'Nationality given to 21 investors since programme launch'

AMMAN — Minister of State for Investment Affairs Muhannad Shehadeh on Sunday said that so far 21 investors had obtained Jordanian nationality under an incentives programme introduced by the government in 2018.

“We currently have a list of 50 applications which are ready to be reviewed,” the minister, who is also chairman of the Jordan Investment Commission (JIC), told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

According to Shehadeh, the process is currently being reviewed to ensure further improvement.

“This decision has resulted in attracting investors to the Kingdom as well,” the minister said.

Most of the Arab investors who have obtained nationality under the programme are Syrians and Iraqis, according to the minister.

Shehadeh added that the overall number of requests submitted to the JIC to obtain citizenship had reached 200. Of these, 100 applications had met the programme’s conditions.

Through a Cabinet decision taken in February 2018, investors were offered several options to become eligible for citizenship.

Investors can make a zero-interest, five-year $1.5 million deposit at the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) or buy Treasury bonds of the same value at an interest rate to be decided by the CBJ for no less than ten years.

The third option is to buy securities worth $1.5 million from an active investment portfolio or to invest $1 million in SMEs for at least five years to become a Jordanian national.

Investors can also make a $2-million investment in any location in the country, or a $1.5 million investment if the project is registered in a governorate other than Amman, provided that the project creates at least 20 jobs and remains operational for at least three years.

To obtain permanent residency, any non-Jordanian can buy property worth at least JD200,000 without selling or disposing of it in any manner for at least a 10-year period, provided that the Department of Land and Survey confirms the property’s value.

An investor who obtains any of the mentioned statuses will have the right to obtain a similar status for their spouse, unmarried, widowed or divorced daughters, sons below 18 years of age and for their parents, if they are their sole supporters.