Greece’s Coveted Golden Visa, Doubled To €500,000, Finally Takes Effect

10.08.2023 - 22:55 / forbes.com

Starting this month, the cost of a Greek golden visa — obtained by investing in Greece — has doubled from €250,000 (among the lowest in Europe) to €500,000 in the most popular areas of the country.

After the official announcement of the increase last year, and a postponement of the application date planned for May but pushed back to this month, the Greek government started the modified visa-by-investment program granting five-year residency rights to foreigners putting a minimum €500,000 into capital transfer, business or property acquisition.

The announcement last year of the planned Greek increase, in addition to Portugal’s recent decision to place limits on its highly popular golden visa scheme, triggered a rush of interest. Thousands applied for golden visas — particularly Americans and Chinese investors — by buying property in Greece before the increase, which was one of the government’s reasons to delay the measure until now.

Greece introduced its golden visa program in 2014, granting a five-year residence permit that could be renewed to third-country nationals purchasing real estate worth at least €250,000.

Data from the Immigration and Asylum Ministry reported by Greek City Times shows that the golden visa program contributed nearly €1 billion to the Greek economy in the first five months of this year.

“This financial boost can be attributed to Portugal discontinuing its own residence-by-investment scheme and Greek authorities postponing the threshold increase,” the paper reports. “During the January-May period, there were 3,900 applications for real estate purchases for residence, compared to 1,444 in the same period last year.”

The growing interest to buy before the new measures entered into effect provoked a backlog of more than 5,500 visa-by-investment applications pending approval. From May, 2022, to May, 2023, Greek authorities fielded a total of 8,351 applications, 35% of them already approved.

The total value of properties sold during that period reached €975 million, three times higher than the €361 million in the previous year.

The Greek decision didn’t make the European Union happy as it has been intensifying the pressure on member countries to scrap all golden visa programs. which were created globally in an attempt to attract foreign investment, boost tourism and revive the real estate market.

“Getting the right to live and work in another country can be a long and difficult process,” Euronews explains. “But that’s not always the case for those with money to spend.”

For countries in the E.U., it also means gaining access to many of the benefits of being a resident of the bloc — including free movement between countries and free access to Schengen zone countries.

For the European