Egypt · Residency by investment
Deposit Residency (Law 173/2018)
Superseded. Law 173/2018 allowed an EGP 7m deposit, roughly USD 391k at the time, to buy five-year residency, with citizenship possible after five consecutive years of residence. It was replaced by Law 190 of 2019, which created a direct citizenship-by-investment route with no residency period at all. That route launched in March 2020.
Worth recording because it shows the direction of travel. Egypt abandoned a five-year residency-then-citizenship model in favour of selling citizenship outright, then cut the price by two thirds in 2023. That pricing history is the best available evidence of how badly the state wants the dollars.
Qualifying routes
Roughly USD 391k at 2018 rates. Five-year residency, then citizenship after five years. No longer available.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $391k
- Total landed cost
- Not applicable. Superseded.
- Route type
- Residency by investment
- Physical presence
- Not applicable
- Permanent residency
- Not applicable
- Citizenship
- Not applicable. Replaced by the direct CBI route under Law 190/2019.
- Language test
- Not applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Closed. Superseded by Law 190/2019.
- The EGP 7m denomination is instructive on its own. A deposit fixed in local currency lost most of its dollar value over the life of the programme.