Tunisia Investor Residence Card

Tunisia's investor residence card is an administrative permit created by statute, not a marketed investment-migration programme. It has no application portal, no published capital threshold and no processing-time commitment — but it does carry an unusually long statutory validity of five years, renewable, with a ten-year variant available by decree.

The current legal basis is Décret-loi n° 2022-68 du 19 octobre 2022, published in the Journal Officiel de la République Tunisienne on 21 October 2022, on improving the effectiveness of public-private partnerships and promoting investment in priority sectors. Its Chapter VI, Article 35 provides that a residence card is granted for five years following the declaration of the investment with the competent investment structures and the filing of the investment sheet (fiche d'investissement) with the Banque Centrale de Tunisie; the card is renewable for the same duration so long as the investment continues, and may be issued for ten years, renewable, where the foreign investor meets conditions to be set by decree. The provision is available both to foreign investors residing in Tunisia and to foreign executives employed on the investment projects (L'Économiste Maghrébin, "IDE : conditions d'obtention de la carte de séjour et incitations financières"; UNCTAD Investment Policy Monitor, Tunisia decree-law 2022-68). The same decree-law inserted Article 22 bis into the investment law framework (UNCTAD Investment Policy Hub, Tunisia investment law text).

The facility was first announced by the Tunisia Investment Authority (TIA / Instance Tunisienne de l'Investissement) on 26 November 2019 under the heading that foreign investors could henceforth obtain a Tunisian residence card (TIA announcement). The 2022 decree-law consolidated and extended that regime.

Underneath sits the general foreigners' regime: Décret n° 68-198 du 22 juin 1968 regulating the entry and stay of foreigners in Tunisia (Legislation Sécurité, Décret 68-198), as modified by Décret n° 92-716 du 20 avril 1992, which introduced two-year renewable temporary-stay visas for defined categories including investors (Legislation Sécurité, Décret 92-716).

The Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Tuniso-Française (CCITF) publishes the operative procedure. Three prerequisites apply: the applicant must be a foreign national, must have entered Tunisia legally, and must comply with the rules on entry, stay and the exercise of a professional activity. The file must include an attestation that the applicant is not subject to the work-contract visa requirement, the company's articles of association together with proof of publication in the JORT, proof of accommodation, a copy of a valid passport, four photographs and the completed visa / carte de séjour form. Ordinary applicants file with the offices of National Security (Sûreté Nationale); investors, their family members and executives file instead with the Agence de Promotion de l'Industrie or the investor-support cell at the Ministry of Development and International Cooperation (CCITF, "Obtention de la carte de séjour pour un investisseur étranger").

An independent 2026 verification describes the route as open but administrative — a permit issued through the Direction de l'appui aux investisseurs rather than a programme, with no citizenship-by-investment, residence-by-investment or golden-visa scheme in Tunisia and no published minimum investment (arrive.now, Tunisia investor residency, last verified July 2026).

Investment requirements

• No published minimum investment amount. Neither Article 35 of Décret-loi 2022-68 nor the CCITF procedure states a capital figure (L'Économiste Maghrébin; CCITF); independent verification in 2026 confirms the absence of any published threshold (arrive.now).

• The investment must be declared with the competent investment structures, and the investment sheet (fiche d'investissement) must be filed with the Banque Centrale de Tunisie — this filing is the trigger for the five-year card (L'Économiste Maghrébin).

• The card is renewable for as long as the investment continues (L'Économiste Maghrébin).

• A ten-year renewable card is available where the investor satisfies conditions to be fixed by decree (L'Économiste Maghrébin; UNCTAD Investment Policy Monitor).

Eligibility prerequisites

• Be a foreign national, have entered Tunisia legally, and comply with the regulations on entry, stay and the exercise of a professional activity in Tunisia (CCITF).

• Eligible categories under Article 35 are foreign investors resident in Tunisia and foreign executives employed on the investment projects; family members are handled through the same investor-support channel (L'Économiste Maghrébin; CCITF).

Documentation

• Attestation of non-submission to the work-contract visa requirement (CCITF).

• Company articles of association plus proof of publication in the JORT (CCITF).

• Proof of accommodation in Tunisia (CCITF).

• Copy of a valid passport, four photographs, and the completed visa / carte de séjour application form (CCITF).

• Evidence of the investment declaration and the BCT investment sheet (L'Économiste Maghrébin).

Where to file

• Investors, their family members and company executives: the Agence de Promotion de l'Industrie, or the investor-support cell at the Ministry of Development and International Cooperation (CCITF).

• All other foreign nationals: the offices of National Security (CCITF).

• In current practice the Direction de l'appui aux investisseurs is the operative channel (arrive.now).

No published processing time or fee schedule. The SICAD government service page for the foreigners' residence card carries no substantive detail (SICAD, Octroi de la carte de séjour pour étrangers).

• Five-year residence card issued up front, not a one- or two-year permit — granted on declaration of the investment and filing of the investment sheet with the Banque Centrale de Tunisie (L'Économiste Maghrébin)
• Renewable for equal five-year periods for as long as the investment continues (L'Économiste Maghrébin)
• Ten-year renewable card available where the investor meets conditions fixed by decree (UNCTAD Investment Policy Monitor)
• No published minimum investment — the statute conditions the card on a declared investment, not on a capital figure (L'Économiste Maghrébin; arrive.now)
• Extends to foreign executives employed on the investment projects, not just the investor (L'Économiste Maghrébin)
• Dedicated investor filing channel at the Agence de Promotion de l'Industrie / Ministry of Development and International Cooperation, bypassing the ordinary National Security route (CCITF)
• Exemption from the work-contract visa requirement is built into the file, so the investor is not treated as an employee needing a labour-market test (CCITF)
• Five-year statutory naturalisation residence requirement under Article 20 of the Nationality Code — the card's validity period matches the naturalisation clock exactly (Code de la nationalité tunisienne)

Article 20 of the Code de la nationalité tunisienne is the operative rule: naturalisation may be granted only to a foreigner who proves habitual residence in Tunisia during the five years preceding the application, subject to the exceptions in Article 21 (UN ESCWA text of the Nationality Code; 9anoun.tn, Article 20).

The five-year investor residence card under Article 35 of Décret-loi 2022-68 therefore aligns neatly with the five-year habitual-residence requirement: an investor who holds and uses the card for its full initial term completes the statutory residence period without needing a renewal (L'Économiste Maghrébin).

The critical qualifier is "habitual residence" — this is a genuine-presence test, not a paper-permit test, so Tunisian tax residency should be expected to follow. Naturalisation remains discretionary and, as in most Maghreb jurisdictions, is granted sparingly; the Nationality Code text reviewed does not create an entitlement on completion of five years (Code de la nationalité tunisienne).

Tunisia has no separate permanent residence category — the long-validity residence card performs that function, so the program operates as a temporary residence route with no separate PR step.

The operative provision is Article 35 of Décret-loi n° 2022-68 du 19 octobre 2022 (JORT, 21 October 2022), in Chapter VI of that decree-law on improving the effectiveness of public-private partnerships and promoting investment in priority sectors. Article 35 fixes the five-year residence card granted on declaration of the investment with the competent investment structures and filing of the investment sheet with the Banque Centrale de Tunisie, its renewal for equal periods while the investment subsists, and the ten-year renewable variant subject to conditions to be set by decree. Article 37 of the same decree-law inserted Article 22 bis into the investment law (L'Économiste Maghrébin; UNCTAD Investment Policy Monitor; UNCTAD, consolidated investment law text).

The general immigration framework is Décret n° 68-198 du 22 juin 1968 regulating the entry and stay of foreigners in Tunisia (Legislation Sécurité), amended and supplemented by Décret n° 92-716 du 20 avril 1992, which created two-year renewable temporary-stay visas for enumerated categories including investors (Legislation Sécurité).

Institutionally, the Tunisia Investment Authority (TIA / Instance Tunisienne de l'Investissement) announced the investor residence card on 26 November 2019 (TIA); the Agence de Promotion de l'Industrie and the investor-support cell of the Ministry of Development and International Cooperation receive investor files (CCITF); the Ministry of Interior / Sûreté Nationale handles ordinary residence cards (CCITF); and the Banque Centrale de Tunisie receives the fiche d'investissement that triggers the five-year card (L'Économiste Maghrébin).

Nationality is governed by the Code de la nationalité tunisienne. Article 20 provides that naturalisation may be granted only to a foreigner who proves habitual residence in Tunisia during the five years preceding the application, with exceptions set out in Article 21 (Code de la nationalité tunisienne, UN ESCWA; 9anoun.tn, Article 20).