Jordan Announces Conditions of Citizenship, Permanent Residency for Investors

Jordan's Central Bank (File photo: Reuters)
Jordan's Central Bank (File photo: Reuters)
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Jordan Announces Conditions of Citizenship, Permanent Residency for Investors

Jordan's Central Bank (File photo: Reuters)
Jordan's Central Bank (File photo: Reuters)

A petition signed by a group of Jordanian lawmakers on Wednesday called for excluding Israelis from a recent decision to grant the nationality to individuals who invest in the country under certain conditions.

The 18 MPs submitted the petition to Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki, demanding the government review its recent decision to grant the nationality or permanent residency to investors so that Israeli business people don’t benefit from it.

On Monday, the Jordanian government announced that it will grant the citizenship or permanent residency to some 500 investors a year in order to attract investment.

Earlier, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yarub al-Qudah announced during a press conference the details of the decision, explaining that the criteria will be applied to 500 cases annually after security clearance and checks on financial adequacy.

Qudah added that if there are more than 500 demands for citizenship, then the government will consider each case separately and decide on exceeding the limit.

"Setting the limit to 500 applicants is a message to everyone who is afraid. We do not want this decision to go to political interpretations,” added Qudah.

He indicated that investors who are already residing in Jordan can also benefit under the new terms and conditions, stressing that the step aims at stimulating the investment environment, enhancing the national economy and providing jobs.

Investors can apply for the nationality or the permanent residence immediately, after meeting a number of conditions. 

The investor must deposit $1.5 million at the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), over a five year period with zero-interest, or buy treasury bonds for the same amount at an interest rate to be decided by CBJ and for a period not less than 10 years.

Another option for the investor is to buy stocks in an active investment for $1.5 million and invest $1 million in SMEs for five years at least.

The applicant can also invest $2 million in any location in the country, or $1.5 million if the project is registered in any governorate other than Amman, provided such a project creates at least 20 job opportunities and remains operational for at least three years.

To obtain permanent residency, any non-Jordanian can buy a property worth no less than 200,000 Jordanian Dirhams, depending on the assessment of the Lands and Survey Department, for 10 years without selling the property in question.

Based on the above conditions, any investor who obtains the nationality or permanent residency, will have the right to obtain a similar status for his wife, unmarried, widowed or divorced daughters, sons who are below 18-years-old and parents if the investor was the sole provider.

Jordan’s economy has been severely affected by the conflict in Iraq and Syria with public debt reaching $35 billion.



Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb

An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

Hezbollah fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast and a 70-year-old woman suffering from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire. The first responders said they also treated two women in their 50s who were wounded in northern Israel.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the rockets or interceptors.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.