Residence Permit in Greece: Preferable Options and Amount Invested in 2021
1,035 investors received Greek golden visas in 2021. This is 10,3% more than in 2020. The residence permit by investment program brought Greece income of about 259 million euros. We tell you what the participants of the program invested in and what benefits they received.
Author •Julia Loko
Investment programs expert
Residence Permit in Greece: Preferable Options and Amount Invested in 2021
The Greek Migration Service has published the statistics of the Greece Golden Visa Programme for 2021. For the first six months, Greece has been approving about 60 residence permit applications each month. By the end of the year, the speed of processing of applications had doubled. In December, 137 investors received a residence permit.
Annual statistics are subject to change: investors who bought real estate under the program in 2021, but have not yet received a residence permit card, will also be added to the reports. The reason for the delay is that the Greek Cadastral Office is taking longer to process documents for real estate transactions.
The residence permit by investment program has been operating in Greece since 2014. During this time, 28,767 people became residents of the country. Of these, 9,610 are the main applicants — investors.
28,767 foreigners
Got Greek golden visas in the last 7 years
Chinese citizens received the most golden visas: Greece issued 6,405 residence permit cards to Chinese investors. Turkish citizens take the second place: 605 investors became Greek residents. The third place belongs to the Russians. They received 576 residence permits by investment.
Top 5 countries whose investors received Greek residence permits from 2014 to 2021
Investor’s citizenship
Number of issued residence permit cards
China
6,405
Turkey
605
Russia
576
Lebanon
304
Egypt
250
What do participants of the Greek residence permit program invest in?
To obtain a Greek residence permit, investors choose one of the six investment options:
purchase if residential or commercial property;
renting a hotel or tourist residence for 10 years;
purchase of land for construction or agriculture;
concluding a contract (timeshare) for 10 years, which gives the right to temporary use of real estate;
receiving real estate by inheritance or gift agreement;
purchase of securities or opening a deposit in a bank in the amount of €400,000.
The purchase of residential property for €250,000 or more is the most popular option of the residence permit program in Greece. The cost of apartments in Greece has been growing steadily over the past four years, according to the country’s National Bank. According to the results of the third quarter of 2021, housing prices increased by about 10% compared to 2019.
Greek property prices will start to grow even faster when the economy is fully restored. The Greek economy shows the largest annual GDP growth compared to 2020 among countries with investment programs.
Examples of properties in Greece
Greece, Santorini
€388,000 — €905,000
Villa in a gated complex overlooking the sea and vineyards in Santorini
109 m² — 224 m²
3—5 
2—4 
Greece, Santorini
€505,000 — €550,000
Mediterranean style villa next to the sea in Santorini with guaranteed rent84 m² — 94 m²3 1 
Greece, Kissamos
€830,000 — €1,550,000
Traditional style villas on the seafront in Crete, Greece126 m² — 157 m²3 3 Benefits of the Greek residence permit for investors
Residence permits for the whole family. Greece issues a residence permit for five years. This distinguishes the Greece Golden Visa Programme from other European countries that issue a residence permit by investment only for a year or two.
A Greek resident can stay in any city in the country for an unlimited amount of time a year to live, work, study, use medical care and services of European banks.
The prospect of citizenship of an EU country. The investor has the right to apply for Greek citizenship after 7 years, and his family members can apply after 12 years. To qualify for citizenship, the applicant must have constantly lived in the country.
Tax incentives. Wealthy foreigners who have obtained a residence permit in Greece are entitled to pay tax on global income under a simplified procedure in the form of a one-time fixed payment of €100,000 per year.
The fixed payment does not depend on the total amount of income. Such a system is more beneficial for people with high income than paying taxes at an interest rate.
Visa-free travel within the Schengen area. The investor, together with his family, has the right to freely travel around the Schengen countries and stay in any of them for up to 90 days in half a year.
With a Greek residence permit card, you can go on vacation to Rome without a visa or visit visa-free any of the 26 Schengen countries
Immigrant Invest is a licensed agent that helps to obtain a residence permit in Greece. If you want to become a Greek resident and travel around the Schengen area without visas, please contact investment program experts for advice.
More news
Unpacking the Greece Golden Visa price hike: how to get a residence permit and save €150,000
Julia Loko