CAIRO: As of Sunday, United States and Schengen officials will now be required to apply for biometric visas to enter Egypt on official diplomatic business, Amr Roshdy, a spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced. The new stipulation will require visiting diplomats to submit their fingerprints and a digital picture at an Egyptian embassy before obtaining an entry visa. Egypt's foreign ministry said the new visa regulations for diplomats is part of a “reciprocity” principle. “We are giving them the same treatment they give us,” Amr Roshdy told the press on Sunday. “The decision will apply to all officials, including those who have diplomatic passports. The employees who work in the foreign embassies in Egypt will also have to follow the new rule.” Officials decided not to apply the same procedures for foreigners visiting Egypt for tourism purposes, as they are hesitant to further disrupt the country's failing tourism industry that has suffered through a period of political instability since the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak last February. Rushdy explained that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Amr Kamel's decision “has been quite clear on the need to take into account considerations of Egyptian tourism, which represents a major source of income for the country, therefore, the application of the biometric visa will be only limited to those who hold official passports and those who are included in the diplomatic category, and special missions, as well as on the ordinary passport holders from the embassies of those countries working in Egypt.” The Foreign Ministry reported that it has informed all foreign embassies in Cairo of the new regulations. BM ***Mohamed Abdel Salam contributed to this report.
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