# Moving to Egypt with family



## AmericanGirl1980

Hi, 

I'm new to this forum and I am currently living in America but looking into relocating myself and family to Egypt. I have never been so I need some info on types of jobs and apartments, which city is best to live in that's clean and quite for a family of six and are there any shopping malls close by. Are the locals welcoming, also schools are they any good and are there other Americans living in Egypt with children? I appreciate any info as well as any leads that you guys can give to me concerning this topic. Thank you all so very much.


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## Lanason

AmericanGirl1980 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm new to this forum and I am currently living in America but looking into relocating myself and family to Egypt. I have never been so I need some info on types of jobs and apartments, which city is best to live in that's clean and quite for a family of six and are there any shopping malls close by. Are the locals welcoming, also schools are they any good and are there other Americans living in Egypt with children? I appreciate any info as well as any leads that you guys can give to me concerning this topic. Thank you all so very much.


Hello and welcome

Difficult to answer this one. If you intend to work here you need to have a company sponsor your visa and work permit. The package, area etc will then give the information to enable us to answer.

so first question is:- what special skill do you have that means they want you here rather than employ a local???


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## MaidenScotland

Hello and welcome to the forum,


I have read your post several times as I really couldn't understand what I was reading.. am I right in thinking you have just decided to move here without a job, without any knowledge of the country? If the answer is yes then I would suggest you take a trip out here and see what it is like, it is in my opinion to move a family when you have not visited the country is nothing short of ludicrous..


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## Lanason

I was going to ask WHY you wanna move here . . . . .but decided better of it


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## AmericanGirl1980

I am looking for general info about Egypt before I visit so I don't want to confuse anyone, I never stated when I was moving however I did state that I am looking into relocating so to clear it up I am doing research right now myself as well as my husband and we are going to visit this summer to get a feel of the country and the locals. I just wanted to know if people already living in Egypt have some info on what is the best city to live, jobs, affordable apartments, and neighborhoods for families before they move to Egypt. I didn't mean to confuse you but thank you for your response.


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## expatagogo

Well, we're all sort of in the middle of a revolution, so you might want to wait for, and this is just an idea, a government to be fully in place before you make any life-altering decisions.

Check back at the end of June, I say.


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## MaidenScotland

AmericanGirl1980 said:


> I am looking for general info about Egypt before I visit so I don't want to confuse anyone, I never stated when I was moving however I did state that I am looking into relocating so to clear it up I am doing research right now myself as well as my husband and we are going to visit this summer to get a feel of the country and the locals. I just wanted to know if people already living in Egypt have some info on what is the best city to live, jobs, affordable apartments, and neighborhoods for families before they move to Egypt. I didn't mean to confuse you but thank you for your response.




Have a good read through the forum at old threads as they are full of information.

You will find most of us live in Cairo or satellite cities, Alex or the red sea coast...

I would suggest you find a job first then work out where you would like to live.

If you are coming here in the summer please be aware of the temperature as it can get well into the 40s plus it will be Ramadan.


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## MaidenScotland

expatagogo said:


> Well, we're all sort of in the middle of a revolution, so you might want to wait for, and this is just an idea, a government to be fully in place before you make any life-altering decisions.
> 
> Check back at the end of June, I say.




I love your optimism


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## expatagogo

MaidenScotland said:


> I love your optimism


It's part of my charm.


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## MaidenScotland

Egypt is a huge country, we have cities on the Med, Red Sea and of course following the Nile.
All general information can be found on google.. we can try and answer specific questions but to ask what city is best is really like me saying, where shall I live in America.. you cant really answer the question,


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## Lanason

surely find a job is the start

so what skills do you or hubby have that may be of interest

bit pointless otherwise


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## GM1

good schools are expensive, you will have to keep that in mind!


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## Lanason

GM1 said:


> good schools are expensive, you will have to keep that in mind!


Tell me about it !!!!!!


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## Milouk84

I would say Hurgada, Sharm el Sheikh or el Gouna. But you cannot visit only them and say that you LOVE Egypt; you have to see Cairo or Alexandria before you take this decision.


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## Whitedesert

AmericanGirl1980 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm new to this forum and I am currently living in America but looking into relocating myself and family to Egypt. I have never been so I need some info on types of jobs and apartments, which city is best to live in that's clean and quite for a family of six and are there any shopping malls close by. Are the locals welcoming, also schools are they any good and are there other Americans living in Egypt with children? I appreciate any info as well as any leads that you guys can give to me concerning this topic. Thank you all so very much.


 I would not worry about cities, other Americans or school at this point in time. Those are irrelevent at this point in time. FIRST comes the job, what it pays, is it enough, will the employer honour immigration laws, i.e. ensure you have a work permit and residence visa. Once you have that figured out and HAPPY with it, then that will automatically take care of the city, which is 90% likely to be Cairo. After that we can bore you with our personal views about Maadi versus 6th October versus Zamalek/Dokki/Mohandaseen etc, etc. The salary, or school fees allowance (if you are lucky) will decide which school. CAC will cost you an arm and a leg, 10,000US$ non refundable entrance fee PLUS about 7k per semester for a grade 10/12 student, the scale going down for lower grades. Non of this matters now, first if you can get a job in a country with very few well paying jobs...


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## meb01999

Whitedesert said:


> I would not worry about cities, other Americans or school at this point in time. Those are irrelevent at this point in time. FIRST comes the job, what it pays, is it enough, will the employer honour immigration laws, i.e. ensure you have a work permit and residence visa. Once you have that figured out and HAPPY with it, then that will automatically take care of the city, which is 90% likely to be Cairo. After that we can bore you with our personal views about Maadi versus 6th October versus Zamalek/Dokki/Mohandaseen etc, etc. The salary, or school fees allowance (if you are lucky) will decide which school. CAC will cost you an arm and a leg, 10,000US$ non refundable entrance fee PLUS about 7k per semester for a grade 10/12 student, the scale going down for lower grades. Non of this matters now, first if you can get a job in a country with very few well paying jobs...


You obviously aren't paying for a student there now! This coming fall is over 19,000USD for kindergarten (plus that darn 10,400USD reg fee).


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## meb01999

I haven't been on here in a while, but I always feel obligated to reply to these "raising kids in cairo" posts.

I have four children, they are all young. I have been living here since 2008 (although I did spend some time in Kuwait during this period).

Raising children in Egypt is doable, but it's extremely difficult to give your child the lifestyle they would have at no cost back in the US. 

The very top school in Egypt costs more than most universities back in the US and is only equal to your neighborhood public school back home. Egypt is a third-world country in the middle of a revolution. There is no president, and neither candidate has much (if anything) to offer to improve the GREAT poverty felt daily.

The pollution is horrific, the traffic DEADLY and the TRASH. OMG the TRASH. (Something i know for certain now, though, is that goats CAN live off of rubbish.)

The parks are dangerous, rusty, broken. The stray dogs (and cats) rabid. 

Medical care - think of the lowest of the low county hospital back home. Multiply the filth, lack of qualified staff, etc times a thousand. It's still better than the TOP hospital here. The rate of childhood cancer is SIX TIMES that of the western world. It's NOT coincidence!

I am saddened daily that I cannot just drop everything and move my kids back to the US, but my husband is Egyptian and cannot leave at the moment. The opportunities are endless back home. This isn't to say that if you found a great paying job that covered education costs and offered a superb housing allowance, that you couldn't live reasonably well...


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## Whitedesert

meb01999 said:


> You obviously aren't paying for a student there now! This coming fall is over 19,000USD for kindergarten (plus that darn 10,400USD reg fee).


 Yup. The last time I paid was in 2008 for my daughters final year...


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## Whitedesert

meb01999 said:


> I haven't been on here in a while, but I always feel obligated to reply to these "raising kids in cairo" posts.
> 
> I have four children, they are all young. I have been living here since 2008 (although I did spend some time in Kuwait during this period).
> 
> Raising children in Egypt is doable, but it's extremely difficult to give your child the lifestyle they would have at no cost back in the US.
> 
> The very top school in Egypt costs more than most universities back in the US and is only equal to your neighborhood public school back home. Egypt is a third-world country in the middle of a revolution. There is no president, and neither candidate has much (if anything) to offer to improve the GREAT poverty felt daily.
> 
> The pollution is horrific, the traffic DEADLY and the TRASH. OMG the TRASH. (Something i know for certain now, though, is that goats CAN live off of rubbish.)
> 
> The parks are dangerous, rusty, broken. The stray dogs (and cats) rabid.
> 
> Medical care - think of the lowest of the low county hospital back home. Multiply the filth, lack of qualified staff, etc times a thousand. It's still better than the TOP hospital here. The rate of childhood cancer is SIX TIMES that of the western world. It's NOT coincidence!
> 
> I am saddened daily that I cannot just drop everything and move my kids back to the US, but my husband is Egyptian and cannot leave at the moment. The opportunities are endless back home. This isn't to say that if you found a great paying job that covered education costs and offered a superb housing allowance, that you couldn't live reasonably well...


 I dont agrre that CAC is equal to a US public school. CAC is quite good, well, it was in 2008 when my daughter was there...but it is bloody expensive, and not value for money.


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## Lanason

I have 2 kids here 13 and 15 - and they love it - great school.

Depends where you live - we have NO trash, little pollution and no traffic

we can get down town or to Heliopolis easy peasy - so good place to be.


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## aykalam

meb01999 said:


> I haven't been on here in a while, but I always feel obligated to reply to these "raising kids in cairo" posts.
> 
> I have four children, they are all young. I have been living here since 2008 (although I did spend some time in Kuwait during this period).
> 
> Raising children in Egypt is doable, but it's extremely difficult to give your child the lifestyle they would have at no cost back in the US.
> 
> The very top school in Egypt costs more than most universities back in the US and is only equal to your neighborhood public school back home. Egypt is a third-world country in the middle of a revolution. There is no president, and neither candidate has much (if anything) to offer to improve the GREAT poverty felt daily.
> 
> The pollution is horrific, the traffic DEADLY and the TRASH. OMG the TRASH. (Something i know for certain now, though, is that goats CAN live off of rubbish.)
> 
> The parks are dangerous, rusty, broken. The stray dogs (and cats) rabid.
> 
> Medical care - think of the lowest of the low county hospital back home. Multiply the filth, lack of qualified staff, etc times a thousand. It's still better than the TOP hospital here. The rate of childhood cancer is SIX TIMES that of the western world. It's NOT coincidence!
> 
> I am saddened daily that I cannot just drop everything and move my kids back to the US, but my husband is Egyptian and cannot leave at the moment. The opportunities are endless back home. This isn't to say that if you found a great paying job that covered education costs and offered a superb housing allowance, that you couldn't live reasonably well...


I hear you 

although the main reason why I didn't pack my bags long ago is my daughter's school, where she is happy and thriving, not cheap but worth every penny. I could not afford the same (equivalent) kind of education back in the UK.


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## Milouk84

Lanason said:


> I have 2 kids here 13 and 15 - and they love it - great school.
> 
> Depends where you live - we have NO trash, little pollution and no traffic
> 
> we can get down town or to Heliopolis easy peasy - so good place to be.


I think you are one of the happiest people living in Cairo. Or may be, you are the only happy person there; very enthusiastic, keep it up Lanason.

:clap2: :clap2:


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## Lanason

Milouk84 said:


> I think you are one of the happiest people living in Cairo. Or may be, you are the only happy person there; very enthusiastic, keep it up Lanason.
> 
> :clap2: :clap2:


Life is too short to not enjoy it . . . our decision to come here was radical to say the least. Enthusiastism and throwing myself at what I do, is me.

I always worked in the UK, business trips abroad, holidays etc but had never been to an Arab country. My family are not Expats.

I got head hunted, one weekend to visit Cairo, then handed my notice in UK and got on a plane with a bag of clothes to start work in Egypt. I'm the only non Egyptian in my company. No Expat 3yr posting, no international company to move me on somewhere else.

So the decision was very major, we have 4 kids, two were at University, moved the 2 younger ones out here.

My Dad said to me "do you know what you are doing?" my answer was "not a clue"

Am I glad we did it - hell yes. Such a life experience, loving my job over here, kids having such a ball.
I'm just surprised more of my UK family and friends have not been out to visit. Maybe 25th Jan scared em off


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## meb01999

lanason and aykalam - may i ask where you all have your children enrolled? as you seem quite pleased...

this past year was my first experience with the educational systems here - and admittedly i have learned a lot but still have much to learn.


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## Lanason

meb01999 said:


> lanason and aykalam - may i ask where you all have your children enrolled? as you seem quite pleased...
> 
> this past year was my first experience with the educational systems here - and admittedly i have learned a lot but still have much to learn.


My kids are at NCBIS - .: NCBIS :.


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## txlstewart

There are some fantastic public schools in the US--just being a private school in the US does not guarantee quality teachers or a quality curriculum.

Sent from my iPhone using ExpatForum


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## Milouk84

Lanason said:


> My kids are at NCBIS - .: NCBIS :.


And he's a big fan of it. It really deserves your admiration, Lanason, they uploaded some new videos on you tube (one of them was a short film about preserving our planet) and i'm really impressed. When you compare them to some videos of BCCIS (kids uploading them), you'll see a HUGE difference.


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## mamasue

American Girl.....
Just curiosity...why Egypt??
And.... why now??


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## Whitedesert

Lanason said:


> Life is too short to not enjoy it . . . our decision to come here was radical to say the least. Enthusiastism and throwing myself at what I do, is me.
> 
> I always worked in the UK, business trips abroad, holidays etc but had never been to an Arab country. My family are not Expats.
> 
> I got head hunted, one weekend to visit Cairo, then handed my notice in UK and got on a plane with a bag of clothes to start work in Egypt. I'm the only non Egyptian in my company. No Expat 3yr posting, no international company to move me on somewhere else.
> 
> So the decision was very major, we have 4 kids, two were at University, moved the 2 younger ones out here.
> 
> My Dad said to me "do you know what you are doing?" my answer was "not a clue"
> 
> Am I glad we did it - hell yes. Such a life experience, loving my job over here, kids having such a ball.
> I'm just surprised more of my UK family and friends have not been out to visit. Maybe 25th Jan scared em off


 I am exactly in your position. No 3-year expat tour of duty, no foreign multi-national. One of three expats in a huge Egyptian multi-national. Recruited from Egypt. Naturally I am cynical a lot, but mostly tongue in cheek. I feel sorry for the person describing such a terrible situation. Not so much because a lot of it may be true, but because we only live once and you have to make the best of things, and quite honestly, I am not finding that too difficult. I mean, a guy comes to collect my washing, brings it back a day later and it cost me 10Le. I feel like a burger 2am in the morning and a guy on a run-down scooter rocks up and delivers it for 15 le all in.


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## CAIRODEMON

Milouk84 said:


> And he's a big fan of it. It really deserves your admiration, Lanason, they uploaded some new videos on you tube (one of them was a short film about preserving our planet) and i'm really impressed. When you compare them to some videos of BCCIS (kids uploading them), you'll see a HUGE difference.



So am I. Its a very good school academically, and in my opinion at least, more importantly, they do seem to genuinely care about the children. Cheap/expensive? depends upon how you look at it, my son's fees are about GBP 8K per annum, a comparable school in the UK would be about 50% higher


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## Milouk84

CAIRODEMON said:


> So am I. Its a very good school academically, and in my opinion at least, more importantly, they do seem to genuinely care about the children. Cheap/expensive? depends upon how you look at it, my son's fees are about GBP 8K per annum, a comparable school in the UK would be about 50% higher


Yes I believe it's one of the best schools out there, and in Egypt, a school like this is worth every penny. May be the following years will be better but In our case the first year is almost 13k . And we 'll be paying double this amount next year too :wacko: :wacko: (I didn't realize it's next year except now). But it's the same amount you'll pay for a good private school in the US.


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## aykalam

meb01999 said:


> lanason and aykalam - may i ask where you all have your children enrolled? as you seem quite pleased...
> 
> this past year was my first experience with the educational systems here - and admittedly i have learned a lot but still have much to learn.


My daughter is at MES (Modern English School) 

:: Modern English School Cairo - Home ::

They have both British and American sections.


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## CAIRODEMON

aykalam said:


> My daughter is at MES (Modern English School)
> 
> :: Modern English School Cairo - Home ::
> 
> They have both British and American sections.



If your child is not Egyptian, or at the very least a reasonably fluent Arabic speaker, I would not recommend MES.


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## aykalam

CAIRODEMON said:


> If your child is not Egyptian, or at the very least a reasonably fluent Arabic speaker, I would not recommend MES.


My daughter is half Egyptian, not a fluent Arabic speaker.


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## CAIRODEMON

aykalam said:


> My daughter is half Egyptian, not a fluent Arabic speaker.


Half Egyptian is OK. In that case it will be a good school for her. The campus is very good, teachers good and as you say the choice of systems.


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## aykalam

CAIRODEMON said:


> Half Egyptian is OK. In that case it will be a good school for her. The campus is very good, teachers good and as you say the choice of systems.


thank you for your approval


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