# Moving to Egypt with little money and no job



## fatsoloser (Mar 15, 2012)

I am an American Egyptian who has about 50000LE saved up and a bachelors degree in engineering. Unfortunately I cannot find a job in America so I want to move back to Egypt. I have limited Arabic skills but I have an Egyptian birth certificate (I have dual citizenship). Can you please give me some ideas on how I can survive and earn a living? What kind of business can I start? Can I buy farmland with only 50000LE? What either way could I live and get started with this money. I am open to anything. Please, any ideas.

Thank you


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I am sorry you are finding it hard in the USA but it is even harder here in Egypt as there are very few jobs available even for Egyptians living here full time and your lack of Arabic will be a minus however you may find work teaching English.

Your savings are really not that much to live on and start a new life.
You may have an Egyptian name and passport but they minute your American accent is heard your countrymen will see dollar signs and charge you accordingly for rent, land, etc there is no point in saying I am poor as you will not be believed.

Buying land here is a minefield and I do not know how to go about this process but I do know that there is a lot of scamming going on, you pay your money and end up with nothing, plus your 50000 wont go far,, you have to rent and live somewhere until you buy, you need to pay taxes and legal fees for any purchase plus of course baksheesh everywhere you go, your money will soon go. Living like a pauper will soon make your very weary of life,

You should also check if you are liable for national service before you come.

By all means come but you do really need a lot more savings than that to start a new life and hone up on your Arabic, rent a few movies to start getting the dialect.


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## hhaddad (Apr 14, 2010)

Hey buddy stay in the US of A your better off .Even if you found a job here it wouldn't pay you much. Better off working at a Macdo or similar in the US it pays better from what I hear than an engineer here.


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## Qsw (Feb 1, 2012)

Hi,

My situation was similar to yours, I am an Egyptian who returned to Egypt after 12 years in the U.S.A (legally), about 6 months ago despite all the advice telling me not to do so. I had a job in the USA which was wearing me down, and I wanted to experience living in Egypt for the first time as a full-time resident, and to connect more with my family who I hadn't seen for too long. I may go back to the USA, I may not, but I would not have come here if I was looking for work opportunities.

It has been an interesting experience for sure, but one thing I can say is if you are looking for a job, and you don't want to use wasta/connections, it will likely be a difficult job search unfortunately. Everyone advising me was completely right; the job market here is not good if you don't have wasta.

I am happy here, I have basically no expenses and decent enough savings, keeping me from having to struggle. I am also working remotely with people in the USA. MaidenScotland and hhaddad both gave good advice, you are better off looking for work in the U.S., maybe relocating, if you are simply looking for work. In my opinion, to move to Egypt you have to have good reasons, you have to be looking for more than just a work opportunity, and you have to be ready for all the wonderful and not so wonderful (bad, to put it mildly) adventures you may experience, in addition to the significantly different social/business environment here.

Its a tough decision for sure, you might be happier here, good luck.


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