The Egyptian state grants Egyptian citizenship to foreigners in specific cases stipulated by ancient Egyptian law. Some amendments were made to this law in 2018, which gave the opportunity for a larger number of foreigners to obtain citizenship. The naturalization of many foreigners is required, including the naturalization of Syrians in Egypt.
New Nationality Law
In July 2018, the Egyptian House of Representatives approved amendments to the Residence and Citizenship Grant Law, which allowed those who wish to live or invest in Egypt to obtain citizenship according to specific conditions. These amendments included:
- Purchase of real estate from the state with a minimum of 500 thousand dollars.
- Establishing an investment project with a minimum of $400,000.
- Depositing a direct cash deposit of $250,000.
- Depositing a direct cash deposit of $1 million for three years.
- Depositing a direct cash deposit of $750,000 for 5 years.
Buying Real Estate To Obtain Egyptian Citizenship
- Egyptian law allows foreigners to obtain Egyptian citizenship after purchasing a real estate. This real estate can be land, a building, an apartment, or factory land, provided that it is owned by the state or other public legal persons and with an amount of not less than 500 thousand US dollars transferred from Outside Egypt. If the buyer of the real estate wants to sell it before the lapse of five years from the date of obtaining it, he is required, in order to retain the Egyptian nationality, to deposit an amount of 250 thousand US dollars in the Central Bank. This amount shall be paid through a bank transfer from abroad, as direct revenues to the state’s public treasury, and it is not refunded.
##Steps for a Syrian to Obtain Egyptian Citizenship and the Required Papers
In the case of obtaining citizenship after purchasing real estate in the Arab Republic of Egypt, you need a copy of the property ownership contract in addition to the other documents required to obtain citizenship, as follows:
- The original application for obtaining the Egyptian nationality and a copy of the passport of the original nationality of the naturalization applicant, an acknowledgement from the applicant of other nationalities that he holds, and a copy of the passport(s) of another nationality for the naturalization applicant (repeated according to the number).
- The original birth certificate of the naturalization applicant or an official extract thereof, and 4 original recent personal photos of the naturalization applicant.
- A copy of a document of transfer from abroad for the amount of administrative fees (10 thousand US dollars or what is equivalent) to the Central Bank of Egypt – Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Citizenship Application Examination Unit.
- A copy of the marriage contract and a copy of the passport of the wife’s original nationality and a copy of the passport/passports of another nationality for the wife (repeated according to the number).
- A passport copy (or birth certificate or identity card) for minor children (repeated according to the number).
- The original criminal status sheet from the Egyptian authorities.
- The original of an official certificate of the movements of the naturalization applicant issued by his country of origin, and the original official certificate of the movements of the naturalization applicant issued by the country of permanent residence for a period of five years prior to the date of the application.
- The original official certificate issued by the applicant’s home country proving that he has never been convicted of a felony or a freedom-restricting penalty for a crime against honor, certified by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Copies of the ownership contracts for any other real estate inside Egypt and copies of the car licenses that he personally owns. In the event that the investor owns shares in any of the companies, a copy of the commercial register or the company’s newspaper and a copy of the company’s tax card shall be attached.
- The original official certificate of the result of signing the medical examination for the naturalization applicant (to be submitted during the residency period).
- The original investment program fulfillment document (to be submitted during the residency period).
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