Egyptian–Palestinian marriage: registration and residency

What Palestine requires

Palestinians are legally foreigners in Egypt, so the standard foreigner file applies: a no-objection certificate on marital status and religion attested by Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a passport and an Egyptian residence card, medical certificates and two witnesses. We arrange the residence card with you. Many Palestinian refugees cannot meet this, for example holders of the Egyptian travel document for Palestinian refugees or people without residency, many of them from Gaza. For them our alternative route is the way through: it does not depend on the embassy’s yes, and the marriage ends up officially registered in Egypt, not urfi.

Papers a citizen of Palestine usually brings

• Your Palestinian passport and an Egyptian residence card: a tourist visa is not enough, and we arrange the residence card with you
• A no-objection certificate on your marital status and religion, attested by Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• If you were married before: the divorce or death certificate
• Medical certificates from a government hospital, for both of you
• Five recent photos, two witnesses and the Egyptian partner’s national ID
• If a Palestinian husband is more than 25 years older than his Egyptian bride: EGP 50,000 in NBE investment certificates in her name

Making the marriage count in Palestine

We could not confirm from an official source how a contract registered in Egypt is entered with the Palestinian civil registry or Sharia courts, so we check that route for your documents. In Egypt itself the registered contract is what counts: marriage to an Egyptian is a recognised ground for the Palestinian spouse’s residency, but you must apply for it, and children of an Egyptian mother and a Palestinian father have been granted Egyptian nationality since 2011.

Problems we see often

• Residency through marriage is not automatic. It is a ground you apply on, with the registered contract.
• Many Palestinian refugees cannot meet the passport and residence card requirement, such as holders of the Egyptian travel document or people from Gaza who arrived after October 2023 without residency papers. If that is you, or if your embassy refuses or stalls the no-objection certificate, you can still marry: we have another route, used for dozens of couples of every nationality, and the marriage ends up officially registered in Egypt, not urfi.
• An urfi (unregistered) contract gives the Palestinian spouse no residency and leaves the children’s papers to be proved in court.
• Before 2011, children of Egyptian mothers and Palestinian fathers were excluded from Egyptian nationality. Since then it has been granted by ministerial decisions naming the children, so make sure your child’s file is complete.

Questions couples ask