The situation is "interesting" at the very least, come september Egypt COULD be a very different place for foreigners.
All work permits expire in September. Even if you get one this week it still expires then and costs the full amount. The new ones are estimated at €1000 from September. This is a massive increase. As an example last year under the "old" permit cost i managed to save €1000 in total in that calendar year (this year far will be far lower).
With that new increased cost, combined with the massive drop off in tourists its possible you'll never recoup that.
The new permits are also according to the lawyers for a maximum of 3 years (ie 3 x 1 year then no more issued). This will nicely ensure no experienced staff or managers are around as they have to leave before they advance up the tree!
This information has been confirmed by 3 separate people so would appear to be true. The interim government also expressed its desire to stop as many work permits as possible to foreigners in all fields. This could tally with the above.
As for CDWS, it claims its in charge, the court would suspect otherwise, the EDLF claims its in charge, nobody else agrees. Its a mess. CDWS is mounting a propaganda campaign trying to get member centres to sign petitions saying "we are the one true god" and other groups are springing up in the power vacuum.
Here for example we have a dahab divers "forum". Made up by egyptians whose stated goal is the removal of foreigners from diving. They have no official power, no official recognition but rent offices, have a marketing machine, give out stickers and claim they're in charge.
Most dive centres here i know of that normally do work permits have frozen it for now - they've held onto the funds but not put the applications through due to the September expiry and so on plus the fact here at least CDWS is being roundly ignored even by the checkpoints. The centres are playing a waiting game to see how it pans out.
The events of January have certainly increased nationalism (id hesitate to use the word racism but speaking to some of the people involved its not far off). There are a lot of unrealistic expectations and assessments of the current local work force especially in terms of languages, standards and how much they can milk out of "rich" foreign instructors.
If they DO go through with this then i can see a return to the old system of backsheesh to turn a blind eye otherwise the diving industry will likely come to a halt - there simply aren't the locals available to fill the demand especially when you add secondary skills and languages.
September is make or break for the tourism industry here - if they get it wrong they can demolish the diving sector very quickly.
(That and the current lawlessness is getting annoying, far fewer police, those that are here are now scared of EVERYONE so act against nothing, large increase in robberies etc).
There is still a problem with locals getting DM signed up "by their mate so they can work" and this does cause a lot of really low quality divemasters. As someone else here pointed out a few days ago, the GOOD Egyptian instructors already have jobs - they're want centres wanted provided they're fluent in English or other languages they dont need the mess with work permits, CDWS delays and can freelance. Its mainly the BAD ones that are forming these groups and complaining. Egyptian diving staff (other than one centre i can think of...) get paid an identical wage to foreigners - the commissions make no allowance for nationality.
All work permits expire in September. Even if you get one this week it still expires then and costs the full amount. The new ones are estimated at €1000 from September. This is a massive increase. As an example last year under the "old" permit cost i managed to save €1000 in total in that calendar year (this year far will be far lower).
With that new increased cost, combined with the massive drop off in tourists its possible you'll never recoup that.
The new permits are also according to the lawyers for a maximum of 3 years (ie 3 x 1 year then no more issued). This will nicely ensure no experienced staff or managers are around as they have to leave before they advance up the tree!
This information has been confirmed by 3 separate people so would appear to be true. The interim government also expressed its desire to stop as many work permits as possible to foreigners in all fields. This could tally with the above.
As for CDWS, it claims its in charge, the court would suspect otherwise, the EDLF claims its in charge, nobody else agrees. Its a mess. CDWS is mounting a propaganda campaign trying to get member centres to sign petitions saying "we are the one true god" and other groups are springing up in the power vacuum.
Here for example we have a dahab divers "forum". Made up by egyptians whose stated goal is the removal of foreigners from diving. They have no official power, no official recognition but rent offices, have a marketing machine, give out stickers and claim they're in charge.
Most dive centres here i know of that normally do work permits have frozen it for now - they've held onto the funds but not put the applications through due to the September expiry and so on plus the fact here at least CDWS is being roundly ignored even by the checkpoints. The centres are playing a waiting game to see how it pans out.
The events of January have certainly increased nationalism (id hesitate to use the word racism but speaking to some of the people involved its not far off). There are a lot of unrealistic expectations and assessments of the current local work force especially in terms of languages, standards and how much they can milk out of "rich" foreign instructors.
If they DO go through with this then i can see a return to the old system of backsheesh to turn a blind eye otherwise the diving industry will likely come to a halt - there simply aren't the locals available to fill the demand especially when you add secondary skills and languages.
September is make or break for the tourism industry here - if they get it wrong they can demolish the diving sector very quickly.
(That and the current lawlessness is getting annoying, far fewer police, those that are here are now scared of EVERYONE so act against nothing, large increase in robberies etc).
There is still a problem with locals getting DM signed up "by their mate so they can work" and this does cause a lot of really low quality divemasters. As someone else here pointed out a few days ago, the GOOD Egyptian instructors already have jobs - they're want centres wanted provided they're fluent in English or other languages they dont need the mess with work permits, CDWS delays and can freelance. Its mainly the BAD ones that are forming these groups and complaining. Egyptian diving staff (other than one centre i can think of...) get paid an identical wage to foreigners - the commissions make no allowance for nationality.
