There in Liverpool, he worked in a tourism company, later moving to the United States without a visa or a Green Card. His immigration status forced him to move to Canada and then to Germany where the Egyptian Consulate accused him of selling his passport and refused to give him a travel document. He was arrested by the German Police who deported him to Egypt. Back in Egypt, with neither a job nor an identification, Al-Gammal turned to the black market to get papers to the name of "Ali Mostafa". With these, he went to work for the company managing the Suez Canal.