# childbirth in egypte



## Celinehurghada

Hello,

My husband and I are planning to have a baby (not yet trying). He is Egyptien, I am french and we both live in Hurghada. I would like to spend most of my pregnancy here but maybe deliver the baby in France.

I am afraid to deliver the baby in Egypt but dont know if this fear is right or not.

Do anybody have experience with egyptien hospital ?


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## MaidenScotland

Hi

I have had four operations here in Egypt and I must say I found the doctors excellent.. not too sure about the hygiene in the rooms so I just brought my maid in to stay and she cleaned up and helped look after me... this is normal in Egypt. Nurses are not trained as they are in Europe and they tend to do very little for you.. but I would have no hesitation in using a hospital here.

Maiden


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## DeadGuy

Celinehurghada said:


> Hello,
> 
> My husband and I are planning to have a baby (not yet trying). He is Egyptien, I am french and we both live in Hurghada. I would like to spend most of my pregnancy here but maybe deliver the baby in France.
> 
> I am afraid to deliver the baby in Egypt but dont know if this fear is right or not.
> 
> Do anybody have experience with egyptien hospital ?


Hi there,

If I was not an Egyptian I would NOT have a child in Egypt, but it's not cause of worrying about medical care in here, but about other stuff, you need to consider the best interest of your child, and being born in Egypt or holding an Egyptian passport isn't the best thing to do for your child, trust me.

I know that you will probably be offered the French citizenship for your child even if you had him/her in Egypt, but I just wouldn't do it to my own kids (God forbid lol)

As for the medical care in here, Egyptian doctors are known to be smart ones all over the world, and that's one of the VERY few things that would make me stop being sad about being Egyptian actually, as for the nursing in the hospitals in here, let me put it this way: EVERYTHING in here got a price, including people's lives, so you can get what you're willing to pay for.

Good luck with whatever you decide.


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## hurghadapat

*childbirth*

Have a friend who gave birth in the Nile Hospital Hurghada which was covered by the membership scheme so was all free after paying the fee,she had no problems and as the Nile hospital is also in Cairo they told her any major problems with the baby and it would be transfered to Cairo.Worth going and having a talk with them.


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## MensEtManus

When picking where to give birth your concern was primarily for safety and cost. However, in this current world that we are in, I think you also need to take into consideration as deadguy mentioned several other factors. 

The list is truly long, but I'll just jot down a few things that come to mind now.
1) military draft
2) social security
3) taxes and tax benefits
4) traveling issues (for males under age of 30 i think - need to take permission before they fly if they haven't enlisted. In addition, visas are relatively difficult to obtain) 

Of course all the above becomes unnecessary if the child can automatically take your French citizenship because I tend to believe the French citizenship is quite powerful.


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## MaidenScotland

MensEtManus said:


> When picking where to give birth your concern was primarily for safety and cost. However, in this current world that we are in, I think you also need to take into consideration as deadguy mentioned several other factors.
> 
> The list is truly long, but I'll just jot down a few things that come to mind now.
> 1) military draft
> 2) social security
> 3) taxes and tax benefits
> 4) traveling issues (for males under age of 30 i think - need to take permission before they fly if they haven't enlisted. In addition, visas are relatively difficult to obtain)
> 
> Of course all the above becomes unnecessary if the child can automatically take your French citizenship because I tend to believe the French citizenship is quite powerful.




Yes of course a French passport is much more desirable than an Egyptian one.


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## Beatle

Celinehurghada said:


> Hello,
> 
> My husband and I are planning to have a baby (not yet trying). He is Egyptien, I am french and we both live in Hurghada. I would like to spend most of my pregnancy here but maybe deliver the baby in France.
> 
> I am afraid to deliver the baby in Egypt but dont know if this fear is right or not.
> 
> Do anybody have experience with egyptien hospital ?


Many Egyptian doctors have western training, speak English etc so are familiar with western medical practices. I understand that when it comes to nursing care, you may be better off hiring a nurse to ensure you have the necessary care.


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## GM1

MensEtManus said:


> 1) military draft
> 4) traveling issues (for males under age of 30 i think - need to take permission before they fly if they haven't enlisted.


My children were born in Holland and have Dutch nationality. When we moved to Egypt, my husband made Egyptian birth certificates for them, because it was easier to enroll them in school (and cheaper). Now our sons are 21 and 19. The benefit for being (also) Egyptian is that they can work in Egypt without problems, later on can inherit their fathers' business easier. 
Concerning the military: they still have to ask for exemption, and that takes a while! They will get it, but they still need to ask for permission to travel. They will receive this permission within a few days after asking.


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## DeadGuy

GM1 said:


> My children were born in Holland and have Dutch nationality. When we moved to Egypt, my husband made Egyptian birth certificates for them, because it was easier to enroll them in school (and cheaper). Now our sons are 21 and 19. The benefit for being (also) Egyptian is that they can work in Egypt without problems, later on can inherit their fathers' business easier.
> Concerning the military: they still have to ask for exemption, and that takes a while! They will get it, but they still need to ask for permission to travel. They will receive this permission within a few days after asking.



Hi there,

If your son(s) do have a Dutch passport then they should just use it and forget about the Egyptian one when they're traveling anywhere, no one will even bother to check on their military status if they were not using the Egyptian ugly passport.

But if they don't have the Dutch passport and only got the Egyptian one, the military exempt anyone who got another nationality along with the Egyptian one as far as I know, all they need is to get a certificate that they hold the Dutch nationality and they'll just be exempted - The military guys WILL make it hard to get it done though, but your son(s) will get a "Finally exempted" note from them eventually - and it will be much faster and better then going for the permissions each and every time they're going anywhere, not to mention how easier it will be for them to have a job in here with the final exemption obtained. 

Good luck


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## MaidenScotland

DeadGuy said:


> Hi there,
> 
> If your son(s) do have a Dutch passport then they should just use it and forget about the Egyptian one when they're traveling anywhere, no one will even bother to check on their military status if they were not using the Egyptian ugly passport.
> 
> But if they don't have the Dutch passport and only got the Egyptian one, the military exempt anyone who got another nationality along with the Egyptian one as far as I know, all they need is to get a certificate that they hold the Dutch nationality and they'll just be exempted - The military guys WILL make it hard to get it done though, but your son(s) will get a "Finally exempted" note from them eventually - and it will be much faster and better then going for the permissions each and every time they're going anywhere, not to mention how easier it will be for them to have a job in here with the final exemption obtained.
> 
> Good luck



No not quite accurate I know a chap who was born in Germany to a German mother and Egyptian father, I don't know the family background other than this chap didn't know his Egyptian family and had lost contact with his Egyptian father when he was a child, this guy decided to come to Egypt to find his father and his family only to land in prison so that he could be taken to do his national service.
It seems his father registered his birth here and therefore in the laws of the land here he is Egyptian, poor guy couldn't even speak Arabic and there he was getting taken off to be in the army. The ending is good he got out of it through the intervention of the German Embassy. Things may have change but this was only 10 years ago and of course his father may have annoyed someone in power and they decided to take revenge.

maiden


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## DeadGuy

MaidenScotland said:


> No not quite accurate I know a chap who was born in Germany to a German mother and Egyptian father, I don't know the family background other than this chap didn't know his Egyptian family and had lost contact with his Egyptian father when he was a child, this guy decided to come to Egypt to find his father and his family only to land in prison so that he could be taken to do his national service.
> It seems his father registered his birth here and therefore in the laws of the land here he is Egyptian, poor guy couldn't even speak Arabic and there he was getting taken off to be in the army. The ending is good he got out of it through the intervention of the German Embassy. Things may have change but this was only 10 years ago and of course his father may have annoyed someone in power and they decided to take revenge.
> 
> maiden



Hi there,

What happened to this guy is "legal", and it would happen anyway.

Each and every Egyptian male have to turn themselves in at a time just to see what their status are gonna be, even if they were not gonna be serving for medical reasons or so, they just need to turn themselves in the right time and then see what will happen, for example people who got no education are supposed to turn themselves in by the age of 16, people who got the crafts' education's degree are supposed to turn themselves ASAP after graduating, people with college degrees too, college does delay it, but only till they're 28 years old, if they're older than 28 years old and still students, they still have to leave college and turn themselves in and see what will happen.

So in the case you've mentioned his name was mentioned to be "escaping" the "National services" and he was gonna be arrested as soon as he enters Egypt's airports, even if he was 90 years old when he first gets here, and they don't care if he's medically inappropriate or if he's got another nationality, all they care about is that he didn't show up at their camps when he was supposed to do (The "shoot first, then ask question" way :s) And even if he was medically inappropriate or so, he will be exempted, but he'll have to spend some time in the MP jails for not turning himself at the right time :s

But he's lucky his embassy could get him out though, embassies are able to protect their citizens in here most of the time, but the military thing in here is a very high profile state inside this state, not that easy to mess with them and get away with it, even if it was by mistake.

But in the lady's situations, her son(s) already turned themselves in, and I know that military exempts people with other nationalities (Don't laugh, but they think that those people will "spy" on them ) So they will just be finally exempted and will never have to stay for hours waiting in the sun for their papers to be done each time they gotta go anywhere.

Have a nice time


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## MaidenScotland

The poor guy didn't even know he had an Egyptian birth certificate.. as far as he was concerned he was German coming to visit family


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## DeadGuy

MaidenScotland said:


> The poor guy didn't even know he had an Egyptian birth certificate.. as far as he was concerned he was German coming to visit family


What can I say? Sorry on behalf of the idiots in here 

Bet he LOVES Egypt by now, just like I do


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## MensEtManus

@DeadGuy: Permanent exemption was cancelled (sometime around 1999). Now you obtain temporary exemption for being a dual citizen (which still means that you need to take permission for each time you travel). So every time a dual citizen reenters Egypt and uses a non-Egyptian passport, he needs to show that he is from "Egyptian heritage" and he obtains a visa for 6 months. GM1 touched upon this issue. 

I agree with you regarding the exemption in terms of finding work. All males under 30 years old always are looked with a different view when they still haven't been enlisted. Employers tend to prefer males who have finished the service. 

Of course it is easier to inherit as an Egyptian from an Egyptian, but since we are on the topic, let's help our guest readers with some general issues. 

When a person dies in Egypt, the first thing you do is produce a death certificate as fast as possible. The death certificate can be easily produced even when the father/mothers are of a certain citizenship and the kids are of another citizenship (Alexandria is filled with such stories). However, the law that applies for splitting the inheritance is the law of the father/mother's citizenship. For example, if the father is Egyptian, the Egyptian law applies. If the father turned out to hold dual citizenships, of course the daughter would prefer to apply the non-Egyptian inheritance law; whereas the sons would prefer the Egyptian law. Here becomes the major court battle. I've seen this dozens of times here in Alexandria. These cases sadly take years in the Egyptian courts and in the meantime cause major problems among siblings. I think this should be clarified as soon as possible.


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## DeadGuy

MensEtManus said:


> @DeadGuy: Permanent exemption was cancelled (sometime around 1999). Now you obtain temporary exemption for being a dual citizen (which still means that you need to take permission for each time you travel). So every time a dual citizen reenters Egypt and uses a non-Egyptian passport, he needs to show that he is from "Egyptian heritage" and he obtains a visa for 6 months. GM1 touched upon this issue.
> 
> I agree with you regarding the exemption in terms of finding work. All males under 30 years old always are looked with a different view when they still haven't been enlisted. Employers tend to prefer males who have finished the service.
> 
> Of course it is easier to inherit as an Egyptian from an Egyptian, but since we are on the topic, let's help our guest readers with some general issues.
> 
> When a person dies in Egypt, the first thing you do is produce a death certificate as fast as possible. The death certificate can be easily produced even when the father/mothers are of a certain citizenship and the kids are of another citizenship (Alexandria is filled with such stories). However, the law that applies for splitting the inheritance is the law of the father/mother's citizenship. For example, if the father is Egyptian, the Egyptian law applies. If the father turned out to hold dual citizenships, of course the daughter would prefer to apply the non-Egyptian inheritance law; whereas the sons would prefer the Egyptian law. Here becomes the major court battle. I've seen this dozens of times here in Alexandria. These cases sadly take years in the Egyptian courts and in the meantime cause major problems among siblings. I think this should be clarified as soon as possible.



Hi there,

I don’t personally know anyone with dual citizenship, but I believe that you are right, exemptions for being medically inappropriate are permanent, in the mean while exemptions for being a lonely son are granted expiring in 2 years, and has to be renewed each 2 years, the only thing stops it from being temporary is being 28 years old, or the father making his way to be more than 60 years old, of course each time you go to renew the exemption you have to pay the fees, which keeps going up every now and then, so it makes sense to me, and thanks for explaining that.

As for the inheritance issue, it is a really complicated one in here (And it’s not only complicated for families with mixed marriages, fully Egyptian families do suffer from this as well, the court process tends to be really slow as many of you do know) and I don’t think that there’s anything that’s gonna be clarified soon, doesn’t look that way to me anyway.

But in the meantime I’d like to show a couple suggestions that not too many people know about the inheritance thing in here:

1- The Egyptian "law" does not stand against wills, if someone had a will registered in a court before he/she dies then a will is a will.

2- The father/mother can sign a contract with his/her kids (in case they were adults at that time) selling each sibling his/her share (They don’t have to pay for it, it’s just made to show who got this and who got that) And one of the conditions in the contract is that kids won’t own what’s mentioned in the contract except when the seller (Father/mother in that case) passes away.

But to be honest with you Egyptians don’t like those ideas for some reason, they think it’s a “bad luck” to be talking about wills or selling something and saying it will be someone else’s after they pass away! Though I really prefer this way just cause I think it’d safe all the unnecessary hassles that could happen.

Good luck everyone


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## Celinehurghada

*thanks*

thanks for all your answers.

My question was medical. Regarding the paper work we are thinking to give both egyptien and french cityzen to our children so they can choose easily where they want to live, work or travel.


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## Sam

Hi Celine,

Whilst I have heard others have experienced a pleasant childbirth experience in Egypt, I am unfortunately not one of them and am not the best person to ask about the whole thing.

For me going back to UK to give birth was never an option. Hospitals in Sharm were looking to cost an average of 30,000 LE for the procedure, which we couldn't afford, so it left me with my only option - using the same doctor as my husbands sisters had all used.

I was very lucky in that pregnancy came very naturally to me, it was very easy and uncomplicated. I traveled to Cairo every month from 12 weeks for review and scan with the gyno and was relatively happy. His English was basic, but I figured as long as he knew how to get a baby out in one piece and breathing the rest was relatively unimportant. From one mother to another - that is not true. 

I would rather not go into the gory details, but if I ever do it in Egypt again I would rather do it at home on the bathroom floor than what I went through. 

Passport wise is not a problem, I got the British passport easily at the embassy, but if my daughter gives birth outside UK her children would not be British. And as others have said, if you have a boy you have to consider military conscription later.

You will know in your heart what is the right decision for you - but go through all eventualities and know everything before deciding to go ahead here.

Sam


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## Celinehurghada

Thanks Sam for sharing your experience.

I feel that most of the people on this forum are richer than me. Most off you have maids, drivers... and I dont. 30 000 pounds for the procedure would also be to much for me but it may be the price for good service in Egypt.

In Hurghada I heared that the Nil Hospital ask 3 thousand LE and El Gouna Hospital 3 thousand euros. In France it would be free (health insurance) but in this case we will need accomodation and it would be difficult for my husband to find a job for about 3 to 4 monthes.


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## hurghadapat

*gining birth in egypt*



Celinehurghada said:


> Thanks Sam for sharing your experience.
> 
> I feel that most of the people on this forum are richer than me. Most off you have maids, drivers... and I dont. 30 000 pounds for the procedure would also be to much for me but it may be the price for good service in Egypt.
> 
> In Hurghada I heared that the Nil Hospital ask 3 thousand LE and El Gouna Hospital 3 thousand euros. In France it would be free (health insurance) but in this case we will need accomodation and it would be difficult for my husband to find a job for about 3 to 4 monthes.


Quite a lot of the people that i know in Hurghada went back to their own country to give birth but went without the husband but as i said in an earlier post why not go and have a talk with the Nile Hospital as they do have a membership scheme and as far as i can remember it is not that expensive to join it and it will cover you for the birth.Think you will have to take it out before you become pregnant though so why not get your husband go and check it out.


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## african1

*giving birth in egypt*



hurghadapat said:


> Quite a lot of the people that i know in Hurghada went back to their own country to give birth but went without the husband but as i said in an earlier post why not go and have a talk with the Nile Hospital as they do have a membership scheme and as far as i can remember it is not that expensive to join it and it will cover you for the birth.Think you will have to take it out before you become pregnant though so why not get your husband go and check it out.


Hello
Very new to posting stuff so hope I get this right! 
I am heavily pregnant and have decided to have the baby here in Cairo. I do not want to fly home too close to my due date. I am seeing 2 gynecologists and am trying to choose between St Peter's Hospital Heliopolis and Al nozha International hospital. Both doctors are being dodgy about giving me figures for the delivery (normal). Are expats billed more? I really need to have a rough idea of the bill at these hospitals for a normal delivery. Thank you in advance!


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## MaidenScotland

african1 said:


> Hello
> Very new to posting stuff so hope I get this right!
> I am heavily pregnant and have decided to have the baby here in Cairo. I do not want to fly home too close to my due date. I am seeing 2 gynecologists and am trying to choose between St Peter's Hospital Heliopolis and Al nozha International hospital. Both doctors are being dodgy about giving me figures for the delivery (normal). Are expats billed more? I really need to have a rough idea of the bill at these hospitals for a normal delivery. Thank you in advance!




Hi and welcome to the forum

I have no idea the cost involved but yes you will pay more as an expat.. we pay more for everything and private hospitals are no exception.
Best wishes for you and your baby.

Maiden


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## african1

MaidenScotland said:


> Hi and welcome to the forum
> 
> I have no idea the cost involved but yes you will pay more as an expat.. we pay more for everything and private hospitals are no exception.
> Best wishes for you and your baby.
> 
> Maiden


Thank you for your quick response, Maiden.


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## Sam

african1 said:


> Hello
> Very new to posting stuff so hope I get this right!
> I am heavily pregnant and have decided to have the baby here in Cairo. I do not want to fly home too close to my due date. I am seeing 2 gynecologists and am trying to choose between St Peter's Hospital Heliopolis and Al nozha International hospital. Both doctors are being dodgy about giving me figures for the delivery (normal). Are expats billed more? I really need to have a rough idea of the bill at these hospitals for a normal delivery. Thank you in advance!


Hi

I don't know these two hospitals specifically, but when we were enquiring around the GOOD hospitals in Cairo were coming in at around 7,000- 15,000 LE.

Sam


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## african1

Sam said:


> Hi
> 
> I don't know these two hospitals specifically, but when we were enquiring around the GOOD hospitals in Cairo were coming in at around 7,000- 15,000 LE.
> 
> Sam


Thank you so much. Very helpful.


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## Sam

african1 said:


> Thank you so much. Very helpful.


You're welcome 

Are you a first time mother? If so then I would like to give you some advice specified at the birth here (from my experience at least, prehaps every hospital and doctor is different).

Stay in control, try to talk to the doctor first to understand his "plan" for the birth, and don't let them give you anything without knowing first what it is and what it will do. 

We all know child birth is painful, but it should also be "enjoyable" per se as you are bringing your son or daughter into the world, you do not wish it to be a day to forget. Where I gave birth an episiotomy is a standard procedure for any woman, as is inducing them to speed things up. From experience, unless you NEED either of these options, they should not be performed. Also try to discuss what methods of pain relief they can offer before the day.

In all cases, good luck with the remainder of the pregnancy, and good luck with the birth. 

Sam


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## Shaanz

Sam said:


> You're welcome
> 
> Are you a first time mother? If so then I would like to give you some advice specified at the birth here (from my experience at least, prehaps every hospital and doctor is different).
> 
> Stay in control, try to talk to the doctor first to understand his "plan" for the birth, and don't let them give you anything without knowing first what it is and what it will do.
> 
> We all know child birth is painful, but it should also be "enjoyable" per se as you are bringing your son or daughter into the world, you do not wish it to be a day to forget. Where I gave birth an episiotomy is a standard procedure for any woman, as is inducing them to speed things up. From experience, unless you NEED either of these options, they should not be performed. Also try to discuss what methods of pain relief they can offer before the day.
> 
> In all cases, good luck with the remainder of the pregnancy, and good luck with the birth.
> 
> Sam


Hi there,

I gave birth here in Cairo two months back. I had 4 gynos before I met my final Gyno. I didnt feel comfortable with the previous 4 at all. One was always fidgety around me, another completely ignored me and only spoke to my husband and another allowed 3 patients in the room at the same time!!

Anyway being comfortable with the person who was to deliver my baby was very important to me. I am not very well off, so couldnt afford to go back home to give birth. I asked a lot of questions and my dotor answered all, no matter how stupid they sometimes were (im a first time mom). We discussed my birth plan and on the day of the birth she kept me informed of everything happening arround me. I spent approx 2000le for the whole thing (emergency C-Section) and I didnt have to tip the nurses in the hospital I stayed in . everyone was completely proffessional.


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## armandnio

hi my girl friend have our baby in egypt in the angloamerican hospital ifound it as in the modern world the doctors are excllent and so nice but you must bay for the nurse to be good with you as for cleaning and caring about you it is not danger to have your baby in egypt


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## Gounie79

Hi,
I just wanted to say. I have had 2 babies in Egypt now, both by c-section though. My first, 2 years ago was in El Gouna hospital and I paid between 5 and 6 thousand LE (not 3000 Euros!). My second, which personally was a better experience, was in the Nile Hospital. I brought in my gyn and I paid about 9000LE. I know someone else who paid about 3000 at the nile but not sure which doctor she used.
Wish you all the best.
x


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## Knight1

*You seem to be a dead already*



DeadGuy said:


> Hi there,
> 
> If your son(s) do have a Dutch passport then they should just use it and forget about the Egyptian one when they're traveling anywhere, no one will even bother to check on their military status if they were not using the Egyptian ugly passport.
> 
> But if they don't have the Dutch passport and only got the Egyptian one, the military exempt anyone who got another nationality along with the Egyptian one as far as I know, all they need is to get a certificate that they hold the Dutch nationality and they'll just be exempted - The military guys WILL make it hard to get it done though, but your son(s) will get a "Finally exempted" note from them eventually - and it will be much faster and better then going for the permissions each and every time they're going anywhere, not to mention how easier it will be for them to have a job in here with the final exemption obtained.
> 
> Good luck


Dead guy see,s you are dead already!, if you have any problem with living in your country, or feel desperate, at least be fair when you provide others your pessimistic advices. I wonder why you as Egyptian are keen to give this bad impression about your country meanwhile other not Egyptian threaders talk in fair way about Egypt. I am not saying Egypt is a paradise on earth but also it's not this bad.* ya Akhi itaqi Ellah fi baladk!
*


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## MaidenScotland

Knight1 said:


> Dead guy see,s you are dead already!, if you have any problem with living in your country, or feel desperate, at least be fair when you provide others your pessimistic advices. I wonder why you as Egyptian are keen to give this bad impression about your country meanwhile other not Egyptian threaders talk in fair way about Egypt. I am not saying Egypt is a paradise on earth but also it's not this bad.* ya Akhi itaqi Ellah fi baladk!
> *




I am guessing that DG tells us how he sees it!!
And yes the military do make it hard for anyone to be exempt. I know a German who came here to find his Egyptian family only to be arrested for not doing military service .. his father registered his birth here without him knowing.

Now on another note.. I find it strange that a country will accept the registration of a birth without having the birth certificate. I have an Egyptian friend married to an English women who changed the birth certificate of their daughter nearly a year after she was born as the original spelling of her name was not how they wanted it, the father told me you have a year to change your mind?????


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## DeadGuy

MaidenScotland said:


> I am guessing that DG tells us how he sees it!!
> And yes the military do make it hard for anyone to be exempt. I know a German who came here to find his Egyptian family only to be arrested for not doing military service .. his father registered his birth here without him knowing.
> 
> Now on another note.. I find it strange that a country will accept the registration of a birth without having the birth certificate. I have an Egyptian friend married to an English women who changed the birth certificate of their daughter nearly a year after she was born as the original spelling of her name was not how they wanted it, the father told me you have a year to change your mind?????


What can I say? I'm a "badguy" after all? :lol:

The paper work can be changed with no time limit in here, you can even "create" a new paper that never even did exist as long as you can afford the "fees" 

Jeez I love idiots


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