Egypt offers citizenship to foreigners who deposit at least seven million EgyptPound sterling (US $ 392,000) and will be handed over to the Treasury Department after five years, according to an amendment passed by Parliament on Monday.
Egypt has attempted to bolster its finances and withdraw foreign investment that fled the country after the 2011 uprising, particularly through a series of tough reforms related to a $ 12 billion IMF loan program launched in late 2016.
Under the new law, foreigners must make a deposit of seven million EgyptPounds sterling or the equivalent in foreign currency are eligible for citizenship if they hand in the deposit after five years.
It was not immediately clear what economic benefit a foreigner would derive from acquiring citizenship Egypt Restricts foreign investment projects, but bans foreign ownership of agricultural land and property in the Sinai Peninsula where it is exposed to militant campaign by the Islamic State (IS) group.
“The Minister of the Interior can EgyptCitizenship for all foreigners residing in Egypt for a period of at least five consecutive years prior to applying for naturalization, “the amendment says.
“After acceptance of the naturalization application, the value of the deposit will be transferred to the state treasury,” it said.
The chairman of Parliament’s Defense and National Security Committee, General Kamal Amer, said the new law complements recent amendments to an investment law that incentivizes foreigners to invest in the country.
He said foreigners who acquire citizenship would not enjoy political rights until after five years of citizenship and it would take 10 years to be eligible for election or appointment to a representative body.
Spouses and children are not eligible for citizenship unless they reside in Egypt, he added.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian parliament passed a law on Monday that could make senior military officials immune to future criminal prosecutions, which were violent following the ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
The law gives President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the right to designate officials with immunity from suspected crimes committed during the suspension of the Egyptian constitution between Morsi’s fall on July 3, 2013 and the re-convening of parliament on January 10, 2016 receive.
The law, which was only presented to parliament at the end of June, also makes the reserve officers appointed by Sisi for life and grants them far-reaching privileges, including diplomatic status when traveling abroad.
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