Golden Visa for Greece
Since 2014, Greek properties have become for many investors from abroad more interesting, as per law 4251/2014 foreign investors have the possibility to get the ‘Golden Visa’ for Greece by buying real estate in Greece that exceeds a value of 250.000,- Euros. On this way, non-Europeans can become for a certain period European residents, and the Greek state profits hereof parallely with the Greek real estate market. Currently, it is planned to offer the Golden Visa also for investors who invest in other investment opportunities in Greece, as for example with capital contribution of minimum 400.000,- Euros to a private equity fund by the acquisition of shares or with Greek government bonds of minimum 400.000,- Euros.
According to the Greek Ministry of Migration Policy more than 8.800 buyers for Golden Visa were registered from the beginning of the law until the 30th September 2018. Further, the statistics show that in the first nine months of 2018 the number of buyers exceeds 3.400 and the three main countries the investors come from are China, Russia and Turkey. Experts in the market expect a further increase of the number of those who are interested in Golden Visa for Greece for the coming years.
The process to get the Golden Visa for Greece by investing in Greek real estate is very easy!
- Someone should come legally to Greece. A respective Visa has to be issued.
- The right property has to be find.
- The property has to be purchased and a purchasing contract must be signed.
- An application should be submitted to the responsible authority.
First of all, it shall be mentioned, that generally buying properties in Greece is possible also for non-EU nationals, although for the border areas of the country there are foreseen some restrictions. So, after having chosen a property the potential buyer has to check with the aid of a lawyer the owner’s documents, and for sure it also will make sense to hire an engineer, who will check on the part of the buyer the property, both technically as well as with respect to the conformity with the valid building permit. It should be mentioned, that many buildings that were constructed in Greece before 2011 have illegal construction parts.
Before beeing able to purchase the chosen property, the buyer has to apply for a Greek tax ID number (in Greece it is called ΑΦΜ (short version), standing for: ΑΡΙΘΜΟΣ ΦΟΡΟΛΟΓΙΚΟΥ ΜΗΤΡΩΟΥ). Further, it is makes sense to open a Greek bank account. This will possibly help to pay the owner faster after signing the contract directly through bank transfer. It should also be mentioned, that for the transferring of the ammount there have to be kept some rules. Finally, the property transaction must be notarised.
In the next step, someone has to apply for the permit by filing the following documents to the responsible authority:
- a full copy of his/her passport
- four passport photos and one in digital version
- a copy of the purchasing contract with the belonging land-registry certificate
- a statement by the notary, that the purchase price has been paid as set forth in the law 4251/2014
- a health insurance policy with a term of at least one year covering health expenses in Greece
- the family-status certificate issed by the country of origin for the case that family members are also applying for the permit
By the way: Mavvidis + Partners supports investors with its network in real estate investments in Greece. Do not hesitate to contact us for any question. Kindly use our contact formular.
