Four ways you can be a naturalized Egyptian

CAIRO - 10 December 2019: A foreigner may acquire the Egyptian nationality in four cases as long as he does not have a mental disability and has never been convicted of a crime, unless he was later acquitted.

To be naturalized in Egypt, a foreigner needs to:

1- Purchase real estate worth at least $500,000 owned by the government or a legal person; whereby the money is wired from abroad.

2- Establish or partake in a project worth at least $400,000, wired from abroad; whereby his share in the project is 40 percent or more.

3- Deposit hard currency in two ways:
a- Wire $750,000 from abroad as a deposit that may be returned in five years in Egyptian pounds according to the exchange rate then without exceeding that of the deposit date and without interests.
b- Wire $1 million from abroad as a deposit that may be returned in three years in Egyptian pounds according to the exchange rate then without exceeding that of the deposit date and without interests.

4- Wire $250,000 from abroad as direct income transferred to the state treasury; whereby the amount may not be refunded.

If the naturalized person sold the real estate mentioned in the first case, or liquidated the investment in the second case before five years have passed, he would have to apply the fourth case, unless the real estate or investment were handed over to the government.