One of the most popular ways to obtain a residence permit in Greece is via the Golden Visa Program. The recent Law 4251/2014 (Article 20) has established a new type of residence permit for real estate owners (Golden Visa). In order to obtain a residence permit for real estate owners, the following preconditions must be fulfilled: a) The real estate property must be owned by and be in possession of its owners.

b) In cases of joint ownership, where the value of the property is €250.000, the residence permit is only granted if the owners are spouses with undivided ownership of the property.

In all other cases of joint ownership, the residence permit is only granted if the amount invested by each of the joint owners is at least €250.000.

c) The residence permit is also granted in cases where the third country citizen is the owner,  of more than one real estate property with a combined value of at least €250.000.

d) In cases where the applicant wants to enter the country with a type D visa, the documented intention to own property should be supported by documentation which prove the financial capacity (e.g., certificate of an A-class certified bank, or other recognised financial institution), which certify the existence of bank accounts or other mobile assets, such as bonds or shares, which can cover the cost of the investment of at least €250.000, and which certify the intention of the applicant to purchase the property (contract with a law firm or with a real estate office).-

The duration of the residence permit is 5 years and it can be renewed for another 5 years each time, provided that the applicant still owns the property.

Also, the members of the investor’s family have the potential to request individual residence permits. For this purpose, they must submit separate applications and their own permit expires at the same date that the investor’s permit expires.

 Other documents required:

A clear criminal record,

private hospital/medical insurance and

evidence of family status (for the family members).

Foreign documents need to be “Apostille” certified or consularized and translated into Greek by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a qualified Greek lawyer.