New Rules & Changes for the Greece Golden Visa

Greek Golden Visa applicants can qualify for a minimum real estate investment of at least €250,000, among other investment options, making it one of the more affordable investment requirements among its European equivalents for a number of years.

Given that Portugal's Golden Visa option for foreign investors is €280,000 in real estate, this minimal level has forced the program to fight for the golden attraction with Portugal's Golden Visa. However, since officials announced the adoption of new Greece Golden Visa regulations, discussions over the modifications to the program have exploded in the media. We examine these modifications and the new program terms in this article.

What has changed about the Greek Golden Visa?

The program's property investment path is specifically linked to the revisions to the Greece Golden Visa. For example, specifying the areas in which eligible commercial and residential properties are to be taken into account under the new criteria and raising the minimal investment required for property acquisition. However, there is also unofficial discussion about raising the minimum investment amount for Greek government bonds.

Meanwhile, the relevant Hellenic Republic authorities have stressed that a necessary increase in the minimal investment requirement for purchasing real estate property will take place shortly. According to Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek Prime Minister, the qualifying minimum amount for property acquisition under the Greek Golden Visa is to increase from €250,000 to €500,000 — a doubling in value — on September 10, 2022, at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF).

In his speech, Prime Minister Mitsotakis emphasized that the goal of the new Greece Golden Visa regulations is to lower the cost of housing for Greek nationals. The modifications take into account local young couples and families who want to buy real estate in Greece or modify their homes but are having difficulty because of stiff competition from foreign investors.

What areas will the modifications to the Greece Golden Visa program be implemented?

The minimum investment in central Athens and its southern and northern districts is to double, claims Kathimerini, a major political and economic journal in Greece. According to rumors, Thessaloniki, Santorini, and Mykonos will not be affected by the increase in the minimum qualifying investment, unlike Attica and the eastern and western areas of Piraeus.

The purchase of no more than two properties totalling €500,000, each at a minimum value of €250,000, as long as they are both located on the same grounds, is not prohibited by this new regime, which is intended to limit the real estate market value in Greece.

When will the Greek Golden Visa modifications take effect?

The revised regulations for the Greek Golden Visa, according to Kathimerini, are anticipated to go into effect on January 1, 2023, albeit a formal decision has not yet been made. According to unofficial sources, investors will have until April 30, 2023 to complete executing pre-contracts for real estate acquisition agreements, enabling them to take advantage of the present regime of €250,000 for any property situated in those affected areas. In other words, it is unlikely that the transition phase will start before May 1, 2023.

Moreover, according to unofficial sources, the Greek government will permit the signing of contracts of final sales until the end of the following year, on December 31, 2023, provided that an advance payment of at least 10% or 25% of the property's purchase price has been made before the end of this month.

Greece Golden Visa 2023 - Summing Up

Golden Visa Greece is one of many residency-by-investment programs in Europe designed to entice foreign direct investments to support each country's economy. The successful applicants and their families are given temporary and permanent residence permits in their respective countries in exchange for a qualifying investment in their economic development through these investment programs, which are targeted at non-EU, non-EEA, and non-Swiss third-country nationals.

In addition to residency rights, the Greek residency-by-investment program offers a number of advantages to individuals who are successful in obtaining the Golden Visa permit. Access to world-class healthcare and educational systems, visa-free travel throughout Europe and to other Schengen nations, high returns on investment, tax advantages, family inclusion, and the potential to obtain Greek citizenship and a Greek passport after seven years of residing in Greece are just a few of these advantages.

Due to the exciting financial rewards they would receive from Greece's relatively cheap property taxes and even more affordable cost of living, both individuals and ardent investors have been applying to this plan via the real estate investment route. The program has become one of the most sought-after globally as a result of all the aforementioned advantages as well as the low investment requirement it now has.

By fLEXI tEAM