Your Dollars Have Arrived Safely. You Can Keep Waiting

Remittances from Egyptians working abroad continued to grow at the end of the 2025/26 fiscal year. Between July 2025 and June 2026, they rose by 29.6% to approximately $47.3 billion, compared with $36.5 billion in 2024/25. The Arabic report also cites calendar-year receipts rising from $19.5 billion in 2023 to $41.5 billion in 2025, 40.5% above approximately $29.6 billion in 2024. Fiscal-year and calendar-year totals cover different periods and should not be treated as one continuous series. Central Bank remittance release.

Calendar-year remittances were equivalent to more than 11% of Egypt’s approximately $365 billion GDP in 2025, according to Zawia3’s statistical comparison of World Bank and International Monetary Fund data. GDP compilation.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly praises the economy’s resilience as remittances rise. Some economists also present the inflows as evidence that Egypt attracts its citizens’ money, arguing that Egyptians abroad should support their country during current economic difficulties so their contribution can feed into development.

Remittances are money or goods that workers and migrants send to families in their home countries, including through formal channels such as banks, exchange companies and postal services, to meet living costs and support household income. The report cites a global estimate that roughly 22% is directed towards investment in rural food and agricultural systems. CAPMAS source cited in the report.

State benefits, payable in dollars

State initiatives seek expatriates’ dollar savings through a range of instruments. The “Tomorrow’s Pension in Dollars” policy is one example. It allows Egyptians abroad to start saving with an initial premium from $500, with a maximum of $10,000 annually, and make additional payments starting at $50 to increase savings benefits. pension policy.

The Foreign Ministry and central bank have also launched “Open Your Account in Egypt”, facilitating foreign-currency bank accounts through diplomatic missions. Another initiative allows customers abroad to update banking information, aiming to remove transaction obstacles and prevent accounts from being frozen. Foreign Ministry initiative.

The car-import initiative gives eligible Egyptians abroad the right to import one private vehicle in return for a five-year, interest-free dollar deposit. The report describes this as 30% of the customs-tax amount. Deposits are repaid in Egyptian pounds at the exchange rate announced at repayment. The initiative raised more than $900 million, less than half its target, according to the report. These are descriptions of the programme as reported, rather than current eligibility or tax advice. Finance Ministry car-import announcement.

The “Your Home in Egypt” initiative, in cooperation with the Housing Ministry, offers housing and premium land in new cities through online reservation platforms, with payment in foreign currency from abroad. “Beit El Watan” also offers strategically located land and apartments, conditional on dollar payment. Housing Ministry programme.

“Your Farm in Egypt” offers reclaimed agricultural land to expatriates in exchange for foreign currency. Another initiative settles military-service status for Egyptians abroad for a payment initially set at $5,000 or euros, later increased to $7,000, the report states. military-service settlement increase.

The state’s eye on expatriates’ dollars and euros

Egyptian communities abroad continue to raise demands for better conditions, says Dr Asaad Abdel Rahman, an international-law professor at Libya’s University of Zawia. Education is a leading concern, especially recognition of secondary-school and university qualifications for students seeking to continue their studies in Egypt.

Abdel Rahman, who has lived in Libya for more than 30 years, identifies a central disagreement over Supreme Council of Universities requirements. He describes a rule under which a student’s secondary-school score may fall no more than five percentage points below the admission threshold for the equivalent faculty at Egypt’s private and national universities in the year the certificate was obtained. qualification-recognition rules.

The state also refuses recognition of qualifications obtained through online or distance education, he says. Egyptian communities regard the five-point condition as a restriction on children studying in systems with different assessment methods.

The Higher Education Ministry and Supreme Council of Universities say the decision followed extensive study intended to limit irregularities and ensure equal opportunity and graduate quality.

Mohamed Abu Diab, who runs an Islamic centre and has lived in Spain with his family since 2010, calls for services that do not depend on paying in dollars or euros. He questions the emphasis on hard-currency programmes, including car imports, military-service settlements, investment certificates and property.

He tells Zawia3 that communities want lower consular and power-of-attorney fees, faster issuance and renewal of civil-status documents, comprehensive health-insurance mechanisms for Egyptian workers abroad, and effective legal-protection and worker-welfare programmes.

Dollars first, services later

Abdel Rahman Aql, an accountant working in Saudi Arabia, tells Zawia3 that Egyptians abroad pay high fees for consular services. A general power of attorney may cost SAR 250–300, while passport renewal costs roughly SAR 700–800, he says—more than the same procedures inside Egypt. He argues that most embassy services consist of fee-paying consular transactions and take longer than at other diplomatic missions.

Aql also describes a lack of consular support during crises. Egyptians must pursue their own cases before the relevant authorities and hire lawyers without embassy assistance, he says, although citizens expect diplomatic missions to help in disputes and legal problems.

Many current complaints concern charges on mobile phones brought in by travellers, he adds. People resent fees on phones intended for personal use or as gifts to children and relatives. He notes that some phones cost more in Egypt than abroad despite the charges.

Other Arab embassies organise cultural and social activities connecting their communities, Aql says. He would like Egyptian missions to do the same.

Ahmed Hashem, an Egyptian living in Türkiye, also criticises the attention some Egyptian diplomatic missions give expatriates, particularly compared with services that other Arab states with fewer economic resources provide to their citizens. He describes Egyptian student associations there as less influential than their counterparts.

He tells Zawia3 that Syrian, Palestinian and Yemeni communities receive visible official support in education and other services. Embassies coordinate this through cultural and educational attachés and related bodies. Many Egyptians working abroad, especially students, do not feel supported by the state, he says.

Many expatriates work more than one job to meet their needs and build savings for their future, Hashem says. Yet inflation in Egypt can outpace their ability to save. Money accumulated over years no longer achieves the goals they had hoped for: buying a home, starting a business or securing a stable life after returning.

Hashem alleges that many agencies handling Egyptians’ travel arrangements engage in fraud or provide unreliable services after migrants arrive, leaving them exposed to exploitation without sufficient embassy oversight. He also alleges that embassies favour people who participate in flag-waving celebrations during official visits while overlooking others. These are his allegations.

Abdallah Abu Zeid, an Egyptian student living in Türkiye, describes considerable difficulty renewing his passport. Around a month and a half before his interview, he travelled to Egypt to obtain a new passport. Securing a final military-service exemption certificate took longer than expected and almost caused him to miss his return journey.

Abu Zeid tells Zawia3 that intervention by officials helped complete the procedure only hours before his flight, allowing him to return to Türkiye. When he continued passport-renewal procedures through the Egyptian consulate there, he was told approval would take around three months despite his documents being complete. This created a serious problem because his residence permit was nearing expiry.

He also says some Egyptians returning from abroad face humiliating inspections at Cairo airport compared with foreign visitors. Travellers may have to open their bags and undergo customs procedures for personal belongings and gifts brought to their families, provoking resentment among many expatriate workers.

Zawia3 contacted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ambassador Tamim Khallaf about expatriates’ complaints and hopes, but had received no response by publication.

Egyptians abroad have become one of the economy’s most important sources of foreign currency. Government initiatives focus on attracting dollar savings through investment, housing and financing schemes, while expatriates’ priorities often concern daily life: better consular services, simpler education procedures, and stronger legal and social protection.