Speaking to IMI’s Ahmad Abbas during Global Citizen Week in Cairo last month, Sherif Samy, Deputy Head of Egypt’s Citizenship by Investment Unit, revealed that the country’s Citizenship by Investment Program had “received around 1,000 applications.”
Of those applicants, “half of them have already paid the US$10,000 administration fee,” a prerequisite for application processing. About half of those who have already paid the administration fee had already received their Egyptian citizenships, Samy confirmed.
The biggest applicant group, he said, was Syrians, who constitute about three-quarters of applicants, and that typical processing times were between six and nine months.
He also said the main target audience for the program so far had been long-term residents who have their own businesses:
“Those are people who have been living here for 10, 20, or 30 years already,” he remarked.
While Egypt’s CIP offers a variety of investment options, Samy confirmed that the real estate investment option, particularly residential property, was the most popular, particularly in the wake of the government’s decision to lower the investment threshold to US$300,000.
Watch the full interview below:
IMI program guide: Egypt Citizenship by Investment
