, Egypt The law authorizes blocking websites deemed a threat to national security, and individuals who visit blocked sites can face up to one year in prison. Since 2020, authorities have prosecuted female TikTok users for “violating family values” under Articles 25 and 26. Personal social media accounts with 5,000 or more followers fall under Egypt’s media regulation law, which bars false news and defamation and lets the Supreme Council for Media Regulation block accounts that break those rules.
Drug Offenses and Pre-Trial Detention
Egypt’s narcotics penalties are among the harshest in the region. Under Decree-Law No. 182 of 1960, as amended by Law No. 122 of 1989, importing or exporting narcotics carries a mandatory death sentence and a fine of EGP 100,000 to 500,000. Producing or manufacturing drugs for sale also triggers the death penalty. Possession with intent to sell carries either the death penalty or life imprisonment, with the same fine range.3United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Law No. 122 of 1989 Amending Certain Provisions of Decree-Law No. 182 of 1960 Even small quantities of cannabis on a tourist can lead to prison time measured in years.
Pre-trial detention is another feature worth understanding before you find yourself inside it. The Criminal Procedure Code caps detention before trial at six months for misdemeanors, 18 months for felonies, and two years for crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment. A prosecutor or investigating judge may renew detention in 15-day increments up to 150 days, after which a judge must review and renew in 45-day blocks. Defendants already sentenced to death or life imprisonment who are appealing can be held indefinitely. In practice, defendants charged with national security offenses sometimes spend years in custody before trial.
Family Law, Custody, and Inheritance
Family law splits along religious lines. For Muslims, marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance follow Islamic personal status laws. For Christians, the ecclesiastical rules of each denomination govern. The same legal question can have different answers depending on the parties’ religion.
Muslim marriages are governed primarily by Personal Status Law No. 25 of 1920, amended in 1929 and 1985.4Eastlaws. Law No. 25 Year 1920 Concerning the Provisions of Alimony and Some Personal Status Issues Marriage is a civil contract requiring mutual consent and witnesses. Divorce traditionally favored the husband’s unilateral right to end the marriage; Law No. 1 of 2000 introduced the khula process, giving women the right to seek a no-fault divorce by forfeiting their financial rights, which in practice means returning the dowry (mahr) and waiving future alimony.
Courts generally grant mothers custody of children up to age 15. A mother who remarries risks losing custody, though courts consider the child’s best interests before transferring it. Fathers who remarry face no equivalent penalty. When neither parent holds custody, courts follow a priority order that starts with the maternal grandmother, then the paternal grandmother, then the maternal aunt, and continues down the extended family, with male relatives eligible only after all female options are exhausted.
Inheritance is where foreign residents get caught. For Muslim Egyptians, inheritance follows Sharia rules that assign fixed fractional shares based on each heir’s relationship to the deceased, and departing from those proportions requires unanimous consent of all legal heirs. For non-Muslim foreigners who die owning assets in Egypt, the Civil Code generally applies the law of the deceased’s nationality. A valid foreign will is usually honored if it meets Egyptian formalities. Without a will, courts may default to Islamic distribution rules, which is a trap that foreign property owners rarely see coming.
Buying Property as a Foreigner
Law No. 230 of 1996 allows non-Egyptians to buy real estate in Egypt with strict conditions. Foreign buyers are limited to two residential properties for personal use, each no larger than 4,000 square meters. The property cannot be a historical site, and the buyer cannot resell for five years after registration.5General Authority for Investment and Free Zones. Land and Real Estate Ownership Laws The Prime Minister can grant exemptions to the size and quantity limits, but the process is rarely worth pursuing for individual buyers.
Full registration with the Real Estate Registry is the only way to guarantee ownership rights against third-party claims. Many buyers settle for a “signature validity ruling,” a court proceeding that only confirms the signatures on a private sales contract are authentic. It does not verify ownership history or the legal status of the land, so it offers weaker protection. Law No. 9 of 2022 introduced reforms to simplify registration: when an applicant proves ownership through possession, the local directorate must investigate and decide within 30 days, with a fixed fee of EGP 500. A refusal must be challenged within seven days.
Working Under the 2025 Labor Law
Labor Law No. 14 of 2025 took effect in September 2025 and replaced Labor Law No. 12 of 2003.6General Authority for Investment and Free Zones. Labor Law The basic architecture is unchanged, but several provisions matter for anyone employed in Egypt.
The maximum working day is eight hours, or 48 hours per week, not counting meal and rest breaks. Annual leave was restructured:
- First year of employment: 15 days (down from 21 under the old law)
- Second year onward: 21 days
- Tenth year onward, or age 50 and above: 30 days
- Workers with disabilities: 45 days
Casual leave increased from six to seven days per year, taken in increments of no more than two days at a time, and deducted from the annual leave balance.
Unlimited-term contracts require a three-month notice period for termination by either side, regardless of how long the employee has been on the job. If an employer terminates a fixed-term contract early, the employee is entitled to one month’s salary for each year of service as end-of-service pay. Unexcused absence of more than 20 nonconsecutive days or 10 consecutive days in a year counts as voluntary resignation, but the employer must first send a written warning by registered mail.
As of March 2025, the national minimum wage for private-sector workers is EGP 7,000 per month, and public-sector workers reached the same floor in July 2025. Social insurance is mandatory: employers pay 18.75% of salary and employees pay 11%, for a combined 29.75%. Foreign employers must keep a ratio of at least nine Egyptian workers for every one foreign employee, though the Minister of Labour can adjust this quota.
Taxes for Residents and Non-Residents
Egypt taxes residents on worldwide income and non-residents on Egyptian-source income only. Both groups receive an annual salary tax exemption of EGP 20,000. Personal income above that is taxed in progressive brackets:
- Up to EGP 40,000: 0%
- EGP 40,001 to 55,000: 10%
- EGP 55,001 to 70,000: 15%
- EGP 70,001 to 200,000: 20%
- EGP 200,001 to 400,000: 22.5%
- EGP 400,001 to 1,200,000: 25%
- Over EGP 1,200,000: 27.5%
The standard corporate income tax rate is 22.5% on net profits. Oil and gas exploration and production companies pay 40.55%, and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation is taxed at 40%. The standard value-added tax (VAT) rate is 14% on most goods and services; basic medicines, many healthcare services, and education are exempt.
Setting Up a Business and Investor Residency
The two most common structures for foreign investors are the Limited Liability Company (LLC) and the Joint Stock Company (JSC). An LLC has no general minimum capital requirement, though some regulated industries set their own thresholds. A non-publicly listed JSC requires minimum paid-in capital of EGP 250,000. Both are registered through the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI).
Foreign investors seeking residency through their business must invest at least $35,000 and obtain a work permit before applying for a residence permit. Investor residence permits are issued for one year initially, then renewable for three years, and subsequently for five-year periods. The base fee is EGP 5,200, with an annual increase of EGP 1,000. After the first year, investors must verify their business activity through tax returns, operating licenses, and sales documentation reviewed by the Economic Performance Evaluation Committee. If the company is deregistered or the investor leaves the business, the residence permit terminates.
The Legal System Behind These Rules
Egypt’s 2014 Constitution is the supreme law. Article 2 declares Islam the state religion and establishes that “the principles of Islamic Sharia are the principal source of legislation.”7Food and Agriculture Organization. Egypt’s Constitution of 2014 with Amendments through 2019 Every piece of legislation must be broadly consistent with Sharia principles, but courts apply codified statutes rather than religious rulings directly. The Supreme Constitutional Court is the only body that can strike down a law as unconstitutional under Article 192, and its decisions bind all state institutions.8State Information Service. The Supreme Constitutional Court Because Egypt follows a civil law tradition, judges look to the text of the code; earlier decisions carry persuasive weight but not the binding force they have in common-law systems. That is why, in Egypt, the statute you find in writing is usually the answer.