"I sell myself” is the beginning of a poem from the movie Morgan Ahmed Morgan of the comedian Adel Imam. I used to laugh when watching the part when the poet sadly sells his poem. I remembered this movie when I heard about selling the Egyptian citizenship to non-Egyptians in exchange for their deposits and investments.
I live in America, a country that welcomes immigration from all over the world. This big country has a population of about 320 million people, of whom only 2% of Indians or indigenous Americans. Nearly all Americans came from other countries like Europe hoping for better life. They obtain the American citizenship through several steps. The first get the temporary residence then permanent residence through the green card and eventually they obtain the citizenship. They apply for the American citizenship by marrying an American, work, asylum or investment. It takes from 3 to 10 years to obtain the American citizenship depending on the situation and circumstances of each person.
I think on this occasion that we are about to issue laws to allow giving the Egyptian citizenship in exchange for deposits and investment in order to support the Egyptian economy. Here, I’d like to speak about the process of obtaining the American citizenship in exchange for investments, the process that could take from 5-7 years. The permanent residence takes 12-24 months.
There is a minimum of 500 thousand dollars to invest actively in the projects and companies and not just a bank deposit, which helps the economy by creating many job opportunities etc.
Small projects are required to create 10 jobs for American citizens, and big projects are required to create hundreds of jobs. 5 years later, they are allowed to get the American citizenship after making sure he has followed the instructions.
I wanted to talk about this in order to make it known that obtaining the American citizenship is not allowed only by temporary bank deposits, but rather a long-term process that ensures good intentions of the applicant.
Giving the Egyptian citizenship could be very dangerous since it has a lot to do with our identity and heritage. Again, I remember here the poem who sells his poets for money. Egypt has 90 million Egyptians 99.9% are indigenous. We need more investments, but not more population. We can grant permanent citizenship and study giving citizenship later. I trust the wisdom and patriotism of those drafting laws in Egypt who seek the prosperity of their country. Long live Egypt.
