A red flag for status security, 19 points, against the background of a raid campaign running since the end of 2025.
red flagmedium confidenceEgypt is closed to labour migration by design: a 10% cap on foreign staff, a test of whether an Egyptian could do the job, and no shortage occupation lists. The most predictable route is residency through property, but it gives no right to work, and no route ends in permanent residence.
Status on the work route is fragile. The permit is issued for a specific employer, the basis for residence falls away when the job ends, and there is no period to find a new one. Changing employers means starting over. All that remains is tolerated stay under growing fines: 1,053 pounds plus 500 for every three months overdue. Filing a renewal does not protect you: if the agency is slow, the foreigner still pays the fine. This is why Egypt carries a red flag for status security in our index.
Since late 2025 there has been a campaign of plain-clothes raids on streets and workplaces against refugees and migrants from neighbouring African and Middle Eastern countries: at least 3,000 arrests in two months by UNHCR's estimate. Amnesty International documented the expulsion of people with valid documents: one had a valid permit confiscated, another was deported six days before a renewal. We found no retroactive revocations for holders of work or investment residence, but the system is the same for everyone.
Rules get more expensive and change without transition periods: in September 2024 the residence fee rose from $70 to $150, and the 2025 labour law put a fee on permit renewals. A spouse gets no right to work and can only use the general Labour Ministry procedure under the same quota.
Day to day, central bank directives of 2024 and 2025 require banks to open accounts even for non-residents, but in practice they check the source of funds, accept applications only in person, and some ask for a residence card. Police registration is required on arrival. There are no integration exams; Arabic is needed only for citizenship.
The index score ignores nationality. This is what changes for citizens of specific countries.
The US is on the official e-Visa portal's list: a single-entry tourist visa costs $25, multiple-entry $60, and you apply at least 7 days before travel. For living and working there, the same work route as for everyone.
Ukraine is on the official e-Visa portal's list: a single-entry tourist visa costs $25, multiple-entry $60, and you apply at least 7 days before travel. For living and working there, the same work route as for everyone.
When we checked on 9 August 2026 we found no nationality restrictions: the 10% staff quota is the same for all foreigners. Both countries are on the official e-Visa portal's list: a single-entry tourist visa costs $25, multiple-entry $60.
The place interval 95-96 shows where the country lands when the data is nudged and the index is recalculated. One place of difference in the table means nothing; a difference of a league means something.
Red flagOne of the three core categories, how the agencies work, pressure on newcomers or the reliability of status, has fallen below the critical mark. The score is capped: a disaster in the core is not cured by comforts at the edges.
Medium confidenceSome scores rest on second-class sources. The score and the place stand, but read them with that caveat.
The thin mark on each bar is the average across 97 countries
The strongest category here is Settling in: 62 out of 100, against a 97-state average of 69.5. The weakest is Status security: 19 against 57.9. Above the world average: 0 out of 7.
Since the end of 2025 a campaign has been running in the country: plain-clothes raids on streets and workplaces targeting Syrians, Sudanese, South Sudanese and people from countries south of the Sahara. The UN refugee agency estimates at least 3,000 arrests in two months. This is not a story about people without papers: Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented the expulsion of people whose documents were valid.
A work permit is issued for a named employer and only if no suitable Egyptian was found, and within a quota; changing employer means the whole process again. Permanent status does not exist; the most on offer is a five-year renewable card for $200,000 invested in property. A spouse has no right to work, neither on arrival nor after any period.
UpsideThere is no income threshold on any route: you get in either with capital or through an employer.
All 97 states are calculated for one applicant: 35 years old, income of $2,500 and $3,856 a month before tax, passport not counted, the most accessible route that is actually in use.
Your passport, your income and your family do not change the table. They change which of its lines apply to you. A different income makes entry read differently, a family makes the family category read differently, and your passport makes everything read differently.
The stated standard is 30-60 days, but the full path to a final work permit takes 8-10 months. A first 6-month residence permit is issued after about 30 days and extended until the decision.
Yes: about $50,000 gets a one-year card, $100,000 three years, $200,000 five years, and the family is included. But this residency gives no right to work and leads to no permanent status.
Filing and each renewal cost $150, plus about 285 pounds for a Health Ministry lab test. A work permit costs 5,000-150,000 pounds at the minister's discretion, so no exact family total can be given.
Yes: on the work route residence depends on a specific employer, and when the job ends the basis falls away with no period to find a new one. Overstaying, even when the agency caused the delay, means growing fines.
There is no permanent status for an ordinary newcomer. You can apply for citizenship after 10 years of continuous residence; the decision is discretionary, Arabic is required, and keeping your other passport needs Interior Ministry permission.
The job market is closed to foreigners by quota, status is fragile, and since late 2025 there have been raids on refugees and migrants, including people with valid documents. Property owners face less risk, but the rules are the same for everyone.
97 states, 26 indicators, seven categories, 2,522 scores. Every score has a source and a source class: primary means the texts of laws and government portals; reliable secondary means reports by international organisations, tax reviews by audit firms and specialist legal publications; weak means community posts and single secondary sources. The classes add up to a confidence level for the country, and a country with low confidence gets neither a score nor a place.
Every indicator is scored against a fixed ruler, not against its neighbours. Adding new countries therefore does not move the old ones, and a change in a score means a change in policy and nothing else.
A high place does not mean a good country. It means one thing: the state machine treats newcomers predictably and by the rules. Living there may be expensive, dull or hot; that is not our question.
Checked 01/10/2026. Facts come from the country's index card and official websites.
We make mistakes and we will go on making them: policy changes faster than any database. Our answer is not a pose of infallibility but a visible trail of corrections. Every correction is published: what it was, what it became, the source and the reason for the error. The corrections log opens with the second issue, together with the first block of changes.