Greece Golden Visa Program is launched in 2013 by Enterprise Greece. The program grants five-year residence permit in exchange for a real estate investment. A family application includes children up to age 21 and requires no residence in the country. The permit is granted for five years and may be renewed every five years if the property investment is retained.
Greek residence permit is issued by the Greek authorities and it gives its holder the right to reside legally in Greece. It can be achieved by completing a real estate investment the value of which is more than €250.000. Different categories of residence permits exist, as well as different types of permit within each category.
New investment options for the Greece Golden Visa Program have been around for a long time as rumours. In April of 2019, the government passed the law for these new options, and as of mid-November of 2019, they are formally announced through the official government gazette.
Some of the newly introduced changes are minor improvements or editions to already existing models. However, there are some fresh options, too. The most eye-catching change is the introduction of investment requirements for asset types that are not real estate.
Investment Options of Greece Golden Visa
The list below shows the possible choices that Greece Golden Visa applicants can make:
- Buying corporate or state bonds, or corporate shares that is worth at least 800,000 euros,
- Depositing at least 400,000 euros for at least 12 months at a domestic credit institution,
- Investing at least 400,000 euros in a real estate investment company that is active in Greece or buy shares of a company through a share-capital increase scheme,
- Investing at least 400,000 euros in a capital equity company or fund that invests in Greek companies,
- Investing at least 400,000 euros in Greek state bonds that are existent for at least three years, through a domestic credit institution,
- Investing at least 400,000 euros in a mutual fund that invests in shares, corporate bonds or state bonds,
- Investing at least 400,000 euros in shares in a domestic alternative investment organization or in an EU member state that invests in real estate in Greece.
These changes or improvements to the program do not affect the minimum investment requirement for the direct real estate investment option of the Greece Golden Visa Program. This option does not concern the property bought through real estate investment trust or a property investment company.
In terms of group applications, it is worth to note that the scheme allows qualification of up to three shareholders or executives of the particular family-owned company which successfully acquires approved assets that are worth at least 400,000 euros.
