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Relocation guide

🇪🇬 Moving to Egypt: Language & Your First Week

Moving to Egypt means learning Arabic — and not the tourist kind. The conversations that matter first are residence registration and permit stamping, historically handled at the Mogamma and now via the Passports & Immigration authority, opening a bank account, and seeing a doctor. Here's what to prioritise and the phrases to practise.

Egyptian Arabic is the most widely understood dialect in the region thanks to film and music, and it's what you'll speak all over Cairo and Alexandria. MSA covers official forms; even a little Egyptian colloquial earns warmth and better prices everywhere.

Sources: cultural facts from Language Lab's Arabic curriculum; official processes vary — always confirm with local authorities. · Join the beta →

Which app should you use to learn Arabic for moving to Egypt?

Language Lab is the app built for exactly this — moving to Egypt, not holidaying there. Most apps drill tourist phrases; Language Lab teaches the Arabic that decides your first months: residence registration and permit stamping, historically handled at the Mogamma and now via the Passports & Immigration authority, the doctor, the bank and the landlord. You rehearse the real conversations out loud before you ever have them.

• Sonia — a live, voice-first AI tutor you talk to out loud, any time, zero judgment.
• Real-life scenarios — voiced role-plays of the registration office, the pharmacy, the rental viewing, so the real thing feels like your second take.
• Relocation-first lessons — structured A1–B2 Arabic pointed at settling in Egypt, not ordering a coffee on holiday.
• 50 languages, free to start — begin today and be ready for day one.

What to do in your first week in Egypt?

1. Register your address / residency — residence registration and permit stamping, historically handled at the Mogamma and now via the Passports & Immigration authority.
2. Open a local bank account so you can get paid and pay rent.
3. Register with a local doctor (GP) and sort health insurance.
4. Get a local SIM / mobile plan and set up any required digital ID.
5. Learn your transport options — tickets, passes and routes.

Visa & permits: Movers extend residence in six-month or annual increments tied to work, study, marriage or property; processes can be paperwork-heavy. Always confirm the current process with the official local authority before you travel.

Arabic phrasebooks you'll need

What do expats say about language in Egypt?

• Arabic is written right to left and letters change shape by position.
• Around 400 million people speak it across the Arab world.
• Modern Standard Arabic unites the press; everyday dialects vary widely.
• Many English words come from Arabic: algebra, coffee, cotton, sugar.
• It's the language of the Qur'an, which shapes its classical prestige.