Do egyptian man treat foreign wife different than egyptian one?

Little about situation:

-foreigner woman (EU) dating Egyptian (at college met in EU, now long distance)

-he is from medium class family (his family owns 2 houses, some cars etc but nothing literally his)

-he got 1 year before military service,  but he is Uni student studying at foreign uni in Egypt

-we are both Muslims (no judge here please about dating part)

-together for about 2 years but because of him not being able to travel to EU anymore (visa rejected) and me having responsibilities home (1 year older than him so working) we are currently long distance and no married

-talked little with his family, but there is language bariere


Here come question and my worries: he is really good partner, supportive,  understanding, even with different cultures  we do not have more arguments as any other normal couple,  same religion makes things easier BUT long distance should end soon and I am not sure what to do next. I have no family.  Because of situation in Egypt he wants to first come here to earn money and then settle back in Egypt. Me on other hand want to go to Egypt and live even modestly there as my country is so rasist towards muslims.  At one point I understand  him and it is logical he wants to come here. But same time I am scared he goes just after visa from me. I am also not sure if I am Brave (or stupid) enough to travel to Egypt alone and suddenly  just start living there.

For this reason I have 2 questions...one is maybe advice if someone was in similar situation as me or how to make sure he just do not go for visa but other question is what should I be careful about as foreigner woman? Like if we get married do I have different rights as if he married Egyptian wife? I know about nikkah, and mehr. He said he never agrees with orfi for example. And in general are Egyptian man acting differently if they have foreigner partner and no Egyptian one?

@Egypt_questions Culture is very very different... A wife is responsible to her husband.. end of story ... do as you are told .... More than one wife is no hassle... You get the short end of the stick in a divorce... Egypt is a very different place to EU ... He will be very different after you are married.... You will do what you are told ....

@Egypt_questions yes, they do. They treat us different. One because we have no family there that they have too answer to if they are abusive too us. I got married in Egypt, and my husband acted differently until we got to the U.S.  Thankfully my husband actually loved me so we stayed together for 7 yrs so far. But yes, it's very scary if you don't know if he is with you for Citizenship or not. I had those worries too when I was in Egypt. I lived there for 2 yrs until he got his Visa. It took 2 whole yrs.

I have a different perspective from the other two answers you were given. I tried to post my reply here but it hasn't gone through.

@Mshmasriyah try again

@Mshmasriyah you have to go down to bottom and hit the paper airplane looking icon to send.

@trishyc67 yes I know, but every time I did for some reason it would not go through and I would find myself blocked from the website for 3 days. I didn't think I said anything controversial, but I will try posting piece by piece again to see what exactly is flagging the comment.

am a foreigner muslimah living in Egypt, married to an Egyptian. I would like to respond. If it's possible for you to help him get a visa to Europe WHILE you are living in Egypt, I think that's the safest way for YOU to proceed. I definitely understand why you want to leave, and from an Islamic perspective, you're totally right that life here is better for the deen and just an overall sense of normalcy for us Muslims. However, life here is also very HARD and DIFFERENT, especially when you don't speak the language. It would be ideal if he would agree to let you come to Egypt and live here a year or two, and then move together to Europe if he still wants to then (That's why I said to check and see if that's even a possibility as far as getting his visa goes).

If the only way to get him there is for you to stay there and get his spousal visa processed from where you are, then it's tricky. I totally get why he thinks it will be better for him there, but that may or may not be true once he actually gets there. He may be surprised at how difficult it can be living amongst non Muslims, and may not want to be there once he gets a taste of that. But as you said, it could be a huge risk for you if his intentions aren't 100% sincere.

If you haven't already, start visiting Egypt. As much as possible. If you want to marry this man, it's imperative you meet his family and get an idea of what life is like for him here, as well as what it would be like for you. That could help you clarify what you really want. But in the end, as a married couple, big decisions like this have to be made with cooperation and agreement and istikhara. Even just the option of you living here will have its own challenges, especially if you don't know the language. You may find that it's not what you expected, nor what you can endure.

I also suggest you connect to facebook groups for "Foreign women married to Egyptian men" for more perspective. It would NOT be a good idea to come to Egypt without any social connections to others who could help you if you needed, ideally other foreign muslimah expats who came to live here like myself.

As far as your rights, as a legally married woman your rights are the same as any Egyptian woman. You should document the mahr and moahker in the marriage contract. Egyptian women add a list of all household furniture and supplies the bride and groom put together for their new home, because in the event of divorce the wife is entitled to all of that (as well as the flat if there are children from the marriage).

As far as treatment is concerned, it's very simple: If a man sincerely loves you, he will treat you well and you will be happy. If he has ulterior motives or doesn't care about you, he will not value you. It doesn't matter what your nationality is; there are many Egyptian women suffering in their marriages because the men simply don't love them. If you have any doubts about this man, take more time to know him, his family and his land until you feel certain of what you want and are willing to do.


I hope this advice helps, in shaa Allah.

Weird. When I break it into pieces there is no issues lol.

@Mshmasriyah HI, I agree with your advice.




The answer to this topic for me is YES they do treat their foreign female spouses different. 




All the best.


@Mshmasriyah all men are same, but the challenge is to choose the right one, that is all regardless of nationality or mahr or shabka and some men pay for weeding alot of money and after 2 months they got divorced.

his personality is the basic no more

Hello, To answer your question ,it is yes you get treated very differently here as an Egyptian wife, I have many friends and yes while their is good Egyptians be very careful as I heard from my Egyptian friends that men take advantage of foreigners especially for visa purposes and I had many friends and egyptian ladies they also tell me once you married its a different life , some good but lots of abuse stories.I just thought I will share my advice that you must think about it carefully.

@Egypt_questions take care

I met an Egyptian man recently who used a common app in Brazil and maintained an online relationship with me for 6 months. Always very polite, doctor, my age but who lied several times about several things.


All he wanted was a visa in my country to practice medicine and then be able to migrate to the USA. I met an Egyptian lawyer here in Brazil who explained to me that most men think that marrying a foreign woman, especially a European woman, guarantees a good life. In addition to not having the requirements of marriage with an Egyptian, they are looking for easy sex and a visa in the country

@Taizi mostly true

@Taizi not the case in every situation

@Aaahc14 i married to a poor lebanese man i met online and he loves me and treats me like a queen the citizenship means nothing to him except that usa requires it to work and maintain an identity.  We are happily married

The other way around do Egyptian women marry foreigners?

@wood1999


not impossible, but its far less common. most egyptian girls strive to marry by their mid twenties, and the parents are heavily involved in the selection and engagement process. So its far less likely a foreign man would be part of that equation, and if the girl wanted that, most likely her parents would veto that option.

@Mshmasriyah

I didn't know so that's impossible than