Investors begin applying for citizenship one week after Cabinet decision

AMMAN — The Jordan Investment Commission (JIC) started receiving applications by investors wishing to obtain Jordanian nationality or permanent residency in the Kingdom following a recent Cabinet decision allowing the procedure, the JIC said Monday. 

Qualified personnel at the JIC were trained to handle the process and receive the applications of investors who wish to receive a nationality or a permanent residency, Minister of State for Investment Affairs and JIC Chairman Muhannad Shehadeh said in a statement.

The step, he said, aimed at facilitating investments and easing procedures for individuals wishing to invest in the Kingdom.

“This decision was taken after a thorough study of the investment climate in Jordan and its role in attracting more investments that help create job opportunities,” the minister said in the statement, a copy of which was obtained by The Jordan Times.

He added that the recent decision by the government does not include existing investments, unless they are being expanded.

Last week, the Cabinet endorsed a decision under which investors are offered several options, each of which makes them eligible for citizenship. They include a zero-interest, five-year $1.5 million deposit at the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), or buying Treasury bonds of the same value at an interest rate to be decided by CBJ for no less than 10 years.

The third option offered for investors 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. 

The fifth option is a $2-million investment in any location in the country, or $1.5 million if the project is registered in any governorate other than Amman, provided that the project creates at least 20 job opportunities 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 it in any manner for a period of 10 years, provided that the Lands and Survey Department confirms the property value.

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