Egypt Discusses New Amendments to Nationality Law to Attract US Dollars
The Egyptian Parliament is discussing amending some provisions of Law No. 26 of 1975 on obtaining Egyptian nationality, as the parliament’s report reviewed the philosophy and objectives of the amendments.
It discussed granting minors to a foreign mother: whether the Egyptian nationality can be acquired by those born in Egypt but who belong to another country whose language is Arabic or whose religion is also majority Islam.
The report stated that this amendment achieves the principle of equality between men and women alike, in granting Egyptian nationality to children, provided that the law determines the conditions for acquiring the nationality, according to the “Egypt Independent” website.
According to the report, the draft law came into implementation by the ruling of the Constitutional Court.
According to the ruling, the text of the second paragraph of Article (6) was unconstitutional, as it included limiting the rights of minor children of a foreign father who acquired Egyptian nationality, without applying the same to a foreign mother with minor children.
The draft law aimed at enhancing opportunities to obtain foreign currency by granting Egyptian nationality.
This includes permission to grant Egyptian nationality to a foreigner who buys real estate, after meeting the required data, documents, and fees.
The right is also granted to every foreigner born in Egypt to a father or mother of foreign origin if either of them was born in Egypt and belongs to a country whose language is Arabic or whose religion is Islam, when that person requests naturalization within one year from the date of reaching the age of majority.
The amendments were made to give the mother the right to request Egyptian nationality for her children when they fulfill the necessary conditions, in line with the Constitutional Court’s ruling which granted a mother the same right as the father.
The amendments included replacing the text of the first paragraph of Article 4 bis 2 of Law No. 26 of 1975 regarding Egyptian nationality to include the fees prescribed for the applicant for naturalization, as well as the conditions for transferring it from abroad or depositing it in the account of the Central Bank of Egypt.
It allowed the granting of Egyptian nationality to a foreigner who buys real estate from the private sector, without being restricted to the fact that the real estate is owned by the state or other public legal persons.
