Foreign work permits in Egypt: exemptions, the 10% cap and fees

Executive summary

• A foreigner may not work, and may not be employed, without a permit from the Ministry of Labour and permission to enter Egypt and reside there for the purpose of work (article 71 of Labour Law 14 of 2025). The permit is governed by Minister of Labour Decree 279 of 2025, in force from 25 December 2025.
• Foreign workers in an establishment may not exceed 10% of the total number of its Egyptian workers, even where it has several branches, subject to three exceptions (article 9 of the decree).
• A permit runs for one year or less; the fee is EGP 6,000 for the first year and rises for each following year, to a ceiling of EGP 100,000 (article 18). The foreign worker applies for renewal at least two months before expiry (article 24).
• The establishment keeps a register of its foreign workers, files returns in the first week of January and July, gives notice within a week of the contract ending, and reports an absence of fifteen consecutive days within seven actual working days (articles 25, 31 and 32 of the decree).
• Breach of articles 70, 71, 72 and 74 and their implementing decrees carries a fine from EGP 20,000 to EGP 100,000, multiplied by the number of workers and doubled for a repeat offence (article 293).

The governing decree

Minister of Labour Decree 279 of 2025 "on the regulation of foreigners' work permits", whose preamble cites Labour Law 14 of 2025, was published in Al-Waqa'i Al-Misriya No. 290 (continued) (B) of 24 December 2025 and applies from the day after publication (article 40); the rules and amounts given here are taken from the text published in that issue. Its article 39 repeals "every prior decree, text or rule that contravenes or conflicts with the provisions of this decree", without naming any decree. Read with article 11 of the Labour Law's issuing articles, which kept the decrees in force "until these decrees are issued", this means, in our view, that Minister of Manpower Decree 146 of 2019, issued under the repealed Law 12 of 2003, is no longer the reference on anything the new decree regulates.

Who needs a permit and who is exempt

"A foreigner may not work in the country except after obtaining a permit to do so from the competent ministry and being authorised to enter the country and reside there for the purpose of work, and employers may not employ foreigners except after this permit has been obtained" (article 71, our translation).

Work here means "any dependent or free work or work on one's own account", including domestic service (article 69). The rule applies in all private-sector establishments, public-sector units, the public business sector, public authorities, local administration and the state's administrative apparatus, "subject to the condition of reciprocity", from which the minister may grant an exemption (article 70; article 2 of the decree).

Eight groups are exempt from the permit (article 4 of the decree): those exempted by an express provision of an international agreement to which Egypt is a party, within its limits; administrative staff of Arab and foreign embassies and consulates and of the bodies and agencies of regional and international organisations in Egypt, who come to Egypt under decisions of the competent authorities of their own countries; foreign correspondents; foreign clergy who carry on their activity without pay; those working on Egyptian ships on the high seas outside territorial waters; those working for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission; members and experts of institutes, centres and missions working in architectural research and ancient Egyptian antiquities; and a foreign investor holding an investor's residence to carry on their activity in Egypt. Anyone employing an exempt foreigner notifies the labour directorate within seven days of the foreigner starting work, and again when the service ends (article 71; article 5 of the decree); the notice is covered in hiring and leaving notices.

Foreigners may not work as tourist guides or in export and customs-clearance work, and the export and customs-clearance item adds: "Palestinians are excepted from this condition" (article 8 of the decree, our translation).

The cap and its exceptions

"The number of foreign workers in any establishment, even where its branches are several, may not exceed (10%) of the total number of Egyptian workers in it" (article 9 of the decree, our translation).

Excepted from the cap are "establishments located in the free zones and subject to the provisions of Investment Law No. 72 of 2017", whose ratio follows the relative weights and controls set by the joint committee formed at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI); small establishments (shops and restaurants), for which the minister sets the ceiling; and cases approved by the exceptions committee and confirmed by the minister (articles 9, 11 and 17). The committee is chaired by the Director General of the General Department for Licensing and Regulating Foreigners' Work (article 10).

In GAFI's consolidated copy of Investment Law 72 of 2017, which carries its amendments up to Law 160 of 2023, an investment project has the right to employ foreign workers "within a ratio of (10%) of the total number of workers in the project", which may be raised to no more than 20% where national workers with the required qualifications cannot be employed (article 8). Article 73 of the Labour Law opens with "without prejudice to the provisions of the Investment Law". The base differs between the two texts: all workers in the project under the Investment Law, Egyptian workers under the decree. The decree's wording may mean free-zone establishments only, or every establishment subject to the Investment Law as well; the decree does not settle it. GAFI's recommendation for a foreign branch manager's permit is covered in foreign branches and representative offices.

The application and renewal

The establishment applies to the General Department for Licensing and Regulating Foreigners' Work with documents showing its incorporation, the nature of its work and its activity licence, and the foreigner's documents and employment contract (article 6). No contract is required from "foreigners assigned a specific work for a period of six months and not exceeding one year, and experts working under an international agreement" (our translation). The conditions include experience matching the occupation of at least three years, attested and authenticated; no competition with national workers; the establishment's actual need; and, for an establishment permitted to employ foreign experts or technicians, the appointment of two Egyptian assistants who are trained in the foreigner's work. The minister may waive all or some of them (article 7).

The permit is issued for one year or less once its fee is paid, and part of a year counts as a full year (article 18); the permit card costs EGP 300, and a replacement for a lost or damaged card EGP 500 (article 22). "The foreigner shall apply for renewal of the permit at least two months before its expiry" (our translation), to the competent directorate or one of the ministry's offices; from the fourth year the application goes to the competent department at the ministry with the reasons for renewal (article 24).

Fees

Article 71 confines the permit fee and the fees for exemption from the recruitment conditions to between EGP 5,000 and EGP 150,000, and the decree sets the amounts:

The minister may reduce the article 18 fee or grant a permit for more than a year in some cases, waive the article 20 fee, and waive or reduce the article 23 fee. A foreigner under article 20 may not start work before the ministry's written approval. Article 19 exempts from the article 18 fees, on the principle of reciprocity, groups that include nationals of Sudan, Lebanon and Greece, and anyone whose exemption is stated expressly in an international agreement to which Egypt is a party. Fees are paid in the foreigner's name through electronic collection (article 21).

While the permit runs

Register and returns. The establishment keeps a register with each foreigner's details, occupation, wage, permit and its expiry date, and the names of the assistants assigned for training. It sends the competent department, on an ongoing basis, a statement of its foreign workers giving their number and their ratio to the Egyptian workforce, and sends the directorate, "during the first week of January and July each year", a list of the foreign workers and their permits and a list of the number and occupations of its Egyptian workers, with social insurance Form 2 or another official document from the social insurance authority (article 31). The next date is the first week of January 2027. The establishment's other records are covered in mandatory employment records.

End of the contract. The establishment notifies the directorate or office "within a week from the date the contract with the foreigner ends or the foreigner leaves work" (our translation), and returns the permit to the body that issued it (article 32).

Absence. After five consecutive working days of absence without excuse, the employer notifies the worker at the fixed address in the worker's service file; if the worker is not found there, the employer files an administrative report at the police station and notifies the directorate (article 26). After fifteen consecutive days without lawful justification, the employer reports to the directorate and the competent authorities within seven actual working days from the end of that period (article 25). If the absence is confirmed, the permit is suspended; if it continues for another fifteen days, the permit is cancelled (article 27).

Cancellation. The minister cancels a permit in five cases: the foreigner's conviction of a felony or a misdemeanour involving honour, trust or public morals; a permit obtained on false information; use of the permit in an occupation or with an employer other than the one it was issued for; a confirmed absence of fifteen days without lawful justification; and cases affecting the country's economic or social interests or national security (article 30).

Return home. The employer must return the foreign worker to the country from which they were recruited "at the employer's own expense when the employment relationship ends, unless the employment contract provides otherwise" (article 74, our translation).

The foreign worker's employment contract, and the tax on their pay, are outside this article.

Penalties

Article 293 punishes anyone who breaches articles 70, 71, 72 and 74 "and the ministerial decrees implementing them" with a fine of EGP 20,000 to EGP 100,000, multiplied by the number of workers concerned and doubled for a repeat offence. Employing without a permit, failing to notify an exempt foreigner, failing to report an absence and failing to return the worker are rules in those articles themselves. The decree does not say which article each of its provisions implements, so whether article 293 reaches the register, the half-yearly returns and the end-of-contract notice is a matter of judgement on which we do not take a firm view.

What this requires

• Before contracting: whether the foreigner needs a permit or falls within one of the article 4 groups; no work before the permit.
• The cap calculated across the whole establishment, branches included, with an exception sought before it is exceeded; a project under the Investment Law checks with GAFI which ratio applies to it.
• The application file: the establishment's and the foreigner's documents, the contract, proof of experience, and the two Egyptian assistants where required.
• A schedule of permit expiry dates, so that renewal is applied for at least two months before expiry.
• The register and the January and July returns; the next falls in the first week of January 2027.
• On absence and at the end of the contract: the deadlines above, return of the permit, and the worker's return home unless the contract provides otherwise.

The firm's Social Insurance & Labour Department prepares and follows up foreign work-permit applications and renewals, the foreign workers' register and its periodic returns with the labour directorate, as part of its social insurance and labour compliance services.

Mahmoud Nassef, Founder Partner
Chartered Accountant, Ministry of Finance, Egypt

Member, Egyptian Society of Accountants & Auditors
Member, Egyptian Tax Society
Member, Egyptian Society for Public Finance and Taxation

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Disclaimer: This bulletin is prepared for general information on the legislation in force at the date of its publication. It does not constitute a professional opinion or tax or legal advice on any particular matter, and it should not be relied upon in place of advice based on an examination of the circumstances of each case. Nassef & Partners International accepts no responsibility for any action taken, or refrained from, in reliance on its contents. The positions stated remain subject to subsequent legislation and decisions.