Ethiopia's Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS) will begin issuing ten-year golden visas during the current fiscal year, which commenced on 8 July. To qualify, applicants will be required to invest a minimum of USD 10 million, or USD 5 million accompanied by significant local job creation. The card-based residence permit carries a processing fee of USD 10,000, rising to USD 12,500 for expedited handling, with a premium "home service" delivery option also available.
The government-owned newspaper Ethiopia Today reported the thresholds this week, marking the first time the administration has specified an investment requirement since the programme was unveiled in March. Until now, only the USD 10,000 fee had been publicly disclosed, and much of the early coverage mistakenly treated that amount as the investment requirement itself. The Council of Ministers and the House of Peoples' Representatives have both approved the enabling proclamations and regulatory amendments. The ICS is now finalising an operational directive in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice and building the technical infrastructure, including physical card personalisation, for a full launch within the 2026/27 fiscal year. That directive will settle the parameters still outstanding, including precise job creation quotas for the USD 5 million route, the grounds upon which the government may revoke a visa for security reasons, and sector-specific requirements.
Officials have indicated that the programme was modelled on frameworks such as the UAE Golden Visa, though the Emirati programme's property route commences at AED 2 million (approximately USD 545,000), a fraction of the amount that Addis Ababa will require.
Property Ownership and the Citizenship Question
The Golden Visa first emerged on 9 March, when the Council of Ministers approved a revised fee regulation for the ICS that created the ten-year permit alongside a broad increase in visa processing costs. ICS Deputy Director-General Gosa Demissie formally announced the programme in late March, describing a standardised electronic permit designed to afford high-impact investors a decade of uninterrupted residency status with reduced administrative procedures.
The Golden Visa arrives alongside a second, less expensive residence route arising from Ethiopia's real estate liberalisation. Parliament passed legislation in July 2025, in force since October, that permits foreign nationals to own residential property for the first time, provided they pay at least USD 150,000 per house in convertible foreign currency through Ethiopian banks. Because Ethiopia's constitution vests land in the state, buyers own only the structure and hold the underlying land on a leasehold basis. Under that framework, foreign buyers qualify for a multiple-entry property visa of up to five years.
The government has not announced any citizenship pathway tied to either permit, though a naturalisation route exists under ordinary law: a foreign national may apply for citizenship after four years of legal residence, provided they can communicate in one of the country's languages, hold a lawful income, and demonstrate good conduct. However, Ethiopia does not recognise dual nationality, and naturalisation requires renouncing one's existing citizenship; whether future regulations will carve out an exception for naturalising Golden Visa holders remains unclear.
How USD 10 Million Compares, in Africa and Globally
Against Africa's other residence and citizenship-by-investment offerings, Ethiopia's threshold is an outlier by an order of magnitude. Mauritius grants a ten-year investor visa from USD 50,000 and permanent residence from USD 375,000 in real estate; Egypt sells citizenship outright from a USD 250,000 donation; and Namibia's real estate route starts at USD 316,000. Even the continent's more expensive programmes fall well short. Seychelles requires investors to commit USD 1 million to a local business, while Sierra Leone's fast-track citizenship costs USD 140,000 and Cape Verde's Green Card roughly USD 94,000 in real estate.
Mauritius is also preparing a Golden Visa of its own, which Cabinet approved in April but has yet to begin issuing. That programme will require a USD 1 million investment commitment within twelve months of arrival in one of five sectors—a tenth of Ethiopia's headline figure—and grants a two-year renewable multiple-entry visa rather than a decade of residence. The closest structural analog remains Mozambique's tiered investor visa, which reserves its ten-year permit for investments of USD 5 million or more. Ethiopia's USD 5 million-plus-jobs alternative matches that figure but attaches employment conditions that Mozambique does not. Elsewhere on the continent, Botswana has signed an agreement toward a USD 75,000 citizenship programme, while legislative efforts in Kenya and Nigeria remain pending.
Globally, the USD 10 million figure places Ethiopia among the world's most exclusive residence programmes, and in headline-dollar terms above them. Singapore's Global Investor Programme (GIP) requires S$10 million (approximately USD 7.7 million) for its business route, and New Zealand's Active Investor Plus visa demands NZ$10 million (approximately USD 5.8 million) under its Balanced category. Both of those programmes lead further than Ethiopia's: Singapore grants permanent residence directly, with a citizenship application possible after two years, while New Zealand's visa leads to permanent residence; Ethiopia offers a renewable ten-year residence card, and the government has not announced any pathway from the investment to permanent status or naturalisation.
The next milestone is the operational directive that the ICS is drafting with the Ministry of Justice, which will fix the job creation quotas, sector weightings, and revocation terms. Once that directive and the card infrastructure are in place, the agency plans to begin issuing the visa before the 2026/27 fiscal year ends in July 2027.
The government-owned newspaper Ethiopia Today reported the thresholds this week, marking the first time the administration has specified an investment requirement since the programme was unveiled in March. Until now, only the USD 10,000 fee had been publicly disclosed, and much of the early coverage mistakenly treated that amount as the investment requirement itself. The Council of Ministers and the House of Peoples' Representatives have both approved the enabling proclamations and regulatory amendments. The ICS is now finalising an operational directive in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice and building the technical infrastructure, including physical card personalisation, for a full launch within the 2026/27 fiscal year. That directive will settle the parameters still outstanding, including precise job creation quotas for the USD 5 million route, the grounds upon which the government may revoke a visa for security reasons, and sector-specific requirements.
Officials have indicated that the programme was modelled on frameworks such as the UAE Golden Visa, though the Emirati programme's property route commences at AED 2 million (approximately USD 545,000), a fraction of the amount that Addis Ababa will require.
Property Ownership and the Citizenship Question
The Golden Visa first emerged on 9 March, when the Council of Ministers approved a revised fee regulation for the ICS that created the ten-year permit alongside a broad increase in visa processing costs. ICS Deputy Director-General Gosa Demissie formally announced the programme in late March, describing a standardised electronic permit designed to afford high-impact investors a decade of uninterrupted residency status with reduced administrative procedures.
The Golden Visa arrives alongside a second, less expensive residence route arising from Ethiopia's real estate liberalisation. Parliament passed legislation in July 2025, in force since October, that permits foreign nationals to own residential property for the first time, provided they pay at least USD 150,000 per house in convertible foreign currency through Ethiopian banks. Because Ethiopia's constitution vests land in the state, buyers own only the structure and hold the underlying land on a leasehold basis. Under that framework, foreign buyers qualify for a multiple-entry property visa of up to five years.
The government has not announced any citizenship pathway tied to either permit, though a naturalisation route exists under ordinary law: a foreign national may apply for citizenship after four years of legal residence, provided they can communicate in one of the country's languages, hold a lawful income, and demonstrate good conduct. However, Ethiopia does not recognise dual nationality, and naturalisation requires renouncing one's existing citizenship; whether future regulations will carve out an exception for naturalising Golden Visa holders remains unclear.
How USD 10 Million Compares, in Africa and Globally
Against Africa's other residence and citizenship-by-investment offerings, Ethiopia's threshold is an outlier by an order of magnitude. Mauritius grants a ten-year investor visa from USD 50,000 and permanent residence from USD 375,000 in real estate; Egypt sells citizenship outright from a USD 250,000 donation; and Namibia's real estate route starts at USD 316,000. Even the continent's more expensive programmes fall well short. Seychelles requires investors to commit USD 1 million to a local business, while Sierra Leone's fast-track citizenship costs USD 140,000 and Cape Verde's Green Card roughly USD 94,000 in real estate.
Mauritius is also preparing a Golden Visa of its own, which Cabinet approved in April but has yet to begin issuing. That programme will require a USD 1 million investment commitment within twelve months of arrival in one of five sectors—a tenth of Ethiopia's headline figure—and grants a two-year renewable multiple-entry visa rather than a decade of residence. The closest structural analog remains Mozambique's tiered investor visa, which reserves its ten-year permit for investments of USD 5 million or more. Ethiopia's USD 5 million-plus-jobs alternative matches that figure but attaches employment conditions that Mozambique does not. Elsewhere on the continent, Botswana has signed an agreement toward a USD 75,000 citizenship programme, while legislative efforts in Kenya and Nigeria remain pending.
Globally, the USD 10 million figure places Ethiopia among the world's most exclusive residence programmes, and in headline-dollar terms above them. Singapore's Global Investor Programme (GIP) requires S$10 million (approximately USD 7.7 million) for its business route, and New Zealand's Active Investor Plus visa demands NZ$10 million (approximately USD 5.8 million) under its Balanced category. Both of those programmes lead further than Ethiopia's: Singapore grants permanent residence directly, with a citizenship application possible after two years, while New Zealand's visa leads to permanent residence; Ethiopia offers a renewable ten-year residence card, and the government has not announced any pathway from the investment to permanent status or naturalisation.
The next milestone is the operational directive that the ICS is drafting with the Ministry of Justice, which will fix the job creation quotas, sector weightings, and revocation terms. Once that directive and the card infrastructure are in place, the agency plans to begin issuing the visa before the 2026/27 fiscal year ends in July 2027.
- If you're planning to obtain a residence permit, invest in a country's economy, or purchase foreign real estate, we invite you to a consultation with our company. During a personal online meeting, we'll discuss your questions in detail and create a step-by-step action plan for you.