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Greece raises ‘golden visa’ investment requirement
FILE PHOTO: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addresses lawmakers ahead of a parliament vote on the 2024 budget, in the Greek parliament in Athens, Greece December 17, 2023. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki/File Photo
On Friday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced plans to raise the investment threshold for “golden visas” for foreign nationals to 800,000 euros ($861,520) in high-demand urban and island areas.
The golden visa initiative, initiated in 2014, offers a renewable, five-year residency permit in Greece to foreigners who invest 250,000 euros in property.
Last year, the threshold was raised to 500,000 euros in select neighborhoods in Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, and Santorini.
Mitsotakis, addressing parliament, hinted at further increases in specific urban and island regions without specifying details and suggested the threshold might rise to 800,000 euros..
“What we are discussing with the finance minister, and I believe we will be able to announce something very soon, is a further significant increase in the threshold for golden visa investments,” Mitsotakis said.
Greece has granted approximately 17,500 golden visas since 2018, with Chinese citizens representing 61% of recipients. These visas not only provide residency in Greece but also facilitate travel within the Schengen zone of Europe.
The Schengen Area is a zone comprising 26 European countries that have abolished passport and other types of border control at their mutual borders, allowing for the free and unrestricted movement of people within this area. These freedoms make European countries’ golden visa programmes very popular among non-European citizens.
