A Guide to Greece’s Golden Visa

Overview: What is the Golden Visa?

Greece’s Golden Visa Program grants residency to foreign nationals that invest in real estate in Greece over a certain value threshold. Since its launch in 2013, the Golden Visa has been a resounding success—attracting buyers from all around the world and acting as a boost to Greece’s economy.

This visa program grants investors residency not only to Greece, but to the EU and Schengen Area, allowing from freedom of movement across most of Europe. In recent years as other countries like Spain have begun to scale-back their similar visa program, Greece’s has gained attention and caused a surge in applications in recent years.

New Greece Golden Visa Restrictions

In 2024, Greece made significant changes to its Golden Visa Program. Minimum thresholds of investment were increased across the board; however visas are still available for as little as a $250,000 upfront investment.

A favorite of many investors and in high demand, the Greek Golden Visa is one of the preferred options for European residency for people all around the world.

This guide will break down the details of these new changes as well as the overall requirements for anyone seeking to invest in Greek real estate.

Increased Thresholds

In 2024, the Greek government rolled-out changes to its Golden Visa Program, creating a tiered system based on geographic zones within Greece, and corresponding investment requirements.

Effective August 31, 2024, the tiers and requirements for the Visa are as follows:

Tier One: 800,000 Euro

                  The highest-threshold tier sets a minimum of 800,000 investment for specific regions in Greece. These regions represent the most sought-after areas across the country as well as the areas with the highest population densities. They are as follows:

                  -And 32 other islands including:

Tier Two: 400,000 Euro

                  This tier applies to more rural and less-populated areas both in the mainland as well as across the island. Each property must be larger than 120m2.

Tier Three: 250,000 Euro

                  Available in extremely limited quantities. This threshold applies to special real estate projects like restoration of old buildings and commercial to residential conversions. Recipients of visa must be able to prove that they can complete project within five years of issuance.

Steps to Obtain a Golden Visa

                  The process to acquire a Golden Visa through the purchase of a property is relatively straightforward, and done in 6 Steps.

1. Do Your Due Diligence

Find a property you wish to purchase as an investment. Keep in mind the requirements for each property threshold.

2. Fulfill Legal Requirements

In order to purchase property, you must obtain a Greek Non-Resident Tax Number or open a Greek bank account.

3. Purchase the Property

An attorney in Greece will have to execute the property purchase on your behalf. They will then send you the purchase agreement for your own records.

4. Start Your Application

Gather all prepared documents that are listed here. For help completing this process, we recommend contacting an attorney.

5. Visit Greece

The hardest part in the whole process, right? Once you arrive, you will provide the Greek government all of remaining information required to obtain the visa—such as biometrics (fingerprints, etc)

6. Get Approval

When all previous steps are completed, your application will be approved and the Greek government will grant your visa.

The Greek Golden Visa is renewable every five years, granting permanent residence and full benefits as long as it is active.

Additionally, holders of the visa can apply for Greek citizenship after seven years.

If you are interested in starting your process of obtaining a Greek Golden Visa, please contact Mediterranean Living Real Estate so we can begin finding the best property investment for you. Please reach out to us here.

*Prospective investors should consult legal professionals to navigate the application process effectively and ensure no recent changes have been made