Read here all about how to get your Sudan visa in Aswan based on my experience as a Dutch passport holder in December 2017.
This article was updated in December 2018.
IMPORTANT Feb 2020: Please see the comment section below for more actual information. The best place to get a visa seems Cairo at the moment. The best way to get up-to-date information are the Facebook groups (e.g. Backpacking Africa, overlanding Africa etc.).
Sudan visa in Aswan, Egypt
Where is the Sudanese embassy in Aswan located?
The Consulate of the Republic of Sudan is located in Aswan’s southern part. It’s clearly marked on Google Maps and Maps.me. You can get there by bus (the buses leave from Cataract, get out at El-Sadat street) for only a few cents.
Address of the Consulate of the Republic of Sudan in Aswan: P.O.Box 11843 Aswan، 12 El-Sadat, Qism Aswan, Aswan Governorate 11843, Egypt Phone: +20 97 2307231
What are the opening hours of the Sudanese embassy?
- Opening hours embassy: 08.30-12.30. It’s closed on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
- There is no need to make an appointment for the embassy.
What do you need for your Sudanese visa application?
- 2 passport photographs
- 1 photocopy of your passport and your Egyptian visa (there is a photocopy shop nearby)
- Form (they will give this at the embassy)
- Blank page in your passport
What are the costs of a Sudanese visa?
- 50 USD’s for a single entry 1-month visa. They don’t accept Egyptian or Sudanese currency.
- 1 month is the maximum.
- Multiple-entries is not possible (My friend tried, but they really would not give it to him).
Update December 2018: according to fellow travelers, the price now changed to 150 USD!
How many days does it take to get your Sudanese visa in Aswan?
When I was there, all travelers got their visa the next working day. E.g. If you hand in your passport on Tuesday, you will get it on Thursday!
Tips for your visit to the Sudanese consulate!
- Get there early! The embassy opens at 08.30AM
- As a foreigner, you can sit in a small, but busy waiting room. There were at least six other travelers applying on the same day as me!
- The friendly guy from the embassy will give you a form to fill out and ask for your other paperwork
- Then, your papers land on a pile of other papers and it’s a lot waiting.
- After 3 hours of waiting, you will get a receipt and they will ask you to come back and collect your visa the next working day between 10-12.30 PM
—> Check the comment section at the bottom of this page for the latest update of fellow travelers
The border crossing from Egypt to Sudan
Take an early morning big bus from Aswan at 5 AM (or 8 AM) for 200 EGP. It’s best to book one day beforehand. The bus will be overloaded, but generally, there is enough place to sit. The bus may leave later than planned… From there, you drive towards Abu Simbel for a fish lunch with fellow passengers. From Abu Simbel, you will take a small ferry and after that, it’s only a few minutes to the actual border. You have to pay a small exit fee on the Egypt side. Help your fellow passengers to unload all their tv’s and water cookers etc. and after that, it’s a lot of waiting.
Then, it’s time to get on the bus again (this time the bus gets really messy, because of slopping loading quickly) and to move on to the Sudanese border, which is more efficient. You get a piece of paper with a stamp, which is really important to hold on to. They will also ask you to pay some transportation fee (60SDG). In another report, this is described as a border scam. Personally, I have no reason to believe it’s a scam. Sudan has no scamming culture. At the border, you can also change some money. After that, it’s only a short ride to Wadi Halfa. I arrived just after sunset and stayed at the Canggu Hotel. If you go all the way to Khartoum, you will have to wake up early in the morning again to continue your journey.
Registration and other paperwork once you’re in Sudan
Read more about everything you need in terms of registration once you’re in Sudan here.
Let me know if you have any questions about getting your Sudan visa in Aswan! Or leave a comment if you have recent experience in obtaining your Sudanese visa!
Sudan travel information:
My Ultimate Sudan Travel guide
How much does it cost to travel in Sudan
Two-week Sudan backpacking itinerary
What to do in Khartoum?
Some updates from my experiences,
The consulate in Aswan now charges 150 dollars for a two months visa. I was informed the procedure changed recently, and normally it would take one week for the visa to be processed. However it was available the next working day. The gentleman at the embassy was very helpful. I also met a Spanish traveler on the road, that said the Cairo embassy charged him 150 dollars.
The exit tax from Egypt was 102 egyptian pounds. We did not pay anything on the Sudanese side.
The Sudanese pound is now somewhere between 47.5 to 53 to the dollar.
The police registration fee in Wadi Halfa was 540 Sudanese pounds.
Thank you for the wonderful blog! Hope this info helps. November 2018
Heaps thanks for this useful update :)
brilliant blog, entering Sudan in a week. at this stage, we have been told by the Cairo Sudanese Embassy that they do not issue visa anymore in Aswan. so we applied in Cairo, was issued on the same day as application, long day to wait, but worth it. we will check in Aswan in any case for other travellers.
This is very much out of date!!!!!
Short story: you won’t get your visa until 7 days after showing up to the consulate and you will be dissuaded from even attempting to start the process
Long story: I’m an American who today 01.12.2019 just went to the consulate where initially I was told I had to get some kind of a letter from the Foreign Office IN KHARTOUM before the process even starts. The officer (or whatever you call the guy that works at a consulate) there couldn’t even look me in the eye. I called an Egyptian friend on my phone to hopefully speak to the officer. The officer said he didn’t want to speak to my friend. I waited around a bit and eventually the officer told me to wait in a waiting room. It was clear he would now go ahead and process my visa. Now his demeanor was much more friendly. No idea what changed. Now the process: you better bring your passport, two passport photos, a photocopy of your passport, a photocopy of your Egyptian visa, and 150 US dollars cash. And no, the officer no longer required the letter from the Foreign Office in Khartoum. You will be waiting there for three hours. The office opened at 9 AM and it was closed Friday and Saturday. Not sure about the other days it is closed but I am 100% sure it is not open on Fri and Sat. I was told that I would receive the visa 7 DAYS LATER!!!!! In that time, of course, they will be holding on to my passport.
I strongly suggest the author of the website update this information accordingly.
Great update, thanks Mark. We are going to Aswan in about a week to get our visa for Sudan. Any other tips?
The phone number you have listed for the Sudan Consulate in Aswan is out-of-date. I was just there last week, and they told me their current number is +20972422238.
By the way, the consulate is not currently issuing visas due to the whole coronavirus thing. They told me they don’t know when they will start issuing them again.
Update March 3, 2021:
Sudan consulate in Aswan location:
24°4’8.118″N, 32°52’50.679″E
5min easy walk uphill from the stadion.
Cost: 150 USD in cash
Visa was issued within 5hours.
You need: 2x passport photo, 2x copy of your passport, 2xcopy of your passport with Egyptian entrance stamp.
Sponsor in Sudan: wrote an unexisting company. Acomodation booking: wrote an unexisting hotel.
For entering Sudan you need negative PCR test. Good luck. Ladis
Thank you!!
Update Feb 2023. The consulate is Consulate General of the Republic of Sudan.
+20 97 2421124
https://maps.app.goo.gl/z2o7Hkk9Uwm7Hkw89?g_st=ic
Visa process was super chill, 3 hours and I was holding my visa