In April 2013, in Greece entered into force the law «Creation of a Development Friendly Environment for Strategic and Private Investments». Since that moment, citizens of countries outside the EU have been given the opportunity to apply for a Greek residence permit when buying residential or commercial property priced at 250,000 euros or more.

This is one of the lowest investment thresholds, providing the right to obtain residence permit on the territory of the EU. Moreover, one may apply for a residence permit by purchasing one or several properties with a total cost of 250.000 euros. The latter option is most beneficial for those who wish to make profit from their properties. After all, one of the properties can be used for living / rest, and the rest ones for lease all year round, if it is about urban real estate, or in the short-term lease, if it is a resort accommodation. This can generate an average return of 5% to 10% per annum.

It is important that investments are made by one individual, or properties can be registered for spouses (for husband and wife), the amount of investment does not change. That is, the property or properties belong to one person or a married couple. If the property is registered for two persons at once, then its total value must be at least 50.,000 euros, so that each investor has at least 250,000 euros. At the same time, not only the investor but also the spouse/children, the children up to 21 years old, as well as the parents of the investor and his / her spouse acquire the right for the residence permit.

Another important advantage of the Greek «golden visa» is no requirement for staying in the country. If you want, you can not visit the country during its duration for 5 years. It is enough to keep the status of the owner of Greek real estate for the amount required by the program. The same is necessary for the renewal of the residence permit.

Residence permit, obtained in the exchange of real estate investments, does not provide the right to employment in Greece and the EU. But! Participants of the program have the opportunity to establish legal entity and make their business in the territory of Greece and EU.

Steps of preparation and registration of residence permit:

1. Signing a power of attorney to an authorized lawyer who will deal with your case (we recommend doing this at the stage of buying a property, although it is possible to solve this issue after preparing a package of documents for filing an application).

2. Collection of the required documents in the country of residence

3. Purchasing insurance in Greece

4. Translation of documents into Greek

5. Apply for a residence permit

6. Obtaining a «blue certificate» confirming the filing of documents

7. Issuance of fingerprints of applicants for residence permits in the competent bodies of Greece

8. Issuance of electronic plastic card (residence permit)

Since February 20th, 2017, a new sample of residence permits has been introduced. Now it will not be a sticker in the passport, but a separate document that has the form of an electronic card and includes the owner’s biometric data (digital face image and two digital fingerprints), and the RF Chip for storing this data.

Statistics. The issued documents for the Residence permit from 2013 to 2017.

(Information provided by Enterprise Greece)

General distribution of residence permits for real estate buyers TOP 10
COUNTRY	RESIDENCE PERMITS
China	945
Russia	387
Turkey	191
Egypt	97
Lebanon	89
Ukraine	72
Iraq	69
Syria	50
Jordan	49
USA	19
Other countries	202
Total	2.170

 

 

Total number of residence permits for investors – real estate buyers per year
YEAR	RESIDENCE PERMITS
2013	16
2014	435
2015	940
2016	1.522
2017	2.170

 

Total number of residence permits for investors – buyers of real estate and their family members per year
YEAR	RESIDENCE PERMITS
2013	35
2014	858
2015	2.099
2016	3.644
2017	5.359

 

 

Total number of residence permits for investors – property buyers and their families TOP 10
COUNTRY	RESIDENCE PERMITS
China	2361
Russia	887
Turkey	477
Iraq	259
Lebanon	245
Egypt	227
Ukraine	155
Syria	273
Jordan	116
S. Arabia	35
Other countries	324
Total	5.359