By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

Despite the tightening of the conditions set by the government since the end of March, Golden Visa continues undeterred, if it has not already accelerated its pace.

Although property transfers – the most popular way to obtain a Golden Visa – make up just 7% of the total according to the finance minister, the government has identified its “lax” initial eligibility criteria as one of the factors exacerbating the housing problem, and from on March 31, it raised the minimum investment amount in real estate from 250,000 euros to:

  • 800,000 euros for Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with a population of more than 3,100 inhabitants
  • 400,000 euros for properties in the rest of the territory

Also, the investment must concern a property, which must be over 120 sq.m.

However, he left unchanged the limit of 250,000 euros for the preserved buildings to be restored and buildings that currently have a different use and are being converted into residences (e.g. industrial buildings) with PASOK and the relevant department head Milena Apostolaki to have submitted a relevant question to the Parliament.

The restrictions did not deter investors.

According to its updated data Ministry of Immigration initial applications for golden visas in October were up 12% on last year at 12,577 versus 11,229 with the Chinese appearing particularly hot with more than half the applications:

Country Applications Share
China 6,521 51.8%
Turkey 1,115 8.9%
Lebanon 717 5.7%
M. Britain 511 4.1%
Iran 509 4%

Reissues/renewals have increased by 61% (4,283 this year compared to 2,659 last year) with the Chinese dominating here as well:

Country Applications Share

China 2,327 54%
Russia 426 9.9%
Turkey 394 9.2%
Iran 167 3.9%
Egypt 166 3.9%

Another important element that shows the dynamics of Greek Golden Visa is that the new pending applications in the first 10 months of this year are 5,890, when the whole year last year was 4,772!

A total of 10,989 initial grant applications and 2,953 renewal applications are pending, numbers that show that the Greek authorities are running out of time.

A total of 29,390 initial golden visa permits have been issued with a rough calculation – with the old investment limits – giving revenues of around €7.5 billion in the domestic real estate market.

It is no surprise that the Greek golden visa appears on all the lists of the most “attractive”. It is initially cheap as, even after the tightening, the €250,000 threshold is one of the lowest and rivals that of the Caribbean according to Immigrant Invest:

  • Vanuatu: $130,000
  • Malta: $150,000
  • Dominican Republic: $200,000
  • UAE: $204,000
  • Antigua and Barbuda: $230,000
  • Grenada: $235,000
  • Saint Lucia: $240,000
  • Greece: $250,000
  • Portugal: $250,000
  • Italy: $250,000
  • Hungary: $250,000

In the analyses, the positive aspects of the Greek framework include:

  1. Co-investment is possible. 2 or 3 investors buy the property together and everyone can apply for a visa.
  2. The investor is not required to make the property their primary residence. He can live elsewhere and use it as he wants, as long as he does not make it available for short-term rental
  3. In addition, the investor is given the possibility, after staying for six months in our country, to become a tax resident of Greece by paying a flat-rate tax of 100,000 euros regardless of the amount of income and the place where it is generated
  4. As an investor, you travel everywhere and without any hassle in the Schengen zone
  5. The investor can renew the Golden Visa as long as he keeps the property

According to the Canadian Arton Capital, which specializes in citizenship issues, the most “coveted” golden visas on the planet are from Greece, Hungary, Italy, Antigua and the UAE