The Verdict: Clear Path
A non-refundable payment of USD 250,000 to the Egyptian treasury qualifies for citizenship by investment, with nothing to hold afterwards. Apply to the Cabinet's investor nationality unit.
Article 4 bis of the Egyptian Nationality Law (added by Law 140 of 2019) and Prime Ministerial Decree 3099 of 2019, as amended in 2023, set four investment options, all paid in foreign currency transferred from abroad or declared at customs. The payment can be made in instalments over up to a year, with temporary residence meanwhile; nationality is granted once it is paid in full. If you withdraw or default, sums paid come back in Egyptian pounds without interest.
Apply to the Cabinet's investor nationality unit, at its office at the General Authority for Investment (GAFI) in Nasr City, Cairo, or through its online portal. You pay a non-refundable application fee set by law, the unit vets you with the security bodies, and a preliminary decision is due within three months. Preliminary approval brings six months' residence to complete the investment, and the Prime Minister then decides. Applicants are reported to need to visit Egypt in person.
The grant is discretionary. The law also requires sound mind, good conduct with no serious conviction, and knowledge of Arabic, though the unit says there is no language test. We found no official figures; industry press reported about 200 approvals by March 2023 and 36 in 2025.
Minor children become Egyptian with you. A wife can follow by declaration after two years; a foreign husband cannot. For five years after naturalising, two consecutive years outside Egypt without an accepted excuse can cost you the nationality.