5W4D The Dreaded Mugamma

Every passport office has its problems and quirks but eventually it has all seemed to work out for me when I go to passport offices (hmm… thinking about mostly my work visas in Korea). Add those quirks and problems of a government building to the chaos of Egypt and you get the Mugamma.

The Mugamma is a 20 story tall building with narrow corridors, unlabeled doors, and countless amounts of people streaming in and out like ants in an ant hill. It is crammed with many government agencies in the same way that the Cairo metro is crammed with people (without AC I might add) at the peak of rush hour.

I had to face the dreaded Mugamma today. But I’m happy to say I won.

I have already overstayed my visa by 8 days, but in Egypt as an American I have 14 days after the visa date expiration to leave the country or to extend it. I chose to extend it and stay longer in Egypt.

Although the guide books give some clue as how to confront this beast, I would have still gotten lost within the labyrinth of doors, people, rooms, and papers. Luckily, Adel offered to go with me and helped me to navigate through the process of extended my visa. In theory it is relatively easy, but trying to find your way to the right windows and right people was quite difficult so being with Adel helped speed up the process. I will spare you the details.

We went at 8am. 3.5 hours time, 11.50 LE (approx 2 USD) less in my pocket, a falafel sandwich and Turkish coffee in my stomach and one application form and passport photo later, I am a proud owner of the extension of my Egypt Visa until March 2011.

I could have extended for another year pretty easily, but too bad I’m leaving October 25. A lot of tourists just renew their visa ever year and stay in Egypt for years on end. I thought about getting a multiple entry visa but decided to just pay 5 extra dollars at the airport when I return in Dec/Jan instead of waiting in more lines in the non-air-conditioned and crowded Mugamma.

The only words of advice I can offer are:

1. Patience is key here. Just know it will take time and yelling at the underpaid man or women sitting in the window will not make the process go faster. They don’t have computers here and do everything by hand – I’m even surprised they are able to get it to you back that day. Of course, going right when it opens, and on a Saturday, helps quite a bit.

2. Look carefully at the person in the window – this will tell you how long it will take and then you can decide if you want to stand in that “line”. Or just push yourself to the front of that line and smile. Well actually there aren’t really any lines, just crowds of people. And by the time I came back to pick up my passport, it was massive crowds of people.

3. Smile. Get the trend? I just smiled and stayed calm the whole process in the Mugamma and I honestly think it helped to “speed up” my process. Good luck!

*If you are reading this and want information on exactly where/how to get the extension feel free to send me a message and I will send you detailed information on windows to go to.