Country Profile:

Egypt is located in the northeast of Africa and is connected to Western Asia through the Sinai Peninsula. It is a developing country having a diversified economy, which is the third-largest in Africa, the 41st-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the 20th-largest globally by PPP. 

Capital: Cairo

Population: 110,000,000(as of 2023, 15th)

Ethic Groups: mostly Egyptian

Area: 1,010,408 km²

Offical Language: Arabic

Currency: Egyptian pound

GDP per Captial: $17,123 (93rd)

How To Immigrate To Egypt

Egypt’s investment immigration policy includes two main categories: direct citizenship by investment policy and residence by investment policy.

Citizenship By Investment:

Egypt’s investment passport policy has always been benchmarked against Turkey.

In December 2019, the Egyptian Cabinet approved a revised citizenship law, altering the 1975 Nationality Law. The modification was aimed at offering a swift pathway to citizenship for foreign investors who invest in Egypt.

The government made further amendments to this law in 2023, significantly lowering its economic criteria.

Under the reformed law, there are four primary ways to rapidly acquire Egyptian citizenship through investment:

Donation option: Donate $250,000 to the government treasury, the donation can be paid in installments within a year, and the applicant will receive a local residence visa before the donation is completed;

Real estate option: Purchase at least $300,000 worth of real estate in the name of an individual or a company;

Business option: Invest at least $350,000 in a local company and own at least 40% of the company;

Deposit option: Deposit $500,000 (zero interest) in the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), which cannot be redeemed within three years.

Just like in other countries, all individuals applying for citizenship via investment in Egypt must fulfill basic requirements. These include having no criminal record, being physically fit, and successfully undergoing an Egyptian background investigation.

The principal applicant’s spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 are eligible to co-apply. Each citizenship application incurs a government fee of $10,000 per individual.

Required documents include: A copy of passport; Birth certificate; Four passport-size photos; Documents of relatives; A certificate of no crime record from the country of residence; A medical certificate from an Egyptian hosptial.

Egyptian government records indicate that for all such investment citizenship applications, all necessary approvals will be obtained within three months from the application date, and the entire citizenship process will be completed within six months.

This program does not have any residency duration requirement.

Residence by Investment:

Egypt provides a pathway for foreign investors in the country to apply for long-term residency visas. This policy, after a series of amendments in May 2023, now includes two options: property investment and deposits.

The minimal investment requirements for property investment are:

An investment exceeding $50,000 can secure a 1-year residency visa.

An investment exceeding $100,000 can secure a 3-year residency visa.

An investment exceeding $200,000 can secure a 5-year residency visa.

The minimum amount required for bank deposits is :

Depositing 50, 000 US dollars in an Egyptian state-owned bank grants a 1-year residency visa.

Depositing 100, 000 US dollars in an Egyptian state-owned bank grants a 3-year residency visa.

It should be noted that the residency visa does not confer any local political rights to the holder. Additionally, the property purchased for the visa application must receive approval from the relevant local government department.

Once the visa expires, the holder has the option to renew the visa indefinitely, provided they continue to uphold their investment.

This program does not have any residency requirement.

Work Visa:

Apart from investment and family-related visas, Egyptian authorities grant work visas to foreign nationals, but these come with stringent conditions. Moreover, these work visas do not offer a path towards immigration.

Taxation:

A key deterrent to the attractiveness of Egypt’s investment immigration policy is its taxation aspect. Egypt levies an income tax as high as 22.5% and applies this to the worldwide income of its citizens.

Passport Power:

Egypt recognizes dual citizenship, necessitating that its citizens declare their dual status to the government.

Furthermore, Egypt entered into an E-2 treaty with the United States on June 27, 1992. As per the U.S. official statistics, a total of 32 E2 visas were issued to Egyptian citizens in the year 2020.

Egyptian passports rank 91st in the world, and passport holders can travel freely (visa-free or visa on arrival) to 54 countries and regions globally. This includes regions in East Africa, Hong Kong, Macau, and certain Southeast Asian countries.