Jordan: citizenship by investment in the Middle East

Jordan is one of the few states in the Middle East that give foreigners a regulated path to citizenship. There is no donation to a state fund here of the kind the Caribbean states offer. The Kingdom wants capital that works in the country. How citizenship by investment works in principle, and which programmes exist around the world, is explained in Buying citizenship.

Jordanian citizenship by investment: how the programme works

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan grants investors citizenship and residence through the Ministry of Investment. The basis is a set of Cabinet criteria for investor residence and citizenship. The ministry spells out their purpose itself: to attract high-quality investment and drive sustainable growth in key sectors.

That gives the programme its logic. Jordan rewards not the cheque but the impact in the country. Almost every route combines three elements:

• Capital: paid-up capital, fixed assets or shares, between 350,000 and 3,000,000 JOD depending on the route.
• Jobs: Jordanians registered with the Social Security Corporation, in a number that depends on the region.
• Holding period: three years for projects and stakes, five years for shares.

One line runs through all the rules: on one side the capital region (Capital Governorate), on the other the rest of the country. Invest outside it and you need less capital and fewer employees. Jordan deliberately steers money into the governorates.

Applications are filed electronically through the Ministry of Investment's e-services portal. The key facts at a glance are on the programme page Jordan.

Which investment gets you Jordanian citizenship?

The ministry distinguishes two groups. On the direct routes you receive citizenship as soon as you meet the conditions. On the other routes you first get a provisional Jordanian passport, and after three years a recommendation for naturalisation follows.

The direct routes

Shares on the stock exchange. You buy newly issued shares in Jordanian companies for at least 1,500,000 JOD and hold them for five years. You don't need a company of your own, and you receive citizenship without a provisional passport.

Existing investments. If you have already invested in Jordan, the work you have done can count. In the capital region, your average share of eligible fixed assets, according to the audited accounts of the last three years, must be at least 700,000 JOD; outside it, at least 350,000 JOD. On top of that you need, on average over the last three years, at least twenty Jordanian employees in the capital region or ten outside it.

High employment. This route stands alongside the projects and has no investment amount. If you employ at least 150 Jordanians in the capital region or 100 outside it, each registered with the Social Security Corporation for at least one year, and keep that number for two consecutive years, you receive citizenship for that contribution.

Medical and food logistics. Pharmaceutical warehouses, the storage of medicines, medical devices and surgical supplies, as well as food logistics and large warehouses, have a route of their own. At least 3,000,000 JOD is invested per partner, and the project runs for 36 consecutive months with the required jobs.

The routes via a provisional passport

New project. You set up a new, registered project in a productive sector: at least 700,000 JOD and twenty jobs in the capital region, or at least 500,000 JOD and ten jobs outside it. You receive a provisional Jordanian passport for three years. The ministry then checks whether you still meet the conditions and recommends naturalisation.

New shares in an existing project. You acquire new shares in an operating productive project for 1,000,000 JOD, of which at least 500,000 JOD goes into new fixed assets. You must not have been entered in the commercial register before, you submit a feasibility study and the previous year's audited accounts, and you create at least 20% new jobs for Jordanians. The shares are locked for three years.

Young projects. If your project has only been running for one or two years, you can choose: wait until you complete the three years required for existing investments, or apply for a provisional passport for the remaining time. Capital and jobs depend on the governorate where your project is located.

Amra City. Investments in Amra City have their own route from 1,500,000 JOD in any economic activity, with at least twenty jobs for Jordanians. Once operations start, you have four months to fill the positions. Until then you receive temporary residence, then a provisional passport for three years and finally citizenship.

Where Jordan sits on price next to the other programmes is shown in the cost overview and the programme comparison.

Shares on the Amman Stock Exchange: the route without your own company

For many investors this is the obvious route. You don't have to build a plant or manage a workforce. You buy newly issued shares in Jordanian companies for at least 1,500,000 JOD and follow a few clear rules:

1. Approval first. The Ministry of Investment issues you an approval letter that entitles you to invest the full amount.
2. One broker. The entire amount goes through a single licensed brokerage firm.
3. Four months. You buy the shares within four months of the approval letter.
4. Your own money. The shares may not be bought on credit, pledged or lent out.
5. Diversification. No more than 10% of the required investment may go into any single company.
6. Five-year lock-in. For five years from the purchase the capital stays invested: you withdraw nothing, not even trading gains.

The share route leads directly to citizenship, without a provisional passport. The entry point is three times as high as for a project outside the capital region. If you plan to build a business in the region anyway, a project gets you to the same goal with less capital.

Jobs for Jordanians: what the employment rules require

Jordan measures employment not by promises but by registrations with the Social Security Corporation, the state social insurance fund. What isn't recorded there doesn't count. The thresholds at a glance:

Two rules deserve a second look. For existing investments you must hold at least 90% of the required employment in every single month of the last three years, so every month counts. And if you run two projects, one in the capital region and one in another governorate, you may add the workforces together; the capital region's thresholds then apply.

On the employment route you also give a written commitment to keep the number after naturalisation. Here Jordan grants citizenship for what you contribute to the country's labour market.

Family: who you can bring into Jordanian citizenship

Under the Cabinet's criteria you can include the following relatives in your application:

• your spouse,
• dependent daughters,
• unmarried sons under 24,
• dependent parents.

With an investment above 2,000,000 JOD, your sons up to 30 can come along too, together with their wives and children.

For residence by investment the circle is drawn a little wider. There the ministry lists spouses, sons under 30, unmarried daughters with no age limit, and parents. So if you start with residence, you can bring your family into the country even before naturalisation.

How Jordan compares with the other programmes on family is shown on the Family page. If you want to bring parents or grandparents, you will find the most generous programmes in Parents and grandparents in a CBI application.

Process: from project to Jordanian passport

The process follows your investment route. For a new project it looks like this:

1. Choose and plan your route. Project, stake or shares, in the capital region or outside it.
2. Bring in the capital. Paid-up capital or fixed assets in the required amount.
3. Hire and register employees. Every position with the Social Security Corporation.
4. Apply. Electronically through the Ministry of Investment's e-services portal.
5. Provisional passport. For new projects and new shares it is valid for three years.
6. Review and recommendation. The ministry checks that investment and employment are still in order and recommends naturalisation.
7. Citizenship and passport. You are a Jordanian citizen.

On the share route the sequence is shorter: approval letter, purchase within four months, citizenship, then the five-year holding period. The ministry publishes no fixed processing time for naturalisation. Processing times for every programme are compared in How soon will your second passport be in your hand?, and the individual steps are on the Process page.

Residence instead of a passport: residency by investment and property

Not everyone wants citizenship right away. Jordan also offers two residence routes, which are often the first step:

• Annual residence for investors: within 14 working days for investors in the sectors covered by the Investment Environment Law, or for investors who hold a senior role in their company, such as board member or managing director.
• Five-year residence through property: a property from 200,000 JOD bought from a developer, from 300,000 JOD bought from any other seller, or one or more properties outside the capital region totalling at least 150,000 JOD. The property stays unsold and unencumbered for five years; the residence is valid for five years and can be renewed.

A residence permit, however, remains a permission that an authority has to renew. Citizenship belongs to you. The difference between the two is explained in Second passport or Golden Visa. What to watch for when buying a flat in Amman, Aqaba or on the Dead Sea is covered in Buying property in Jordan.

What the Jordanian passport gives you and who it suits

A passport is a right, not a permission. A visa or a residence card can be refused or withdrawn; citizenship does not depend on an authority's mood. For entrepreneurs who manufacture, trade or invest capital in the region, that is the real value: a right of your own to live, work and invest in the country without asking for a renewal every year.

Its strength lies in the region, not in visa-free travel to Europe. According to the German Federal Foreign Office's list of visa requirements, Jordanian citizens need a visa for Germany. For you as a German that makes no difference, because you keep travelling to Europe on your German passport. The Jordanian passport is your foothold in the Middle East.

Anyone looking for an investor programme between the Mediterranean and Asia usually compares these three:

For investors who want to buy property, Türkiye is the classic route: more in Turkish passport through property and on the programme page Türkiye. Jordan suits entrepreneurs who genuinely build something in the country. In the Gulf the road is far rockier, as UAE passport: is there one for foreigners? shows. An overview of every region from the Caribbean to the Middle East is in CBI regions compared.

Visas, work and everyday life in Amman are covered in Moving to Jordan.

Jordanian passport and German passport: you keep both

Since the 2024 reform of German nationality law, section 25 of the Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG) has been repealed. A German who voluntarily acquires a foreign citizenship no longer loses German citizenship. You need no permit in Germany and file no application.

For tax purposes the passport alone changes nothing. Under section 1(1) of the Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG), anyone with a residence or habitual abode in Germany has unlimited tax liability, whatever their citizenship. If you move your residence to Jordan, plan the tax side separately. The basics are on the Tax page, and the Jordanian tax system is described in Taxes in Jordan at Steueratlas.

And one final thought: investment and naturalisation through residence are not mutually exclusive. Naturalisation is the free and, in the end, often the better route, but it takes years and genuine residence. An investor passport buys you that time, and if you run a company in Jordan anyway, you combine the two quite naturally. How to combine both routes is explained in CBI and naturalisation.

Frequently asked questions