Granting residence to foreigners buying property to be applied next week

CAIRO – 6 November 2018: The decision to grant a temporary residence to foreigners in return for buying a property will be put into effect starting next week, Deputy Minister of Housing Khaled Abbas stated.

Abbas added that the ministry will send the decision's details and ways of implementation to the Administration of Passport, Immigration and Nationality.

He further explained that the residence will be granted to foreigners in return for purchasing a property, where a $100,000 property will grant foreigners a 1-year residence, a $200,000 property will grant them a 3-year residence and a $400,000 will grant them a 5-year residence. This decision also applies to housing units under construction.

As for the procedures, a preliminary contract between an owner and a foreigner signed by any authority, such as the New Urban Communities Authority, the Tourism Development Authority and the governorate should be provided along with a letter from the owner's bank confirming money transfer from abroad. The passport administration will determine the period of residence.

The members of the House of Representatives welcomed the Ministry of Housing’s decision, pointing out that it is a positive step to attract more foreign investments, continue the economic reforms, activate the property sector, provide more job opportunities and increase foreign currency inflow.

In July, the Parliament approved a draft law to grant foreigners the Egyptian nationality in return for a bank deposit of LE 7 million (£295,576) in foreign currency over 5 years.
Egypt has sought to draw back foreign investment that fled the country after the 2011 uprising, notably through a series of tough reforms tied to a $12 billion (£9 billion) IMF loan program, which began in late 2016.

Under the new law, foreigners who make a deposit of LE 7 million could be granted the Egyptian citizenship. The deposit will be transferred to the public treasury.
“The minister of interior may grant the Egyptian citizenship to all foreigners that have resided in Egypt for a period of at least 5 consecutive years prior to applying for naturalization,” the amendment said.

Head of Parliament’s Defense and National Security Committee, General Kamal Amer, said that the new law compliments the recent amendments to an investment act that grants incentives to foreigners to invest in the country.

He added that the foreigners will not enjoy any political rights until after five years of citizenship and they will not be eligible to vote until after 10 years, referring that spouses and children will not be granted the citizenship unless they live in Egypt.