It costs a lot of money, but the amount has just been reduced.
Since March 2020, and up until now, any foreigner had a few expensive options to become an Egyptian citizen:
They could pay Egypt $250,000 of foreign currency. which would never be returned.
They could put a million dollars into the Central Bank of Egypt for 3 years, and then withdraw it after 3 years in Egyptian pounds with no interest. In the event the dollar has lost value against the pound, the depositor would get the lower amount.
They could do something similar with $750,000 for five years.
They could invest $400,000 in an official Egyptian investment project.
Or they could purchase Egyptian state-owned real estate worth $500,000.
Now, as Egypt desires more foreign currency reserves, they have loosened these price tags. The cash deposit of $250,000 still stands, but it can be paid in installments.
The real estate investment amount was reduced to $300,000 and the three year deposit was reduced from a million dollars to only $350,000. (It might have been a half million between 2020 and now.)
Egyptians are very upset, but not worried about lots of Palestinians coming.
They are worrying that Jews (and rich Gulf Arabs) will buy property in Egypt and take over the country that way!
There are a handful of Palestinians who attempt to become Egyptian citizens every month, but they usually claim to have had an Egyptian parent. Their applications are usually denied, based on them committing fraud. I am wondering if these new rules will prompt rich Palestinians to seek citizenship in Egypt, since many Palestinians want to become citizens of a real country.
