Having been raised in the UK, I always had an issue with the difficulty of getting things done in Egypt or how unorganized things were. But, after being here for a good 15 years, one gets used to it and knows exactly what to expect.
But as a British national, I find it very hard to accept or adapt to the fact that the British Embassy in Cairo has been Egyptianized. Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those people who ridicule everything Egyptian just because I’ve seen better. In fact, it is quite the opposite. My anger and frustration are completely targeted at the British Embassy because in general, I expect better treatment, better punctuality and efficient work.
Let me start off by telling you my experience and then finish with the pool of complaints I was bombarded with while I waited there for hours.
My Experience at the British Embassy in Cairo
Last month, I received a business invitation to visit Taiwan. But because I’d been trying to finish off the process of renewing my passport for such a long time, my passport was unfortunately still expired.
After going onto the website, I found out I could issue an Emergency Travel Document that lets me travel on a single journey to a destination, but I could only issue it 2-5 days before traveling. So, I made an appointment for four days before I was set to depart.
After booking an appointment, here is what happened:
- I was asked why I didn’t come sooner, even though the site had clearly mentioned that ETDs were only issued 2-5 days before travel.
- The employees (Egyptians) were not aware of the technicalities of issuing an ETD and I had to give them information myself that I had found on the site.
- I was asked to come back later, one day before I traveled, because I didn’t have my flights booked yet and that was a must.
- I was told it takes 30 minutes to an hour to be issued and was not given an appointment for the next time, but told to just come in anytime before 1 PM.
Early on the day before I was supposed to leave, I arrived at the embassy at 10 AM expecting to go in, get my ETD and leave within an hour tops, but this is what happened:
- I was told by the receptionist to “aro7 ashrab kobayet shay w aftar w erga3elna” (go get a cup of tea and have breakfast and come back) because they were busy.
- I came back an hour later because they supposedly close at 1 PM to a room full of people.
- The room was filled with British nationals and everyone was extremely appalled at how difficult the British Embassy in Cairo was making things in comparison to other countries.
- I waited for a total of five and a half hours to get my ETD, because there were four other ETDs being issued that day and only one person was qualified to handle them.
- I received my ETD with an expiry date of Sep. 2, the second day I would be arriving to Taiwan.
- I commented on the expiration date and was told it shouldn’t be a problem since I would be returning with my Egyptian passport and wouldn’t need this any longer.
My Experience at the British Embassy in Hong Kong
My travel itinerary was from Cairo – Dubai – Hong Kong – Taipei. Once I arrived in Dubai and went to get my boarding pass to Hong Kong, I was told that my passport needed to be valid for at least six months to be able to enter Taiwan, but that they would check with immigration. I mentioned that I had pointed it out to the Consular Officer at the British Embassy and they told me it shouldn’t be a problem. The airline said that they still had to check with Taiwan Immigration, but I should go on to Hong Kong and over there I’d be told whether or not I could enter Taiwan.
As soon as I landed, a Hong Kong representative from Cathay Pacific (the airline I was traveling on), told me that there was no way I would be able to enter Taiwan with an ETD passport that expires before six months. I would also need a visa upon arrival when I got to Taipei, Taiwan (which I had also not been informed by the British Embassy in Cairo), but the visa would be worthless if the passport was expiring the very next day.
Stuck in a pickle and not taking no for an answer, I called the number on the site for emergencies overseas and after I’d explained my situation, I was transferred to the British Embassy in Hong Kong, who literally saved my trip.
- The consular officer explained why I wouldn’t be allowed entry and that it should have been done with a six months expiry date in the first place.
- He told me to come in to the embassy first thing in the morning and he’d issue me a new one with a six months expiry date and write my entire flight details going and coming back, so I wouldn’t get stuck anywhere else.
- He also told me via phone which documents I needed and sent me both his e-mail at the embassy and the embassy’s e-mail in case I had any questions.
- It took him exactly 30 minutes to have my new ETD issued.
I got stranded in Homg Kong for a night in a country I’ve never been to, don’t speak the language and don’t know anything about and had to pay for a new ETD because the consular officer at the British Embassy in Cairo didn’t do his job properly.
Other Disasters
And while we’re at it, there were six other people at the British Embassy in Cairo who told me their stories and I couldn’t believe:
- Tourists traveling to Sharm El Sheikh from the UK whose passports got stolen had to get on a plane to Cairo, which made them miss their flight back home because there is no consular office in Sinai.
- A 60-year-old British man who was married to a younger Sudanese girl had to get a DNA sample for his daughter because they didn’t believe she was his.
- A British mother had given birth to her daughter while on holiday in Egypt and it took them over three months to get her a passport for the baby to travel, even though the Passport Office in the UK had given her the green light.
- A father and son missed their flight because the documents had taken longer than they were told at the desk.
The one thing everyone had agreed upon is that the British Embassy in Cairo was the absolute worst British Embassy they’ve ever come across, where they make everything more difficult and make you hate Egypt and never want to come back. I hope they hire people who can actually do their job properly.
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