Following the recent significant changes regarding the Golden Visa, namely the increase of the minimum investment required for obtaining a permanent residence permit (Golden Visa) by virtue of Law n. 5007/2022, published in the National Gazette on 23.12.2022 (amending paragraph B of article 20 of Law n. 4251/2014), the Golden Visa landscape is now shaped as follows:
The new minimum required amount of property investment in the Regional Units of the North, Central and South Sectors of Athens and the Municipality of Vari – Voula – Vouliagmeni of the Attica Region, in the Municipality of Thessaloniki of the Central Region of Macedonia, and in the islands of Mykonos and Santorini of the South Aegean Region is increased to €500,000; the same is provided for the total contractual rent of the lease of hotel accommodation or tourist residences in the same areas.
As for the other regions of the Greek territory, the threshold remains as was, i.e. €250,000.
In the aforementioned areas, where the investment threshold is increased to €500,000, third country nationals are required to invest the whole amount in one, single, property; in case of joint property ownership, the value of the ownership share must be minimum €500,000.
The possibility to attain the threshold of €250,000 by investing in multiple properties remains for the rest of the country, where the threshold still is €250,000.
The Transition Period
A transitional period is provided by the new law, offering the opportunity to still benefit from the previous provisions: third country nationals can complete their investment in one or more properties in the abovementioned areas (where the threshold is increased to €500,000) until 31.12.2023, benefiting from the previous lower threshold of €250,000 invested in one or multiple properties, subject to one condition:
Payment of a deposit of 10% on the purchase price until 30.04.2023, either by virtue of a notarial pre-sale agreement, or a private agreement dated in an authorized manner, providing a relevant proof of payment from the buyer’s bank regarding the transfer of the deposit to the seller’s bank account until the 30.04.2023.
The final purchase of the property (or properties) with a minimum value of €250,000, must be concluded no later than 31.12.2023. However, in the event that the purchase of that specific property – object of the pre-agreement for which a deposit of 10% of the consideration was paid until 30.04.2023 – is not completed, third country nationals have still the possibility to go on and invest in a different property (or properties), with a minimum investment value of €250,000 provided that the final transfer contract is executed no later than 31.12.2023.
This entails that if the above condition is met (10% deposit for a real estate purchase pre-agreement until the 30.04.2023 for any property over the threshold of €250,000), the right to benefit for the old provision is ‘locked’ until 31.12.2023, even in the case that this specific purchase fails and the final purchase concerns a different property (or properties).
Lastly, third country nationals who already have a Golden Visa can renew their residence permit for an equal period provided they still have the ownership of the property.
