Egyptian Citizenship by Investment (Granting Egyptian Nationality in Exchange for Investment)
Egypt grants full citizenship to foreign investors who make one of four qualifying economic contributions plus a USD 10,000 non-refundable state fee, all remitted in foreign currency from abroad. The naturalisation pathway sits on the 1975 Nationality Law as amended by Law No. 190 of 2019, with the current financial thresholds fixed by Prime Minister's Decree No. 876/2023 and applications adjudicated by a dedicated Cabinet unit hosted at GAFI; the Prime Minister personally signs each grant after security clearance. The cheapest route is a USD 250,000 non-refundable donation to the public treasury; other routes are USD 300,000 real estate, USD 350,000 in a business plus a USD 100,000 non-refundable payment, or a refundable USD 500,000 bank deposit. There is no minimum residence requirement, dual citizenship is permitted, and the investor's spouse and minor children up to age 21 are included. The trade-off for HNW private clients is a weak travel document (no Schengen, UK, US or Canada visa-free access) and a take-up to date measured in the dozens of approvals, so this is positioned as a fast, low-cost Plan-B / regional-presence citizenship rather than a mobility play.
Confidence: medium — confirmed with counsel before filing
Non-refundable direct contribution to the Egyptian public treasury, paid in foreign currency transferred from abroad. Cheapest route. Separate from the USD 10,000 administrative fee. The exact USD 250,000 figure is NOT shown on the official GAFI page (which lists the route category but no per-route amount); it is corroborated by the U.S. Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor and Egyptian law firms. (Some secondary sources describe the USD 250,000 as a non-refundable Central Bank deposit rather than a treasury donation; the taxonomy varies but the figure is consistent.)
Purchase of real estate worth at least USD 300,000, paid in foreign currency from abroad and held for 5 years before sale/transfer. Since the 2023 amendment to Art. 11, units may be bought from private (not only state-owned) Egyptian developers; the unit is registered in the investor's name. Separate from the USD 10,000 fee. USD 300,000 is the one route figure with the strongest cross-confirmation (PM Decree 876/2023 per Library of Congress), but it is still not published as a numeral on the official GAFI page.
Establish or participate in an investment project with a minimum USD 350,000 contribution, PLUS a separate non-refundable USD 100,000 paid as direct revenue in foreign currency to the public treasury (total USD 450,000 to qualify, excluding the USD 10,000 fee). Corroborated by Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor and Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative; not published on the official GAFI page.
Refundable deposit of USD 500,000 via an official Egyptian government bank / Central Bank of Egypt, returned in Egyptian pounds (EGP) after 3 years with NO interest (so the applicant bears FX and inflation risk on the refund). Separate from the USD 10,000 fee. Corroborated by advisory/legal sources; not shown as a numeral on the official GAFI page.
Approx. 49 destinations visa-free or visa-on-arrival as of January 2026 (IATA-based passport index and Wikipedia cross-check both cite 49; broader counts that include eVisas/conditional entry reach ~73). passport-index ranks the Egyptian passport roughly 83rd-93rd globally depending on edition. Strength is regional (much of Africa, parts of the Middle East and Asia); none of the major Western blocs (Schengen, UK, USA, Canada, Australia) are accessible visa-free. This is a Plan-B / regional-presence passport, not a global-mobility document. NOTE: acquiring Egyptian citizenship is unaffected by the EU's CBI-related visa actions below, which concern OTHER programmes, not Egypt.
Law No. 26 of 1975 on Egyptian Nationality (Arts. 4, 6, 11), as amended by Law No. 190 of 2019 (which created the investment-naturalisation pathway) and the 2023 amendments to Arts. 6 and 11 (approved by the House of Representatives on 12 April 2023). Financial thresholds were set by Prime Minister's Decree No. 876 of 2 March 2023. NOTE: the official GAFI programme page itself does NOT cite any law or decree numbers; the legal chain (Law 190/2019 + PM Decree 876/2023, Law 26/1975 Arts. 6 & 11) is corroborated by the U.S. Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor and the Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative. No 2024 or 2025 statute governing this programme was found; any record citing a '2025 law' is unverified/likely fabricated. · Administered by Citizenship Application Examination Unit (Nationality Grant Unit) affiliated with the Office of the Prime Minister (Cabinet), with its reception/administration hosted at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI). Final grant is by decision of the Prime Minister, after clearance by the security authorities on national-security grounds. (Confirmed on gafi.gov.eg.).
Documents marked “held by AT20” are mirrored on our own servers from the official source, so the reference is always available.
A private assessment maps this programme to your family, capital and timeline — and we coordinate the whole matter through admitted local counsel.
This briefing is general guidance, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Figures are indicative and verified to 2026; final positions, eligibility and timelines are confirmed in writing by licensed counsel on engagement. AT20 Capital coordinates the engagement and facilitates applications through admitted local counsel; it is not a law firm. Source basis: medium confidence — Discretionary grant by the Prime Minister after security clearance — there is no statutory right to citizenship on meeting the financial test. Two amounts to watch with counsel before quoting a client: (1) the donation route is currently USD 250,000, but a 14 September 2023 Cabinet amendment was reported to restore a higher real-estate-linked threshold for one variant — reconcile against the operative decree text; (2) an October 2024 update reportedly allows collective investment in one asset if each participant's share exceeds USD 300,000. The refundable USD 500,000 deposit returns in EGP only, with no interest, so it carries material FX/inflation risk. Programme uptake is very low (IMI Daily: 36 grants in 2025; ~1,000 applications cumulatively reported), so timelines and discretion should be set conservatively. Mobility is weak (no Schengen/UK/US/Canada) — position as a fast, no-residence Plan-B/regional citizenship, not a global-mobility passport. Confidence is 'medium' overall because GAFI publishes the programme and authority but not the per-route USD figures or downloadable decree text/forms; the route amounts are corroborated by the Library of Congress and an Egypt-domiciled legal firm rather than a primary gazette PDF..