Egypt charges a one-off tax of 38.5% of a phone's value on any handset brought in from abroad and used on an Egyptian network for more than 90 days, and since 21 January 2026 the exemption that let every arriving passenger register one phone for free is gone. Tourists keep a 90-day exemption per visit, but it is tied to the phone's IMEI, it is counted from the day the phone is activated on an Egyptian line, and a phone that passes the 90 days without the tax being paid is blocked on every Egyptian network. This guide sets out the rule as Egypt's regulator, the NTRA, has published it, explains the one thing that starts the clock, shows how to check your phone's status in the official Telephony app, and covers what to do if you are staying longer than three months.

Quick answer: If you use your home SIM on roaming or a travel eSIM, Egypt's own guidance says you can use your phone normally with no fee and no registration. The 90-day clock starts when the phone is activated with an Egyptian SIM or eSIM; after that, either pay 38.5% of the phone's value through the Telephony app or the IMEI is blocked. For a holiday or a business trip, the simplest route is to skip the local SIM altogether: Umi's Egypt eSIM runs on Orange and Vodafone 5G, with pay as you go at $4.55/GB or a 10GB Plan for $25.95, on a balance that never expires.

Does a foreign phone work in Egypt?

Yes. Any unlocked phone from Europe, the UK, the Gulf or Asia connects to Orange, Vodafone, Etisalat (e&) or WE on 4G and, in the cities, 5G. What has changed since January 2025 is that Egypt now runs an IMEI-based "device governance system" that checks every handset on its networks against a register of phones that have paid import tax, were made locally, or hold a temporary exemption. Three situations follow from that:

• You keep your home SIM on roaming, or use a travel eSIM. Under the official guidance for tourists, the phone works normally and there is no fee and nothing to register.

• You put in an Egyptian SIM or eSIM as a tourist. The phone gets a 90-day exemption for that visit. Inside the 90 days there is nothing to pay; after them, the tax is due or the IMEI is blocked.

• You are staying longer than 90 days on an Egyptian line, or you live in Egypt. The 38.5% tax applies, paid through the Telephony app, with a 90-day grace period from activation to settle it.

Egyptians living abroad are a separate case: they get an exemption per visit, announced as extended to 120 days from 1 April 2026, which has to be requested through the NTRA's hotline with a passport copy, entry stamps and proof of residence abroad.

What is Egypt's 90-day rule?

It is the tourist carve-out from a tax on imported phones. In January 2025 Egypt replaced its 10% duty on handsets with a one-off charge of 38.5% of the device's value, covering customs and taxes, and began authenticating phones by IMEI. For a year, every arriving passenger could register one phone at an airport customs desk and skip the charge. On 20 January 2026 the NTRA and the Customs Authority ended that exemption from noon the next day, citing the arrival of local manufacturing by 15 global brands, and moved all registration and payment into the Telephony app. The tax has been widely criticised, with estimates above 28,000 Egyptian pounds (about $590 at the January 2026 rate) on a high-end phone.

Two points are easy to miss. The exemption belongs to the phone, not to you: a second handset in your bag has no exemption and attracts the charge in full. And "90 days" has been described officially both as "during each visit" and as a continuous period from first activation; traveller reports on the forums say the count carried across visits for some people in 2025. If you come to Egypt often on an Egyptian SIM, check the date the app shows against your IMEI rather than assuming it reset.

Does a travel eSIM start the 90-day clock?

As the rules are written, no. The Telephony guidance for tourists says those using foreign SIM cards can use their phones normally without fees, and the clock the NTRA describes starts at activation on an Egyptian line. A travel eSIM is a foreign profile that roams onto Orange or Vodafone, the same as your home SIM would, so it falls on the foreign-SIM side of the line, and that is why most visitors never meet the rule at all.

Treat that as the rule rather than a guarantee. The governance system authenticates every handset connected to Egyptian networks, and in the first year there were reports of IMEIs blocked in error, including some where a roaming line stopped working alongside a local one. Egypt's regulator has corrected those through the hotline, but a travel eSIM cannot unblock an IMEI that has been misclassified; only the Telephony app and the NTRA can. So if you have ever used an Egyptian SIM in the phone you are bringing, check its status before you fly, using the steps below. A phone that has never had an Egyptian SIM has nothing on the register to go wrong.

How do I check whether my phone is registered or blocked?

Five minutes, and worth doing before a long stay or if the phone has been to Egypt before.

1. Dial *#06# on the phone. The IMEI appears on screen; most modern phones show two (one per SIM slot, including the eSIM). Note both.

2. On iPhone you can also find them under Settings, General, About; on Android under Settings, About phone, Status or IMEI.

3. Install the official Telephony app from the App Store or Google Play (publisher: Egypt's NTRA), or use its web portal.

4. Enter each IMEI separately. The app shows whether the device is registered, exempt, within its grace period or due for payment, and the date the period runs to. Screenshot the result.

5. If the status looks wrong, or the app asks for a fee you do not think you owe, call the Telephony hotline on 15380 from inside Egypt, or message the NTRA's WhatsApp support numbers listed on the official announcement.

The usual sign that something is due is an SMS from the operator telling you the tax is payable; if you get one on a phone you only use with a foreign SIM, that is the moment to call the hotline rather than to pay.

How do I register and pay if I am staying more than 90 days?

Airport customs desks no longer register phones; everything is done in the app, and the phone reactivates as soon as payment clears.

1. Install the Telephony app and create an account with your phone number and passport details.

2. Dial *#06# and enter the phone's IMEI (both, on a dual-SIM phone).

3. The app issues a reference number and the amount due: 38.5% of the phone's assessed value, which varies by brand and model.

4. Pay in one payment through the app, a bank app, an e-wallet, or in cash at a bank branch or ATM using the reference. The NTRA has said instalments will be offered "in the coming period"; as of October 2026 they are not live.

5. Keep the receipt. The device is activated on Egyptian networks immediately after payment, and the registration is permanent for that IMEI.

For a visit of under three months on an Egyptian SIM, nothing needs doing; the exemption is applied when the tourist SIM is sold against your passport. For a visit that might run over 90 days, the sensible move is to keep the Egyptian SIM out of the phone you care about, or to use a travel eSIM for data and avoid the question.

Tourist SIM or travel eSIM for Egypt?

A tourist SIM from Vodafone, Orange or Etisalat is cheap per gigabyte and gives you an Egyptian number, at the cost of a passport registration at the shop, a 28-day validity you have to keep topping up, and the 90-day IMEI clock. A travel eSIM costs more per gigabyte, needs no shop, no passport and no registration, and leaves your phone off Egypt's device register.

Umi prices are from the live Egypt page on 26 October 2026. Airalo's Egypt eSIM, for comparison, is sold as "unlimited" on Vodafone at $19.50 for 3 days up to $90 for 30 days, with a daily high-speed cap that its plan page does not state (see unlimited data eSIM caps), and its Egypt page says nothing about the IMEI rule. Egypt is one of Umi's pricier destinations, so for a month of heavy use a tourist SIM is cheaper per gigabyte; for a one or two week trip, the 10GB Plan at $25.95 covers maps, messaging, photos and a few video calls with nothing to register and nothing to renew. Pairing Egypt with Jordan or the Gulf on the same eSIM is the other reason visitors choose it: the Universal eSIM covers 200+ destinations on one profile, and whatever balance you do not use in Egypt carries over, as explained in eSIM data that never expires.

Egypt is not the only country with a rule that catches visitors' phones. Turkey counts 120 days on any SIM, roaming included, and Russia puts every foreign line through a 24-hour block on arrival. Our best travel eSIM guide covers the field.

Heading to Egypt? Install your Universal eSIM before you fly and keep your phone off the register.