Greece Alters its Golden Visa as Europe Shifts Course

In another blow to European golden visas via residential property investment, Greece proposes to end that option as of January 1.

Like Portugal and Spain, Greece is shifting its focus to company investors, especially startups. Portugal has relaunched its Non-Habitual Tax Regime, which offers significant tax breaks, but only for startup investors and people with high-tech skills. Spain aims to eliminate golden visas entirely starting in 2025. Italy has also recently launched a start-up-focused visa program.

Like Portugal, the Greek golden visa is a victim of its own success. After Portugal ended its own residential property option, Greece saw a surge in new investments. Golden visa investments in 2022 came to €1.3 billion. That rose to €2.54 billion in 2023. This year’s figure is expected to exceed €3 billion. A large majority of these permits have gone to Chinese investors, as well as Turks and Israelis. This year, a rising number of applicants have been from the United States.

The Greek Government has continually tinkered with its golden visa program. The initial minimum was €250,000. Then it was raised to €400,000, then again to €800,000, which had to be spent on a single dwelling.

But like other governments in the Mediterranean, Greece has decided it’s not worth the political stresses that accompany large-scale immigration and disruption to property markets. Most property experts reject the idea that golden visas distort housing prices, but politics trumps their opinion.

The advantage of a golden visa is that it grants long-term residency rights without the need to be physically present in the country, triggering tax residency. In most cases, an annual presence of five to seven days is all that’s required. That makes it ideal for people who want to pre-position a residency they’re not yet ready to use.

The good news is that Greece continues to offer a Financially Independent Persons visa, aimed at retirees or anyone else with sufficient passive income, currently around €3,500 a month. It also offers a digital nomad visa with the same income requirement. Both pathways come with a 50% tax break for the first seven years, if you stay for at least two years.

These changes come amidst a sea change in immigration policies in Europe. Golden visas were introduced as a response to the global financial crisis of 2008, to boost property prices and rebuild local banks’ shattered balance sheets. That goal has long since been accomplished, whilst perceptions of higher property prices driven by foreigners have angered voters.

The Greek proposal still has to go through the legislative process, and it may still be changed. Existing applications will be grandfathered in.

Nevertheless, if you're thinking about quick residency through a property purchase, you have about six weeks to make the deal!