Greece Increases Price of 'Golden Visa,' Mainly Purchased by Russians and Chinese
Greece is tightening the rules for obtaining a "golden visa", which allows you to obtain a residence permit in exchange for a property investment. The amount of investment required to benefit from this programme, which was launched in 2014, is now being increased from €250,000 to €800,000, according to the Naftemporiki.
Greece currently has the largest number of people with a golden visa from Russia.
The changes relate not only to the increase in the Golden Visa limits, but also to the introduction of new parameters to free up real estate for sale or long-term lease.
In order for someone to participate in the Golden Visa programme, i.e. to obtain a residence permit and free movement in the Schengen area, they will now have to buy property under the new limits of €800,000 or €400,000, depending on the region in which they are located.
The size of the property to be purchased will be limited to 120 sq m. This excludes small properties, which in the past were mainly sought by third-country investors who purchased them and leased them out for short-term use.
The areas where the amount of investment will be increased to €800,000 are Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and islands with a population of more than 3,000 inhabitants. It is noted that today the limit is 500 thousand euros in the regions of North and South Attica, as well as in the centre of Athens.
The same restriction applies to the municipality of Thessaloniki and the islands of Mykonos and Santorini.
In other areas, such as Piraeus and Western Attica, the amount is €250,000. Now, in these areas, the amount will jump to 800,000 euros. As for the islands, in addition to Mykonos and Santorini, other islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas will be added.
For the rest of the country, the investment amount will increase from €250,000 to €400,000. There will now be very few exceptions, with the investment amount for the purchase of real estate under the Golden Visa programme remaining at €250,000. What is being studied concerns properties that are considered to be preserved and will be restored after the purchase, as well as industrial properties that will be reconstructed to be adapted to housing.
Statistics on the countries of origin of Golden Visa beneficiaries and their distribution by region were published after they were submitted to Parliament by Immigration and Asylum Minister Nitis Mitarakis. It is noted that this data was last updated in August 2022.
The document shows that the majority of third-country nationals who have permanent residence permits for investors after renewal or re-issuance come from Russia. They are followed by Chinese, Turkish and Egyptian investors. The largest volume of applications is concentrated in the Decentralised Administration of Attica.
As it turned out, the vast majority of third-country nationals who, after the initial granting, have permanent residence permits for investors come from China, followed by Turkish and Russian investors, as well as investors from Lebanon. The largest volume of applications is also concentrated in the Decentralised Administration of Attica.