Cabinet approves amendments to investors' Jordanian citizenship requirments

AMMAN — The Cabinet, in a Sunday session headed by Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Bisher Al Khasawneh, agreed to amend the requirements for granting investors Jordanian citizenship and residency to help create an environment that attracts foreign investment, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

According to the new amendments, Jordanian citizenship is granted when the investor provides a deposit of $1 million to the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) without interest, for a period of three years, and does not withdraw from it until the end of this period.

The investor must also buy treasury bonds worth $1 million for a period of six years, with interest determined by the Central Bank of Jordan. The investor must have been inside the Kingdom for at least a month before he signs the final recommendation to grant him Jordanian citizenship.

Jordanian citizenship is also granted to an investor when purchasing shares in Jordanian companies for at least $1.5 million, provided that the shares are not disposed of for a period of at least three years.

The investor is granted a temporary Jordanian passport for a period of three years, upon establishing and registering a project or investment in the economic sector, with a total capital of at least $1 million within the borders of Amman. The project or investment must provide 20 job opportunities to Jordanians and not less than $750,000 outside the borders of Amman, provided that 10 real job opportunities are provided to Jordanians.

An investor is given a period of four months to complete the employment requirement. Then, the investor will be granted Jordanian citizenship after ensuring compliance with these conditions for a period of three years.

The new amendments also stipulate that the investor, or the ordinary person who is not an investor, may be granted residency for a period of five years. The residency comes, regardless of the length of their previous residence in the Kingdom, when purchasing a property with a total value of at least JD200,000, according to the assessment of the Department of Lands and Survey.

The property must be kept for a period of at least five years, without disposing of or mortgaging it. 

In this case, the residence is issued by a decision of the minister of interior based on the recommendation of the special committee for investors.

The requirements also include granting the investor’s wife, his single, widowed and/or divorced daughters who live under his care, his children who were under 18 years old when submitting the application, and his dependent parents Jordanian citizenship. 

In the event that the investment exceeds $3 million, the investor’s male children, who were under 30 years old at the time of the application, and their wives and children are also granted Jordanian citizenship.

As for investments outside the capital, it is required that the average share of the investor in the total value of fixed assets and non-current and tangible assets, which can be calculated for the existing project or projects according to certified annual budgets during the last three years, is at least $500,000 and provides ten job opportunities for Jordanians within three years. 

In the event that a partner has entered or the company is ceded in favour of one of the branches of the same family of the first degree of kinship, Jordanian citizenship is granted to the new partner or owner, according to the aforementioned applicable conditions.

Only 500 investors will be granted citizenship annually. In the event of a violation of any of the above conditions, the Jordanian nationality will be withdrawn or the residency cancelled, as the case may be.

The requirements are reviewed and evaluated once every six months, and are not applied retroactively.