Egyptian nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Egypt, as amended; the Egyptian Nationality Law, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Egypt. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Egyptian nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in Egypt, or jus sanguinis, born to parents with Egyptian nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalization.
Acquisition of nationality Nationality can be acquired in Egypt at birth or later in life through naturalization.
By birth Those who acquire nationality at birth include:
Children born anywhere who have at least one parent who is an Egyptian national by birth; or Abandoned children or orphans discovered in the territory whose parents are unknown.
By naturalization Naturalization can be granted to persons who have resided in the territory for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the Arabic language, customs and traditions of the society. General provisions are that applicants have good character and conduct; have no criminal convictions; have good mental and physical health; can economically be self-sufficient; and have resided in the country for ten years. Egyptian nationality law does not reference whether adoptees can acquire nationality. Besides foreigners meeting the criteria, other persons who may be naturalized include:
The legal wife of an Egyptian national after two years of marriage, and upon making a declaration of a desire to acquire Egyptian nationality to the Minister of the Interior; Persons born in Egypt who have nationality from a Muslim country or one in which the majority of people speak Arabic and who have resided in Egypt for one year; Foreign persons born in Egypt who have been a regular resident of Egypt at the time of majority can naturalize with the residency period waived if they apply within one year of reaching majority; Persons born in Egypt whose father was also born in Egypt, and has Arab or Muslim roots, after five years residency; Minor children can be automatically naturalized when their parent acquires nationality; Persons who have performed exceptional services to the nation, including as the head of a religious sect, can be naturalized without other requirements; or Persons who have invested specified monies toward the development of the nation may naturalize after a five-year residency.
Loss of nationality Egyptian nationals can renounce their nationality pending approval by the state. To reacquire nationality that has been lost whether through renunciation or denaturalization, five years must have lapsed since its termination. Nationals may be denaturalized in Egypt for having dual nationality or serving in the military of another state without government authorization; performing actions against state interests; having been a Zionist; failure to perform military obligations; performing actions indicating one is a national of another state; committing serious crimes, disloyal acts, or crimes against the state or state security; residing abroad without authorization; or for fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment in a naturalization petition. Some of the provisions for denaturalization depend upon the length of time one has been naturalized and others have neither a time limit, nor make distinction between native born or naturalized individuals in loss of nationality.
Dual nationality Dual nationality is typically allowed in Egypt since 2004, as long as authorization is given by the government; however, neither the president nor prime minister, or their immediate family members can hold multiple nationalities. Various court rulings in specific cases have also barred parliamentarians from having dual nationality. Typically, if someone acquires dual nationality and does not have governmental permission, there is no automatic consequence; however, if the Cabinet of Egypt has rendered a decision on the case, the affected individual is legally denaturalized.
History Ottoman period (1517–1914) From 1517, the inhabitants were subjects of the Egyptian province of the Ottomans. Within the Ottoman Empire, for six centuries, there was an internal organization that defined government functions for subjects by balancing religious and communal ties, weighing aptitudes and occupations without a centralized national ideology. Ottoman subjecthood was strongly tied to religion and non-Muslims, if they were ahl al-Kitāb (People of the Book), meaning Jewish, Christian, or Zoroastrian, could benefit from being subjects by agreeing to pay a tax to the sultan. Under a pact known as zimma, in exchange for paying taxes, the sultan allowed these subjects freedom of religion and guaranteed their lives, property, and rights with an understanding that they were legally entitled to less status than Muslim subjects. The pact was agreed to by the leaders of the confessional community, who managed the adherents and their internal organization under the religious law of their community.
By the eighteenth century a political organization, known as the millet, managed the affairs of their respective religious communities and developed into the protégé system (, protected persons). Signing treaties with European powers, from the 1673 signing of a Capitulation with France, the Ottoman Empire granted France control of certain Ottoman Christians, Austria control of some Ottoman Roman Catholics, most favoured nation status to British and Dutch traders, as well as specific rights to the Republic of Venice and Russian Empire. Under the terms of these treaties, foreign powers could recruit Ottoman subjects to serve their needs as commercial agents, consuls, or interpreters, and extend to these protégés diplomatic immunity from prosecution and privileges of trade, including lowered customs tariffs. Over time, abuses of the system led to a virtual monopoly of foreign trade by protégés, clandestine sales of letters patent (), and demands from foreign powers for protection to extend from individuals to entire communities. The influence on Ottoman subjects by European powers changed the perception of these minority groups in the empire, meaning that they were increasingly seen not as Ottoman subjects, but as resident aliens.
In 1798, France and Britain's conflicts during the Napoleonic Wars extended into Egypt. France occupied the territory until 1801, when the French were defeated and Britain set about assisting the Ottoman Empire in regaining its sovereignty. To curb the disruptive effects of Europeans in the empire, from 1806, the Ottoman government began sending communiques to the foreign embassies demanding compliance with the terms of their agreements. Failing to achieve success diplomatically, in 1839, the Ottoman government issued the Edict of Gülhane, in an effort to end bribery and corruption, and to create fair tax schemes and institutions to protect the basic rights of Ottoman subjects. The Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856 () categorized subjects by whether they were Muslim or non-Muslim, granting different civil statuses to each. In 1863, new regulations upon protégés restricted the privileges they received in the empire and clarifying who were thereafter considered to be Ottoman subjects and who were foreigners.
The Khedivate of Egypt was established by 1867, and to further define subjects of the Ottoman Empire, new nationality legislation was passed in 1869 (tâbiiyet-i osmaniye kanunnamesi, Ottoman Nationality Law). The law specified terms for the acquisition and loss of who was within the sovereignty of the empire, rather than the domestic obligations and rights of citizenship. It described who was a subject, owing allegiance, and made provisions for wives, children, emigrants and immigrants. Under its terms, children derived nationality from their fathers, foreigners born in the territory could acquire nationality at majority, and foreigners born elsewhere could obtain nationality after five years residency within the imperial realm. Specific provisions included that foundlings discovered within the territory; stateless persons living in the empire; Muslim women, who despite the ban on such marriages, had married Persian men and the children of such a union; unregistered persons who had not been counted in the Ottoman census, either because no census was taken or their births were unregistered, were all considered to be Ottoman. Foreign women acquired Ottoman nationality through marriage, but could return to their original nationality upon the death of their spouse. Nationality could also be granted based on special contribution or service to the nation. Dual nationality was permitted, but was discouraged, as the government could choose not to recognize naturalization of an Ottoman subject by another state.
In 1901 Egypt promulgated its first nationality code, defining the acquisition of Egyptian nationality in its jurisdiction, though still recognizing that they were Ottoman subjects. Amendments made to the Ottoman Nationality Law in 1909 included conveyance of nationality to adoptees and to children born on ships in Ottoman waters. It also introduced in Article 6 that foreign wives who acquired nationality by marriage could repatriate to their original nationality upon termination of the marriage; in Article 7 that foreign wives could only naturalize with their foreign husbands; and in Article 19 that women derived the nationality of their husband upon marriage. From 1909, Ottoman subjects were allowed to denaturalize with permission of the authorities, but doing so would result in banishment from the empire. Ottoman Rule ended on 5 November 1914 and a British Protectorate was established over Egypt on 18 December 1914.
British period (1914–1922) Under the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Article 102, former Ottoman (ethnic Turkish) subjects resident in Egypt were denaturalized by Turkey and automatically acquired Egyptian nationality unless they were absent from the territory on 18 December 1914. Articles 103–105 provided that Turkish subjects who began residing after that date could apply for naturalization, if they were of legal age and of similar ethnicity to the majority population in Egypt. Naturalization of a man automatically covered his wife and minor children. British protectorates, in 1914, were considered to be foreign territories lacking an internal government. When Britain extended this status over a territory, it took responsibility for both internal and external administration, including defense and foreign relations. Indigenous persons who were born in a protectorate were known as British Protected Persons (BPP) and were not entitled to be British nationals. BPPs had no right of return to the United Kingdom and were unable to exercise rights of citizenship; however, they could be issued a passport and could access diplomatic services when traveling abroad. Persons born in a British protectorate to a father who was a British national derived their nationality from their parent. Legally protectorate status was extended over Egypt by the British in 1914 and withdrawn in 1922; however, the British crown exercised extraterritorial jurisdiction in Egypt until it was terminated by an Order in Council on 14 October 1949.
Post-independence (1922–1958)