Egypt citizenship by investment vs Türkiye’s program is a choice between money given to a State and an asset kept: the Egyptian Cabinet’s cheapest official program in 2026 is a USD 250,000 grant to the State treasury that is never refunded, while Türkiye’s cheapest route is USD 400,000 of real estate that the investor owns and may sell once three years have passed. Egypt’s other three programs, as the Cabinet’s own citizenship portal sets them out, are USD 300,000 for a property paid by transfer from abroad, USD 450,000 for an investment project (USD 350,000 put into the project under Investment Law No. 72 of 2017 and a further USD 100,000 paid to the treasury, not returned), and USD 500,000 held in a special account at the Central Bank of Egypt for three years. Every Egyptian application also carries a USD 10,000 fee, sent by bank transfer from abroad and never refunded.
These figures are the portal’s own program, steps and questions pages as the Internet Archive holds them from 13 May and 13 June 2026; the portal’s home page archived on 20 November 2024 lists the same four programs. The portal itself refused a connection from Istanbul on 30 September and again on 1 October 2026, so its archived pages are the official text this page can show.
Egypt or Türkiye: the two official texts side by side
The Egypt column is taken from the Cabinet portal’s program, steps and questions pages; the Türkiye column from Article 12(b) of Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901 and Article 20 of its Implementing Regulation.
| Point of comparison | Egypt | Türkiye |
|---|---|---|
| Who grants nationality | The Prime Minister, on the recommendation of the Cabinet’s citizenship unit, after the security bodies have been consulted | The President, once the regulator of the chosen route has certified the investment |
| Lowest route | USD 250,000 paid to the State treasury as a grant, not refunded | USD 400,000 of real estate bought from a Turkish seller and owned by the investor |
| Property | USD 300,000 transferred from abroad; disposing of the property within five years of acquisition costs a further USD 250,000 to the treasury if the nationality is to be kept | USD 400,000; the title deed carries a three-year no-sale annotation |
| Business | USD 350,000 into an investment project plus USD 100,000 to the treasury; liquidating, stopping or disposing of the project within five years of operation costs a further USD 250,000 | USD 500,000 of fixed capital, or 50 jobs; neither clause carries a holding period |
| Deposit | USD 500,000 in a special Central Bank of Egypt account for three years, returned in Egyptian pounds at the rate of the day of refund, with no interest | USD 500,000 sold to the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye and held for three years in a Turkish lira deposit at the bank that bought it |
| Family | The application declares every wife and child, with their nationalities and documents; a child born to a father holding Egyptian nationality is Egyptian | The spouse, and children who are minors or dependent, in the same application with no extra investment |
| Criminal record | A certificate from the country of origin, legalized there and by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, plus an Egyptian criminal record | Not among the documents Article 20(3) lists |
| Language test | None, the portal states | None |
| Dual nationality | Allowed by Egyptian law, the portal states, though the other State may forbid it | Unrestricted on the Turkish side |
| US treaty status | E-2 since 27 June 1992 | E-1 since 15 February 1933, E-2 since 18 May 1990 |
| E-2 after citizenship by investment | Three unbroken years of domicile in Egypt before the visa application | Three unbroken years of domicile in Türkiye before the visa application |
The USD 150,000 between the two lowest routes is the price of keeping the money: the Egyptian grant is spent the day it is paid, and the Turkish property stays on the investor’s balance sheet. Each Turkish route, with its documents, is on our Turkish citizenship by investment page, and the property route on its own under Turkish citizenship by buying a home or land.
Does the Egyptian citizenship deposit earn interest, and in which currency does it come back?
It earns nothing. The portal describes the deposit route as USD 500,000 transferred from abroad into a special account at the Central Bank of Egypt and returned after three years in Egyptian pounds, at the rate the Central Bank of Egypt announces on the day of refund, without interest. The investor therefore carries three years of the pound’s movement and receives no return for it. The Turkish deposit route also ends in local currency, because the dollars are sold to the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye before the deposit is opened, but the lira sits in a deposit that the bank renews at its own rates over the three years, and the citizenship right is fixed on the conversion date, so a later fall of the lira does not take it away. The Turkish route is followed step by step on our Turkish citizenship by bank deposit page.
Can the Egyptian amounts be paid in instalments?
Two of them can. The portal allows the USD 250,000 grant and the USD 300,000 property price to be paid in instalments over no more than one year. Nationality is granted only once the whole amount is in, and during the instalments the applicant holds a temporary residence permit that is not a tourist one. If the applicant stops paying or withdraws, what was paid comes back in Egyptian pounds at the Central Bank of Egypt’s rate on the day of refund, capped at the rate of the day it was paid, and without interest. The project route and the deposit route are paid in full.
What happens if the Egyptian property or project is sold within five years?
The nationality survives only on a second payment. The portal states that where the property is disposed of within five years of its acquisition, or the project is liquidated, stopped or disposed of within five years of starting operation, the investor keeps Egyptian nationality only by transferring USD 250,000 from abroad to the Central Bank of Egypt as direct revenue to the treasury, which is not returned. Türkiye’s property route carries its three years on the deed itself, and Article 20(8) lets the investor move between investment types to complete those three years.
How long does an Egyptian citizenship file take?
The portal sets three stages. The Cabinet’s unit takes an initial decision three to six months after the file is complete, weighing national security after hearing the security bodies. On the Prime Minister’s initial approval the investor receives six months of temporary residence to carry out the investment: to buy the property, to have the project approved, or to place the deposit. The final decision follows within three months once the investment and the documents are complete. The portal’s own answer to the question of when the Egyptian passport arrives is six to twelve months.
Which Egyptian figures in circulation are out of date?
A translation paper of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones dated 12 January 2021, still served on the authority’s investment site, lists options that the portal no longer carries: USD 500,000 for real estate owned by the State, USD 400,000 for a project in which the investor holds at least 40 per cent of the capital, and a deposit of USD 1,000,000 for three years or USD 750,000 for five. The portal’s current pages carry USD 300,000 for property, USD 450,000 for the project route and USD 500,000 for a three-year deposit. Only the USD 250,000 grant is the same in both.
The legal basis the portal names
Law No. 140 of 2019 allows the Prime Minister to grant Egyptian nationality to a foreigner who buys real estate, sets up an investment project under Investment Law No. 72 of 2017, or deposits foreign currency either as direct revenue to the State treasury or as an interest-free deposit in a special account at the Central Bank of Egypt. Prime Ministerial Decrees No. 3099 of 2019 and No. 3562 of 2023 regulate the cases in which nationality is granted, and Decree No. 647 of 2020 set up the unit within the Cabinet that examines the applications. The unit’s reception office sits at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones in Cairo.
What the Egyptian file must carry
The portal’s list is a copy of the foreign passport and the original birth certificate or an official extract of it; six recent photographs; a declaration of any other nationality held; the wives and children, with their nationalities and the documents that prove them; an official certificate from the country of origin that the applicant has never been sentenced for a felony or to a custodial penalty for a crime against honor, legalized by the competent authority there and by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; an Egyptian criminal record; an official record of the applicant’s travel over the five years before the application, from the country of origin and from the country of permanent residence, legalized by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and a medical certificate from a government hospital. The text asks for legalization by the issuing State and by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, not an apostille. The applicant may ask that the application and every decision on it stay confidential.
Can Egyptian nationality acquired by investment be withdrawn?
Yes, in two cases the portal names: within ten years of acquisition, where it was obtained by fraud or on false statements, and within five years, where the holder is sentenced in Egypt for a felony or to a custodial penalty for a crime against honor. The investor’s children are not called up for military service, the portal adds, because they are naturalized.
How Serka Law Firm works an Egyptian or a Turkish file
Serka Law Firm acts for the investor and is instructed and paid by the investor alone, so no route earns the firm more than another. On an Egyptian file the work is confirming that the program chosen is the one the Cabinet’s pages carry today, building the document set to the legalization standard above, and proving the source of the funds before the first transfer. Where the same money could do more in Türkiye, the firm sets the Turkish file beside the Egyptian one, with the seller, the deed and the valuation checked before any money moves.
Where the figures come from
| What it supports | Source | Text dated | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| The four programs, the five-year rule, the instalments and the deposit refund terms | Egyptian Cabinet citizenship portal, program pages | Archived 13 May and 13 June 2026 | 1 October 2026 |
| The USD 10,000 fee, the decision windows, the temporary residence and the documents | The same portal, its steps page | Archived 13 June 2026 | 1 October 2026 |
| Six to twelve months, dual nationality, withdrawal, military service, no language test | The same portal, its questions page | Archived 13 June 2026 | 1 October 2026 |
| Law No. 140 of 2019 and Decrees No. 3099 of 2019, No. 3562 of 2023 and No. 647 of 2020 | The same portal, its page on the unit | Archived 11 April 2026 | 1 October 2026 |
| The 2021 figures | General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, translation paper “Introduction and Content” | 12 January 2021 | 1 October 2026 |
| Türkiye’s routes, family, documents and deposit mechanics | Law No. 5901, Article 12(b); Implementing Regulation, Article 20; Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye Implementation Instruction of 16 May 2022 | Consolidated texts | 26 August 2026 |
| Egypt and Türkiye on the E-2 table, and the three-year domicile condition | 9 FAM 402.9-10; 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(E) as amended by Public Law 117-263, section 5902(b) | As served | 30 September 2026 |
Egypt or Türkiye turns on three facts that only the investor holds: the passport, the source of the money and whether the capital has to come back. Write to Serka Law Firm with those three and the route you are weighing, at info@serkalaw.com or on WhatsApp at +90 530 127 59 35, the firm’s office line.
Every other open program, Egypt included, is set against Türkiye in the citizenship by investment country comparison.