Investment in Jordan

Three instruments now carry the framework. The Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022 is the parent statute. The Investment Environment Regulation No. 7 of 2023 consolidated eighteen earlier bylaws into one text covering ownership restrictions, incentives, zones, and residency. The Amended Investment Environment Regulation No. 30 of 2026, published in Official Gazette No. 6052 on 4 June 2026, is the newest layer, and this guide reflects it.

Five current rules matter most. Strategic activities carry minimum investment thresholds: above 7 million Jordanian dinars for agriculture and information technology, above 20 million for renewable energy, transport, and logistics, above 50 million for industry, tourism, education, and health services, and above 75 million for other activities, with a three-year grace period to satisfy the conditions after the single approval. Foreign companies that are majority Jordanian-owned may establish local companies in any economic activity. The prohibited-activities list is short and defined, and it is set out below. Non-Jordanian employees are capped at 25% of the workforce in specialised positions, extendable to 40% where qualified Jordanian labour is unavailable under Article 5 of the Law, with exception criteria for rare skills and technology transfer. And low-risk activities can be licensed on the investor’s own declaration, with inspection after launch.

One protection deserves precision, because most summaries overstate it. Under Article 15 of the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022, an investor whose project reaches five million Jordanian dinars or employs 250 or more Jordanians may request that an adverse legislative change not apply to the investment for seven years, by written notification to the Ministry within six months of the change. The protection is real, but it is conditional and it is claimed, not automatic. Jordan also remains bound by its bilateral investment treaties and double-taxation agreements.

The starting rule is full ownership. Non-Jordanian investors may own up to 100% of a Jordanian company across most commercial, industrial, professional, agricultural, and service activities under the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022 and its implementing regulation.

Two restricted categories sit in the Investment Environment Regulation No. 7 of 2023. Under Article 11, non-Jordanian ownership is capped below 50% in retail and wholesale trade including distribution and import or export services, engineering and consulting services, construction contracting, non-financial brokerage, commercial agency and insurance brokerage, food and beverage services outside tourist restaurants and hotels, and a list of maritime, air, and road transport services. Under Article 13, non-Jordanians are prohibited from owning investigation and security services, private protection and guarding, customs clearance services, trading in firearms and ammunition, private shooting activities, fireworks, and bakeries of all kinds.

Three doors soften the restrictions. The Council of Ministers may ease an Article 11 cap for a specific project on the Minister’s justified recommendation, and published instructions set the criteria under which exceptions are granted. Project companies under the Public-Private Partnership Projects Law No. 19 of 2023 sit outside the restrictions entirely. And inside the zones, the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022 applies no foreign-capital percentage restrictions at all.

The Ministry of Investment is the single reference point for investment in the Kingdom under the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022. Registration and licensing run through its Comprehensive Investment Service, a one-stop window that seats delegated representatives of the licensing authorities in one place, physically and on one electronic platform.

The window carries a deadline with teeth: official entities must decide within fifteen working days, and an application not returned in time is deemed approved. The service covers industry, hotels and tourist establishments, agriculture and livestock, specialised hospitals and medical centres, call centres, scientific research centres, information technology, entertainment cities, exhibition centres, media production, and the creative industries, including electronic games, artificial intelligence applications, and design services.

Investors of all nationalities can also obtain an Investor Card, issued by reference to investment size and jobs created, which gives priority processing with government entities and facilitated border entry for the investor, family members, and senior managers. A standing grievance committee and an investor rights unit receive complaints where a government entity blocks or delays a matter.

The base package applies to qualifying activities anywhere in the Kingdom. Fixed assets, production inputs, and spare parts needed for the activity enter free of customs duties and at a zero rate of sales tax, by ministerial decision issued within fifteen working days of the request under the Investment Environment Regulation No. 7 of 2023.

Income tax relief follows employment and geography. A project that employs at least 250 Jordanians can obtain a four-year income tax exemption with a 50% reduction in the fifth year. Projects in less developed areas obtain reductions of 50% to 75% for five years; the covered areas include the Ajloun Qasabah district.

Above the base package, the Council of Ministers grants additional bundles on the recommendation of the Incentives and Exemptions Committee. The published criteria include employing 350 or more Jordanians, employing 50 or more Jordanian women as at least half the workforce, exporting at least half of output, or achieving at least 50% local value added. Technology transfer, peripheral locations, strategic activities, and registered public-private partnership projects carry their own bundles. Each package combines treasury-land discounts or rent exemptions, contributions of up to half the electricity bill, multi-year building and land tax relief, and registration-fee reductions, in proportions that vary by criterion. The figures in this paragraph reflect the position published by the Ministry of Investment as of June 2026.

Twenty development zones operate across the Kingdom, regulated by the Ministry of Investment and run by master developers, with the government’s Jordan Free and Development Zones Group operating the public free zones and the Dead Sea and Ajloun tourism zones. The zones run from Irbid in the north to Ma’an in the south, each with a sector focus: textiles in Al Hasan and Al Dulayl, chemicals and logistics in Mafraq, pharmaceuticals in Sahab and Al Salt, tourism on the Dead Sea, and information technology at the King Hussein Business Park, among others.

The development-zone package is the strongest general tax position in the Kingdom outside Aqaba. Registered enterprises pay 5% income tax on manufacturing income where local value added reaches 30%, and 10% on other qualifying activities, under the rates set in the Income Tax Law No. 34 of 2014 as amended by Law No. 38 of 2018. Goods and services acquired for the activity carry a zero rate of sales tax, materials and equipment for establishing the project enter customs-free, buildings are fully exempt from building and land taxes, and exported services carry 0% income and sales tax, all under Articles 29 to 32 of the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022. Banks, telecom licensees, financial intermediation, and several professional categories are excluded from the reduced rates.

Six public free zones serve trade and re-export, led by the Zarqa Free Zone, with zones at Sahab, Karak, Al-Karameh on the Iraqi border, Al-Muwaqqar, and Queen Alia International Airport. Profits from exporting services abroad, transit trade, and sales inside the zone are exempt from income tax, non-Jordanian employees’ salaries are exempt, construction materials and equipment enter free of duties, and capital and profits move out in foreign currency without restriction, under Article 31 of the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022. Industrial projects in the free zones also obtain a 10% reduction on rents, and goods manufactured inside the zones earn Jordanian certificates of origin where local value added exceeds 40%. Free-zone trade reached roughly 5 billion Jordanian dinars in 2025 on official figures, with vehicle re-export through Zarqa the largest single stream.

Aqaba runs on its own statute. The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Law No. 32 of 2000 and its amendments created a separate regime administered by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, and Article 50 of the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022 expressly keeps the general law out of the zone.

The headline treatment, as published by the Authority as of June 2026: 5% income tax on the net income of registered enterprises, with banks, insurance, and land transport excluded; customs exemption on imports other than vehicles; no general sales tax except a 7% rate on a short list of goods and on hotel and catering services; and no taxes on dividends or on buildings and land. Registration with the Authority is optional, and it is the step that confers the zone benefits; licensing must begin within thirty days of registration.

The zone runs its own gates for people and land. The Authority issues its own visas, work permits, and residency, registered enterprises may employ up to 70% non-Jordanian staff, land leases run up to fifty years renewable, and purchase is possible for defined uses including hotels and residential projects. Occupancy permits run for five years, and the zone’s current incentives include reduced registration and parking fees. Foreign ownership faces no restriction in most sectors inside the zone.

Jordan grants citizenship through defined investment routes, updated by Cabinet Decision No. 4375 of 2025. The figures below are those published by the Ministry of Investment as of June 2026, stated in Jordanian dinars as the law denominates them; the dinar has been pegged to the US dollar since 1995, so the dollar equivalents shown are stable.

Four direct routes exist. An investor in the medical or food-logistics sectors qualifies with an investment of at least 3 million Jordanian dinars (about USD 4.2 million) per partner, operational for thirty-six continuous months, creating twenty jobs in Amman or ten outside it. An existing investor qualifies where the audited three-year average share of fixed assets reaches 700,000 dinars (about USD 990,000) inside Amman with at least twenty Jordanian employees, or 350,000 dinars (about USD 495,000) outside Amman. A capital-markets route requires buying at least 1 million dinars (about USD 1.4 million) of newly issued shares spread across five or more companies, with no more than 20% in any one company. An employment route rewards employing at least 150 Jordanians in Amman, or 100 outside, registered with the Social Security Corporation for a year and maintained for two.

A temporary Jordanian passport for three years is available at lower thresholds: a new project of 700,000 dinars (about USD 990,000) creating twenty jobs in Amman, or 500,000 dinars (about USD 705,000) and ten jobs outside it, or a share purchase of 1 million dinars (about USD 1.4 million) with half in fixed assets and a three-year lock-up. Citizenship may be recommended at the end of the period where the conditions held.

Two cautions belong here. Older articles online still quote a superseded 2021 basis denominated in US dollars; those figures no longer apply. And every route carries documentary and continuity conditions that are tested before any recommendation, so the structure should be put in place before the investment is made, not retrofitted.

Residency is the lighter instrument, and three routes carry it. The figures are those published by the Ministry of Investment as of June 2026.

A five-year renewable residency follows the purchase of a single property worth at least 200,000 Jordanian dinars (about USD 282,000) by the appraisal of the Department of Land and Survey, bought from a licensed developer, held for five years without sale or mortgage. It covers the investor and family members.

An annual investor residency is issued within fourteen working days to any investor carrying out an economic activity under the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022 or holding a senior management position in one. It extends to the spouse, sons under thirty, unmarried daughters, and parents.

The temporary-passport routes described in the citizenship section also function as medium-term residency for investors building toward the citizenship thresholds. Inside Aqaba, the Authority issues its own residency under the zone’s visa and labour regulation, which can be the faster route for zone-based projects.

Money moves freely. Under Article 5 of the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022, the investor has the right to convert the local currency into a convertible currency and to transfer convertible currencies inside and outside the Kingdom without delay, in line with international financial practice. The Jordanian dinar has been pegged to the US dollar since 1995, and repatriation runs through any licensed Jordanian bank subject to standard anti-money-laundering documentation, not to administrative permission.

Two further guarantees sit beside the transfer right. Article 3 of the same Law requires equal treatment of Jordanian and non-Jordanian investors, and Article 6 bars expropriation except by law, for a specific public purpose, without discrimination, and against fair compensation at market value paid in one payment with interest.

Property follows its own statute. Non-Jordanians may own or lease real estate under the Leasing and Sale of Immovable Property to Non-Jordanians Law No. 47 of 2006, subject to approvals that vary with the buyer’s nationality, the location, and the size and purpose of the property, with larger holdings requiring Council of Ministers approval. Property purchased for residency purposes connects to the five-year residency route described above, and land inside the Aqaba Special Economic Zone follows the zone’s own lease and purchase rules.

The investment approval is not the company. The legal entity is registered with the Companies Control Department under the Companies Law No. 22 of 1997 and its amendments, through the Ministry of Investment’s electronic platform where the project runs through the one-stop window. The mechanics of choosing a form, drafting the documents, and completing tax and social security registrations are covered in the firm’s guide to company formation in Jordan.

Three post-registration items deserve early attention. Beneficial-ownership disclosure with the Companies Control Department is mandatory, with penalties for non-disclosure. Sector licences run on their own clocks beside the fifteen-day window. And where the project sits in a zone, the zone registration is a second registration alongside the company itself, signed with the master developer and filed through the Ministry’s platform.

Jordan’s framework gives the investor four layers of protection. The Article 15 stability mechanism described above shields qualifying investments from adverse legislative change for seven years on request, and Articles 3, 5, and 6 of the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022 carry the equal-treatment, free-transfer, and expropriation guarantees. The grievance machinery inside the Ministry handles administrative obstruction without litigation. Jordan’s network of bilateral investment treaties and double-taxation agreements adds treaty-level protection where the investor’s home state holds one, which is a structuring question to answer before the vehicle is chosen. And dispute resolution can be seated in arbitration under the Arbitration Law No. 31 of 2001 and its amendments, with foreign awards enforceable in Jordan under the 1958 New York Convention, which Jordan joined in 1979.

The weakest protection is the one not planned. An investor who enters through a vehicle with no treaty coverage, no arbitration clause, and no exit mechanics has only the local courts and goodwill. All four layers are available; they simply have to be chosen at the start.

Relying on outdated figures. Much of what is published online still quotes citizenship thresholds in US dollars from a basis that no longer applies. The figures in force are the dinar-denominated thresholds published by the Ministry of Investment, and decisions should start from them.

Choosing a regime by tax rate alone. The 5% headline is real, but it carries local value-added tests, exclusion lists, and substance conditions. A project that sells into the local market from a free zone pays at the border what it saved inside the fence.

Structuring before reading Article 11. A non-Jordanian majority in a capped activity is not registrable. The cure (a Cabinet easing decision, a PPP structure, or a zone) must be designed before the documents are signed.

Ignoring the employment conditions. Most income-tax incentives and every citizenship route carry Jordanian-employment conditions tested through Social Security Corporation records. Headcount planning is incentive planning.

Treating the fifteen-day window as the whole timeline. The deemed-approval rule covers the registration decision. Sector licences, environmental approvals for higher-risk activities, and bank onboarding run on their own clocks.

Forgetting the beneficial-ownership file. The disclosure obligation is active, penalties apply, and foreign ownership structures are exactly what the register is designed to see through.

Leaving treaty protection on the table. The choice of home-jurisdiction vehicle decides whether a bilateral investment treaty protects the project. It costs nothing to choose well and a great deal to discover the gap during a dispute.

The firm advises foreign investors across the full sequence: ownership and treaty structuring, the restricted-activities analysis, registration through the Comprehensive Investment Service, incentive applications and Cabinet-level packages, zone selection and registration in the development zones, free zones, and Aqaba, citizenship and residency files, and the contracts and licensing that follow. Where a dispute arises with a counterparty or a state entity, the firm acts alongside its litigation and arbitration practices.

The firm’s foreign investment practice is described on the foreign investment practice page.

For enquiries regarding investment in Jordan, contact us.