The Egypt’s parliament approved a bill amending a law on granting Egyptian nationality to foreign residents in return for a bank deposit of 7 million Egyptian pounds or an equivalent in foreign currency over 5 years.
Foreigners who deposit E£ 7 million egyptian pounds (EUR 335,000 or US$ 390,000) in banks or treasury, will be eligible for egyptian citizenship after five years of the maturity of the deposit.
No political or voting rights will be given with citizenship to foreigners. Family and children eligible for citizenship if they live in Egypt for five years.
The move is said to provide Egypt economic burden and boost investment in the country.
Lawmaker Haitham el-Hariri accused the government of “selling Egyptian citizenship” when instead it should be “facilitating residency and visa procedures” for investors reported Orlando sentinel.
Egyptian passport is valued 87th in passport rankings with visa free access to only 50 countries, according to henleypassportindex.com.
The draft bill will undergo another parliament discussion before becoming a law.
