The Golden Visa Program in Greece is a lucrative residency investment scheme targeted to third party citizens and their direct family members (spouses, descending line up to the age of 21 and first-degree ascendants) who wish to obtain a residence permit.

To obtain a residency permit it is required to invest and own a real estate property anywhere in Greece (mainland or on the islands) worth a minimum value of EUR 250,000.00. In cases of joint ownership, where the property value is on at least EUR 250,000.00; the residence visa is granted to both parties subject that the owners are spouses with undivided ownership of the property. Under any other joint ownership scenario, the residence permit shall only be granted if each of the joint owners invest at least EUR 250,000.00.

The residence permit is permanent. It is valid and renewable every 5 years subject that the real estate property remains in the ownership of the resident(s).

The benefits of obtaining the Golden Visa are as follows:

• The right to reside in Greece, if desired; however, this is not a requirement. For those who would express an interest to live in Greece are able to do so, however under the current type of resident permit this does not authorize one to work.

• Suppose that the resident lives abroad, they have the right to rent out their property to generate a return on investment. Rental income tax is applied.

• By obtaining the Golden Visa in the resident’s passport of origin, the resident has the ability to freely travel around Europe and the Schengen Zone (26 countries) directly from their country of origin, without further visa applications. Once obtaining a resident permit, residents are able to travel to other Schengen countries for up to 3 months within a six-month period, whilst they are also granted a right for multiple entries.

• If the resident decides to sell the real estate property to a non-EU citizen, the Greek residency becomes transferable to the new investor, thus the Seller(s) residence permit is revoked. Capital gains tax is applied.

If this is the right property investment option for you, please feel free to contact us to appoint you a Property Consultant today! If requested, we would be pleased to put you through to a Hellenic registered law firm who offer this specialized service. They will provide you a full breakdown of all the formalities, requirements and associated costs related to the investment scheme, as well as answer any of your questions.