"GOLDEN VISA" - Permanent Investor Residence Permit Program

"GOLDEN VISA" - Permanent Investor Residence Permit Program

This is a residence privilege and not an obligation of residence since according to the current legislation the citizen of the third country has no obligation to reside in Greece for a minimum period of each year, but remains the holder even with a few days stay in Greece.

The monetary threshold for buying property in Greece is one of the lowest in Europe and puts Greece in a privileged category compared to other Member States. 

What is currently valid in Greece for Golden Visa

In Greece, the Golden Visa program has been in operation for a decade and the minimum investment thresholds have already been modified during that time. The most recent revision of the investment amounts and requirements was published in the Government Newspaper in April 2024 and more specifically in ΦΕΚ 49 Τεύχος Α / 5.4.2024. On this basis, the minimum amounts to be invested by foreign investors interested in obtaining a 5-year residence permit were increased (Golden Visa) and at the same time the membership criteria and conditions for this program became more strict.

Minimum investment amounts for Golden Visa

Following the vote on the new new law 5100/2024, which includes in Article 64 the provisions on residence permit by investment, the new thresholds on investment amounts are divided into 3 zones and are as follows:

a) 800.000€ - For the Region of Attica, the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki of the Region of Central Macedonia, the Regional Units of Mykonos and Thira of the Region of South Aegean and for the islands with a population, according to the last census, over three thousand one hundred (3.100) residents.

b) 400.000€ - For the other regions of the country

c) 250.000€ - For the whole country and only for real estate that:

i) changes use for the main living spaces and becomes a residence. Includes shops, offices, but also real estate consisting of an industrial building or part of an industrial building or within which there is an industrial building, only if there has not been an industry installed and in operation for at least five (5) years. Our company specializes in changes of use of real estate long before the law came into force, offering complete solutions for the conversion of commercial and industrial premises into residential properties. For more information on our change of use services, please visit our page here.

(ii) consists of a listed building or part of a listed building to be restored or reconstructed or within which there is a listed building.

Key points - terms - conditions

It should be noted that in all of the above versions, in the case of investment through purchase of an undivided co-ownership share in the property, the minimum value of the co-ownership percentage is set equal to 800.000€, 400.000€ and 250.000€ respectively. Unique the exception is where the co-owners are husband and wife or partners in a civil partnership, always provided that the total value of the property is at least equal to the above limits.

In all of the above options, the investment through the purchase of real estate is made in a single property.

If in cases a) and b) it is a built property or a property for which a building permit has been issued, then it is required to have a minimum surface area of 120m² (one hundred and twenty square meters) of main premises.  

For case c-i) the change of use of the property must be completed prior to the submission of the application for the granting of the investor's permanent residence permit, while the change of use may also be made by the seller.

While in case c-ii) the transfer of the property before the full restoration or total reconstruction is completed is void.

The above amounts must be paid before submitting the Golden Visa application.

Investors have the right to long-term rent (lease) the real estate they have acquired in Greece, but forbidden properties acquired under the Golden Visa program to:

  1. short-term rentals in the context of the sharing economy
  2. subleased
  3. used as a head office or branch of a business if they have a change of use and have been converted into a main residence.

Failure to comply with the above restrictions will result in corresponding fines and, where applicable, the residence permit may be revoked.

As in all such cases, a transitional period is foreseen so that the ongoing Golden Visa purchase and sale agreements can be completed without being directly affected by the new provisions in force.

The agreed price or rent shall be paid in full by a two-line bank check to the beneficiary's payment account held at a credit institution operating in Greece or by credit transfer, according to definition 24 of article 4 of Law 4537/2018, in a payment account of the beneficiary held at a payment service provider, according to definition 11 of article 4 of Law 4537/2018, which operates in Greece. The above methods of payment may also be made by the spouse and/or relatives by blood or marriage up to the second degree of the buyer.

All the specific details of the payment, including in particular the identification details of the seller, the buyer, and any third-party payer, the payer's payment account number, the payer's address, his official identity document number, the payer's identification number or date and place of birth, the payment method and the relevant payer's debit and payee's credit payment accounts, as well as a declaration by the buyer that he is married to the payer and a statement by the payer that he is married to the buyer.

By common decision of the Ministers of Development and Investment and Finance, the amount of the above real estate may be adjusted, and lists of areas of the territory, with a duration of at least five years, may be drawn up, for which differentiation may apply as regards the amount of the investment referred to in the above paragraph, taking into account elements such as development targeting, tourism development, geographical location, as well as the commercial or objective values of the real estate located in the areas, and the value of the real estate.

The citizens of third countries, owners of real estate, are given the possibility to rent them.

The above third country citizen may be accompanied by his family members who are granted, upon their request, an individual residence permit that expires at the same time as the dependent's residence permit.

- ”Family members” mean:
(a) the other spouses or partners with whom the third country citizen has entered into a cohabitation

agreement in Greece,
(b) the unmarried joint children of the spouses or partners under 21 years of age,

(c) the unmarried children of the supporter or the other spouses or partners, as long as custody has been legally assigned to him/her for the supporter's children and for the children of the other spouses or partners to him/her under the age of 21,

(d) the direct ascendants of spouses or partners."

The above license can be renewed for an equal duration, each time, as long as the real estate remains in the ownership and jurisdiction of the citizen of a third country or the contracts in paragraph 1 of this document remain in force and the other conditions prescribed by law are met. Periods of absence from the country do not constitute an impeding reason for the renewal of the residence permit.

The resale of the real estate during the validity of the residence permit, to another citizen of a third country gives the right to grant a residence permit to the new buyer with the simultaneous revocation of the seller's residence permit.

The residence permits granted in accordance do not establish a right of access to any form of work.

The period of residence is not included in the acquisition of the long-term resident status and the granting of citizenship to the residents.

The residence permit shall be issued within two months of the date on which the issuing authority receives all the information in the file.

In case of conclusion of a contract of sale of a property for any price, the seller, a third country citizen, must submit a certificate from the locally competent Aliens and Immigration Department of the Decentralized Administration, on whether the property has been used for the issuance of a permanent residence permit for an investor. The above shall apply analogously in the case of sale of a property by a legal entity whose shares or shares in a company are wholly owned by a third country citizen.

The application for the granting or renewal of a residence permit is accompanied by a fee of two thousand (2,000) euros.