Real Estate & Golden Visa

A residence permit for real estate owners is a new type of residence permit, for third country citizens who have entered the country legally on any kind of visa (type C or D) or are legal residents in the country, even if the residence permit they hold does not allow for change of residence scope.

Beneficiaries of the right of entry and the permanent residence permit, which shall be renewed every five (5) years, are:

You are entitled to residency rights irrespective of whether you own one or more properties, provided that their combined value is equal to or greater than €250.000.

The law states that €250.000 must be the stated price on the contract. It does not distinguish between commercial and residential properties.

Step 1: Issuing an entry Visa for Greek Territory

The interested party must submit an application for an entry visa to the Greek consulate authority in their country of origin.

Step 2: Collecting the documentation for the issuing of the residence permit

Applicants for a residence permit for real estate owners, valued at €250.000, must provide the following documents:

• The application document,
• Four recent colour photos (passport type, printed as well as in Compartible Disc form),
• Certified copy of a valid passport or travel documents recognized by Greece and with the relevant valid entry visa, where required,
• A fee must be paid, which amounts to €2000 for residence permits of up to a five year duration for real estate owners. For family members the fee amounts to €150,00. Minor children (under 18 years old) are exempted from this fee,
• A fee which amounts to €16 concerning the printing of the separate document (electronic residence permit) must also be paid for each applicant
• Certification by an insurance agency for the cost of hospitalisation and medical care. To certify that this condition is fulfilled, the following are accepted: – Insurance contracts which have been signed outside Greece, provided that they explicitly mention that they cover the interested party for the duration of their stay in Greece, – Insurance contracts which have been signed in Greece.

In case the seller is a third country citizen, he must submit a certificate from Aliens and Immigration Department of the competent Decentralised Authority, whether this property has been used for issuing a residence permit for real estate owners. The above, applies also to the sale of the property by legal entity.

Depending on the specific case, the following documentation may need to be submitted in addition to the above:

1. Residence permits for third country citizens who own and possess, either wholly or jointly, property in Greece.

• A contract of purchase stating that “the contract of sell and purchase of the property is not subject to conditions or exemptions, the total price amounts to ….. which has been paid in full with a crossed bank cheque to a bank account of the beneficiary, held in a credit institution operating in Greece or with a credit transfer, as defined by Law 4537/2018 article 4, par. 24 (Official Government Gazette Α΄ 84) to a beneficiary’s bank account held in a payment service provider, as defined by Law 4537/2018 article 4 par. 11 operating in Greece.
• Proof of transfer of the contract by the competent Land Registry and a certificate issued by the Land Registry or national cadaster agency attesting to the non-existence of any encumbrance.

2. Residence permits for third country citizens who own property in Greece through a legal entity, where the applicant owns all shares.

• A contract of purchase stating that “the contract of sell and purchase of the property is not subject to conditions or exemptions, the total price amounts to ….. which has been paid in full with a crossed bank check to a bank account of the beneficiary, held in a credit institution operating in Greece or with a credit transfer, as defined by Law 4537/2018 article 4, par. 24 (Official Government Gazette Α΄ 84) to a beneficiary’s bank account held in a payment service provider, as defined by Law 4537/2018 article 4 par. 11 operating in Greece.
• Proof of transcription of the contract by the competent Land Registry and a certificate issued by the Land Registry or national cadastre agency attesting to the non-existence of any encumbrance.

3. Residence permits for third country citizens who have a lease – for a minimum of 10 years – for hotel accommodations or furnished tourist residences in integrated tourist resorts

• Notarised copy of the lease for the hotel accommodations or furnished tourist residences in integrated tourist resorts, which demonstrates a single payment of €250.000 and includes a mention of the granting of the relevant operation licence by GNTO (Greek National Tourism Organisation)

4. Residence permits for third country citizens who have purchased real estate property nin Greece before Law 4146/2013 came into effect:

• If the payment submitted before Law 4146/2013 came into effect is smaller than two hundred and fifty thousand euro (250,000) but the current objective (assessed) value of the real estate property exceeds or is equal to this amount, a certification by a notary must be included in the documents that are submitted, stating: “From the verification of the contract with number .for the purchase of real estate property, it can be concluded that the full payment of the cost of the real estate property has been completed, it no longer has any conditions, exemptions or deadlines, and the objective (assessed) value of the real estate property as it stands today is equivalent to the amount of …..”.
• In this case it is also necessary to submit the contract of purchase for the real estate property or properties, the value of which is at minimum €250,000, proof of title transfer from the Land Registry where the relevant contract has been transferred and a certificate issued by the Land Registry or national cadastre agency attesting to the non-existence of any encumbrance.

5. Residence permits for third country citizens who purchase plots of land or acreage and erect a building. The following additional documents must be submitted:

• contract for the purchase of the plot of land or acreage, and
• contract with the construction company for the erection/restoration of the residence, which has been submitted to the tax office according to the law,
• building permit in the name of the applicant,
• invoices by the contractors and the corresponding proofs of payment.

6. Residence permits for third country citizens who have signed a timeshare agreement (lease) based on the provisions of Law 1652/1986, for hotel units and generally tourist facilities operating under the permission of the Hellenic Tourism Organization (EOT). The following additional documents must be submitted:

• Timeshare contract for a minimum period of five years which should state the corresponding price per year,
• Proof of transfer registration issued by the competent Land Registry,
• A certificate issued by the National Tourism Organisation (EOT) that it has been informed of the conclusion of the particular timeshare contract.

7. Residence permits for family members of the third country citizen:

Recent family status certificate from foreign authorities which certifies the family relationship.

Step 3: Submitting the documents

Αccording to Ministerial Decision n. 9907/3-4-2019 (Official Government Gazette Β’1106), the application for the residence permit can be submitted to any one-stop service of the Aliens and Immigration Department at the Decentralised Authorities in Greece.

Recording of the place of birth as a mandatory field during filing the residence permit application. If the birth place is not mentioned on the passport, the applicant must submit an official public document of his country of birth or origin, officially translated and legally authenticated, on which the birthplace will be clearly stated. On the translation of the said document, it is essential that the place name is also written in Latin characters, even if the language of the country of origin does not use the Latin alphabet.

The documents that are required for the application for a residence permit must be submitted in Greek, except for the documents issued by foreign authorities, which need to be certified and officially translated in Greek.

There are two types of certification:

The translation of foreign public documents can be done:

According to the law, family members of third country citizens entering the country are:

Spouses,

(a) the other spouse or partner with whom a third-country national has a cohabitation agreement in Greece,

(b) The direct unmarried descendants of the spouses, who are under the age of 21,

(c) the unmarried children of the supporter or of the other spouse/partner, provided that their custody has been legally entrusted to the sponsor (for his/her children) and to the other partner (for his/her children), under 21 years of age,

(d) the direct relatives of the spouses in the ascending line.

Family members are not obliged to submit their application for initial residence permit simultaneously with the investor, they have the option to submit it subsequently, whenever they enter the country.

These family members are issued with a residence permit of the same duration as the applicant, but this permit does not include access to employment.

The children of the applicant, who have been originally admitted to the country under the terms and requirements of residence permit for property owners, are issued with a residence permit for family reunification until the age of 21. After that, it is possible to acquire a renewal as an independent residence permit until they reach the age of 24 and then it is possible to renew it further according to pertinent immigration legislation.

Family members have the same obligation pertaining to the collection of biometric data.

The requirement to provide their fingerprints applies to all third-country nationals over six (6) years old, and the digital signature requirement applies to all citizens over the age of twelve (12) years.

Yes, under the specific regulations of the Ministry of Transport, which apply to third country citizens.

The income of the applicant must be proven by documentation which proves their capacity (e.g. Certificate by class-A recognized bank or an official financial institution or other recognised institutions to store bonds) and certify the existence of bank accounts or other transferable securities, especially shares or bonds (the above are checked for the issuance of a type D visa). In all cases, before the contract, the price of the real estate is paid via a crossed bank cheque or through another banking transaction.

Yes, provided that the amount invested by each one is €250.000.

This leads to the revocation of the residence permit.

A Schengen visa by a different country gives the applicant the ability to enter Greece and settle issues regarding the purchase of the property.

In cases when the real estate (property) is transferred, the third country citizen loses the right to residence. In case of resale of the property during the period of validity of the residence permit to another third country citizen, the right to a residence permit is granted to the new buyer along with a simultaneous revocation of the seller’s residence permit.

Third country citizens who own real estate have the right to rent their property.

Golden Visa has a duration of five (5) years. The holder of the residence permit can rent the property to third parties and has no obligation to reside in Greece for a minimum period of time. Furthermore, it has free access in all Schengen countries for a period of ninety (90) days per semester.

On the other hand, it should be noted that the holders of the golden Visa do not have access to any form of work.

In the case of jointly owned property, worth 250,000 euro, the right of residence is granted only if the owners of the property are spouses with indivisible shares in the property. In all other cases of joint ownership, the right of residence is granted only if the joint ownership rate of each joint owner is worth 250,000 euro.

The purchase price must be paid:

• either by a crossed bank check to a bank account of the beneficiary seller, held in a credit institution operating in Greece,
• or by bank transfer to a bank account of the beneficiary seller, held in a credit institution operating in Greece or,
• via POS established by a bank, operating in Greece, with debit of the buyer’s bank credit or debit card, to the seller’s payment account held in a credit institution operating in Greece.

The above payment methods can also be made by: the spouse, the parents of the buyer, the father and mother in law, his/her children, grandfather, grandmother, brother or sister, brother and/or sister in law.

All specific details of the payment, including in particular the identity of the seller, buyer, and any third party payer, the number of payment accounts of the payer, his address, his official personal identification number, the payer’s ID number or the date and the place of birth, the method of payment and the relevant accounts payable by the payer and the creditor of the payee, should be noted to the contract.

According to Article 155 of Law 4764 / 23-12-2020,third country citizens who meet the conditions for submitting the application for issuing the “Golden Visa”, can apply by an appointed attorney for a residence permit, through a power of attorney, without having previously entered Greece. The power of attorney can be  drawn up before the Greek Consular Authority in the country where they reside .

If the application is filed by an appointed attorney, in the absence of the interested investor, then the applicant, within 12 months from the issuance of the blue paper, should   enter Greece for submitting his biometric data, required for the issue of the residence Permit.

• Legal residence in Greece
• The right to enter legally all Schengen countries for a period up to 3 months within a six month period
• His children have access to public education
• Does not have the right to access to the public health system
• He has the right to rent his property
• He has the right to buy a car with Greek license plates

The holders of the residence permit have access to public education, analogously to that of Greeks. Regarding access to health services, third country citizens and their family members who fall under the regulations of the current law, must have insurance that covers their healthcare and medical care expenses. To prove this condition, the following documents are accepted i. Insurance contracts which have been signed outside Greece, provided they explicitly mention that they cover the applicant for the duration of their stay in Greece ii. Insurance contracts which have been signed in Greece.

There are restrictions on properties located in border regions. It should be noted that as border regions are defined the prefectures of the Dodecanese, Evros, Thesprotia, Kastoria, Kilkis, Lesvos, Xanthi, Preveza, Rodopi, Samos, Florina, Chios, and the islands of Thera and Skyros, as well as the former regions of Nevrokipi in the former prefecture of Drama; Pagoniou and Konitsas in the prefecture of Ioannina; Almopia and Edessa in the prefecture of Pella; and Sintiki in the prefecture of Serres. Individual or legal entities, which are affected by the restrictions above, can request the lifting of the ban for the border regions, along with their application, which should clearly state the intended use for the property. The decision to lift the ban is made by the Minister of Defence, following the submission of an application.

The  residence permits for third country citizens for other 5 years, who own and posses, either wholly or jointly, property in Greece can be renewed  provided that:

• the property remains under the possession and ownership of the interested party,
• or the lease in question is still in force.

Periods of absence from Greece are not a hindrance for the renewal of the residence permit.

The holder of an investor residence permit can obtain Greek citizenship through the naturalization process, provided that:

A) Formal Conditions:

• he resides legally and permanently in Greece for at least seven (7) consecutive years prior to the submission of the naturalization application,
• He is a holder of Golden Visa,
• He is an adult,
• Has no irrevocable criminal conviction,
• He is not under deportation and

B) Essential Conditions:

• Has sufficient knowledge of the Greek language,
• He has been smoothly integrated into the economic and social life of the country
• There is an opportunity for active and effective participation in the political life of the country
• There are no reasons of public order or national security reasons for not granting Greek citizenship to the person.