Decline in Greece's Golden Visa Program Amid Investment Threshold Changes

Greece's Golden Visa program, which grants five-year residence permits to non-EU nationals making substantial investments, is showing signs of a downturn. This comes after nearly two hectic years for investors as successive changes were made to the minimum investment threshold to secure the desired permits.

According to data from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, between January and June, 4,100 residence permit applications were submitted, a 3.3% decrease compared to the same period in 2023, when 4,150 applications were processed. This marks the first indication that the investor rush to meet the deadline for previous and upcoming investment cap changes is subsiding.

Recently, the government announced a rise in the investment threshold to €800,000 for properties in Attica, Thessaloniki, and islands with populations exceeding 3,100. Investors were given a few months, leading up to September 1, to finalize transactions before the new thresholds took effect. As a result, there was a significant spike in real estate activity by non-EU nationals seeking permits with lower thresholds of €250,000 or €500,000.

Over the past 18 months, the surge in over 10,000 applications has caused considerable delays in the permit approval process. Data from January to June of this year shows 9,407 applications pending, with 5,330 submitted in 2023 alone, illustrating the backlog.

Since the program's inception in mid-2014, the total number of non-EU investors issued or set to receive a Golden Visa will reach 26,370, translating to at least €6.6 billion in capital inflows. Real estate experts project this figure to be even greater, as many investors have purchased properties exceeding the €250,000 minimum requirement, contributing further to the real estate market.