Golden Visa

What is the Golden Visa?

In the context of a friendlier approach towards interested third-country nationals wishing to acquire real estate in Greece, the Government has instituted a procedure for issuing residence permits in Greece, renewed every five (5) years, for owners of properties having a value of more than € 250,000. This guide presents in a comprehensible way the conditions, the procedure and the supporting documents for the issuance of these residence permits. It also provides answers to critical questions regarding the new type of residence permit for real estate owners. In case you would like more information and/or clarifications, while reading this guide, you may contact the General Secretariat for Immigration, Reception and Asylum (Tel.: 213 136 1029 – 030 – 031, Fax: 213 136 1239, E- mail: GRinvestors@immigration.gov.gr). In the alternative you may visit the website www.immigration.gov.gr

To whom is it addressed to?

Residence permits in Greece in general.

Residence permit (final residence permit) is any kind of certification provided by the Greek authorities and based on which a third country national is allowed to reside legally in the Greek Territory, in harmonization with provisions of the European Union (Regulation 1030/02, as applicable). There are several categories of residence permits, as well as types of permits for each category. Depending on the type of residence permit, the holder is given the right to access the labour market. Applications for the issuance and renewal of residence permits are submitted with the competent Office for Foreigners and Immigration of the Decentralized Administration of the place of residence or stay of the applicant except for certain categories of permits where applications are submitted with the Directorate of Immigration and of the Ministry of Immigration, Reception and Asylum.

Residence permit for property owners is a new type of residence permit and applies to third country nationals who have entered the country legally with any type of entry visa (C or D) or are legally residing in the country, even if the residence permit, they hold does not allow the change of the purpose.
The beneficiaries of the right of entry and permanent residence permit, which is subject to renewal every five (5) years are the following:

• Third-country nationals who have, personally or through a legal person established in Greece or in another EU Member State, real estate in Greece, the minimum value of which amounts to two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) euros, provided that they own the full ownership, possession and occupation of the shares of the company.
• Third-country nationals who have entered into a lease agreement of hotels or tourist furnished residences in complex tourist accommodation of article 8 par. 2 of Law 4002/2011 (Government Gazette A’ 180), for at least ten years, provided that the minimum rental value amounts to € 250,000.
  • Third-country nationals who either reside legally, having a residence permit, in Greece or wish to enter and reside in the country and who have full ownership, possession and occupation of real estate in Greece, which they purchased before the entry into force of Law 4146/2013, if the price they had paid at the time of purchase amounted to two hundred and fifty thousand euros or the current fair market value of their property amounts to two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) euros.
• Third-country nationals who buy a parcel or a plot and proceed with the erection of a building, if the sum of the value of the purchase contract and the building contract is at least two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) euros.
• Third-country nationals who have entered into a timeshare contract based on the provisions of law 1652/1986. Timeshare contract according to the provisions of article 1 of law 1652/1986, is the undertaking of the lessor to grant annually, to the lessee, during the contract, the use of a tourist accommodation and to provide him with related services for a period specified by the contract and the lessee to pay the agreed rent. For the implementation of this law, tourist accommodation means the hotel units and generally the tourist facilities that operate under a permit of the Hellenic Tourism Organization (EOT) and have been subject to the provisions of the law by decision of the Secretary General of the Hellenic Tourism Organization (EOT). Timeshare contract is concluded for a period of one (1) to sixty (60) years.”
• Third-country nationals that are adults and have acquired the full ownership and possession of real estate, of a fair market value of two hundred and fifty thousand euros (€ 250,000), due to heritage acquired without or with a will or following parental grant.
• The family members of the above third country nationals.

Prerequisites for obtaining or how to obtain a Golden Visa

In order to obtain a “permanent investor residence permit”, which is subject to renewal every five (5) years, the following conditions must be met:
a) The properties should be owned by their owners in full ownership, possession and occupation.

b) In case of indivisible ownership of a property of an acquisition value of at least € 250,000, a residence permit is granted only if the co-owners are spouses or partners who have entered into a civil partnership. Otherwise, the right of residence is granted only if the amount invested by each co-owner amount to € 250,000.

c) If the property owner has acquired it through a legal entity, he or she must own all the company shares.

d) The right of residence is also granted in cases where the third country national is the owner, either personally or through a legal entity, of more than one property, with a total value of at least € 250,000.

e) In case the interested party wishes to enter the country with a type D visa, the documented intention to purchase real estate must be proved by documents proving the financial feasibility (e.g. a certificate from a recognized first-class bank or official financial institution or other recognized organization), certifying the existence of bank accounts or other securities, in particular bonds or shares, to cover the investment funds, of at least € 250,000 and the applicant’s intention to purchase the property (assignment agreement with a lawyer or real estate agent office).

f) For third-country nationals who have entered into a lease agreement for hotels or tourist furnished accommodation for at least ten years in complex tourist accommodation, if the minimum rent amounts to € 250,000, the contract should provide for the lump sum payment of the rent corresponding to the ten-year rent of the accommodation or the tourist furnished accommodations.

For the above cases, the amount of the real estate will be derived from the values ​​of the real estate or the lease agreements stated in the contract. It is clarified that the price of the value of the property, for the needs of law 4251/2014, refers to the amount explicitly stated in the contract that was paid for the sale. The fair market value of the property is of no importance, unless it is the amount that it is stated in the contract that was paid for the sale.

VISA – Obtaining a residence permit for property owners.

Legal entry into the country is necessary in order to obtain a residence permit for property owners. Following the issuance of the residence permit and for the period for which it is valid, no entry visa is required. According to Law 4251/14, any third country national, who has entered the country legally with any entry visa or resides legally in Greece, regardless of the status or type of residence permit, is possible to submit an application for a residence permit.

Golden Visa Renewal

Residence permit is permanent and is valid for life. However, the holder of the residence permit is obliged to renew it every five (5) years. The residence permit is renewed every five (5) years. The following conditions must be met for the renewal of the residence permit:

• The property should remain in the ownership and possession of the interested party.
  • The contracts/lease contracts provided must remain valid.
  Periods of absence from the country are not an impediment to the renewal of the residence permit. The resale of the real estate during the validity of the residence permit to another third-country national provides the right to grant a residence permit to the new buyer with simultaneous revocation of the seller’s residence permit.

You can download the concise guide to residence permits for property owners in Greece edited by Enterprise Greece Organisation in Greek, English, Chinese, Russian, Arabic και Turkish.

Video You Tube

https://youtu.be/F4Ueia1vfj8

The issuance of the residence permit is granted within two months from the collection of all the data of the dossier and with the submission of all the necessary documents to the Greek Authorities.

Attention: Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided in this text is as accurate as possible. In no case, however, value4Greece company, assumes any responsibility for any vague or incorrect or partial information that may be contained herein. For the accurate interpretation of the legislation, the readers should consult the texts of the relevant legal framework: article. 20, case B of law 4251/2014 (Government Gazette A’ 80), article. 8 par. 26-30 and article. 14 par. 1 of Law 4332/2015 (Government Gazette A’ 76), article 38 par. 8 of Law 4546/2018 (Government Gazette A’ 101), article 31 par. 6 of Law 4540/2018 (Government Gazette A’ 91), article 3 par. 2 and 3 of Law 4587/2018 (Government Gazette A’ 218) and JMD 31399/01-10-2018 (Government Gazette B’ 4366).