In an attempt to prevent wealthy foreigners from acquiring multiple properties and turning them into short-term rentals, Greece has doubled the minimum investment to obtain a Golden Visa, raising it to 500,000 euros ($550,690).
The lower threshold of just 250,000 euros ($275,350) gets a five-year residence permit for approved individuals and families, as well as a valuable European Union passport, while Greeks from the diaspora may wait two years or more to obtain residency or citizenship.
Some foreign investors – of whom it is unclear how many were then living in Greece or simply using their visas to buy property and valued amenities – then used it to buy apartments and rent them out through platforms like Airbnb.
This caused many Greeks to leave their own neighborhoods, which were transformed into transit centers where tourists frequently arrived and left with suitcases and stayed for days before being replaced.
It has also helped drive up rents, particularly in Athens – including in hip, bohemian neighborhoods like the anarchist haven of Exarchia and in generally less desirable neighborhoods being essentially gentrified.
The new changes took effect on August 1, SchengenVisaInfo.com noted, noting that they were pushed back to May 1 after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis changed his mind on the effective date.
Greece’s Golden Visa: Minimum Investment Doubled for Foreign Investors
Local media highlighted that new amendments would also be applied in most parts of the country, including the second-largest city of Thessaloniki as well as popular islands such as Mykonos and Santorini.
There was a surge in applications earlier this year after news of an imminent increase in the minimum, as foreigners rushed to enter before the deadline, with most coming from China, which is tightening ties with Greece.
The end of Golden Visas in Portugal, which was highly desirable, has also sparked more interest in Greece, although the government has shown it wants more despite warnings from the European Union that the system is open to money laundering.
According to figures provided by the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum, the program boosted the country’s economy by almost 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the first five months of this year. year.
Some 3,900 applications to purchase residential property were submitted between January and May this year, compared to a total of 1,444 for the same period last year.
This increase brought the backlog to 5,444 applications awaiting approval, with it unclear whether and how they were being reviewed for potential criminal activity or meeting standards.
Between May 2022 and May 2023, 8,351 investor visa applications were submitted to Greek authorities, of which 35% were approved, the report noted, although it was not specified whether the remainder were rejected or under examination.
According to the site, an unidentified source indicated that in the first months of this year, 1,938 applications were approved, compared to 777 registered during the same period last year, an increase of 149 percent, and that 412 permits were issued in May of this year. , up more than 220 compared to 2022.
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RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, The Greek Islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek Tourism Report
