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GuideΝ. 5100/2024

Golden Visa Greece: step by step (2026)

Costas Matheou, licensed insurance agent
Costas MatheouLicensed insurance agentLast updated:
A couple in their forties on the terrace of a modern villa with an infinity pool and sea view at sunset
Golden Visa step by step

The Greece Golden Visa is a 5-year renewable residence permit for non-EU nationals who buy Greek property: €800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands over 3,100 residents, €400,000 elsewhere, or €250,000 for a conversion or a listed building. The law sets two months, yet only 61% of February 2026 files had a decision by August.

Key facts (checked 26 September 2026)

  • 1Legal basis: Art. 100 of the Migration Code (Ν. 5038/2023), thresholds set by Ν. 5100/2024, in force since 5 April 2024.
  • 2State fees: €2,000 for the investor, €150 per adult family member, children under 18 exempt, €16 per residence card.
  • 3Legal deadline: 2 months from a complete file. In practice, 61% of files lodged in February 2026 had a decision six months later.
  • 4In person: one biometrics appointment, within 12 months if a lawyer filed for you from abroad.
  • 5Rights: no minimum stay, Schengen travel under the 90-in-180-day rule, no right to work.
CertificateΚΥΑ 133692/2024
  • Hospital€10,000
  • Outpatient€1,500
  • Disability€15,000
  • Your share, at most20%

Health insurance for your Golden Visa file

A private policy for each applicant with the ΚΥΑ 133692/2024 minimums in writing, ready for filing or your biometrics appointment.

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Costas Matheou, licensed insurance agentCostas MatheouLicensed insurance agent

Thresholds

Greece Golden Visa thresholds in 2026: how much and where

The permit (type Β.5) goes to a non-EU national who owns Greek property worth at least the minimum for its area. The minimums below replaced the old €250,000 and €500,000 rules on 5 April 2024, so the €250,000-anywhere figure still quoted online is out of date. Buyers who had paid a deposit or signed a pre-contract by 31 August 2024 kept the old rules if they completed by 31 December 2024, or by 30 April 2025 in a replacement property (Ν. 5100/2024, Art. 64).

  • High-demand areas

    Where
    Attica Region, Thessaloniki regional unit, Mykonos, Santorini (Thira), islands over 3,100 residents
    Minimum
    €800,000
    Conditions
    one property, at least 120 m² of main living area

  • Rest of Greece

    Where
    everywhere else
    Minimum
    €400,000
    Conditions
    one property, at least 120 m²

  • Conversion or listed building

    Where
    anywhere
    Minimum
    €250,000
    Conditions
    change of use to residential completed before you file, or a listed building restored before your first renewal
A couple on a terrace above an island village looking at property photos on a tablet
High-demand areas: Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not need this permit.

Timeline

How long does the Greece Golden Visa take?

The law gives the authority two months from a complete file (Art. 100 par. 10). Most files take far longer than two months, by the Ministry of Migration's own count. Its August 2026 statistics track each month's first-time applications:

  • August 2025

    Decided by end of August 2026
    227 of 308 (74%)

  • November 2025

    Decided by end of August 2026
    247 of 377 (66%)

  • February 2026

    Decided by end of August 2026
    238 of 392 (61%)

  • April 2026

    Decided by end of August 2026
    157 of 411 (38%)

  • June 2026

    Decided by end of August 2026
    46 of 437 (11%)

At the end of August 2026, 7,686 investor applications were waiting for a decision, 5,571 of them in Attica. Refusals are rare: 271 of 32,620 first-time applications filed from 2022 to 2026. The ministry updates these figures every month.

While you wait, the certificate of application (βεβαίωση κατάθεσης) makes your stay in Greece lawful. No official definition of the portal status "under examination" exists, and the label alone does not show how far a file has moved. Ask the one-stop service handling your file, or your lawyer.

  • Tax number and power of attorney

    Legal deadline
    none
    What you hold
    ΑΦΜ, signed power of attorney

  • Purchase and registration request

    Legal deadline
    none
    What you hold
    purchase deed, notary certificate

  • Filing

    Legal deadline
    none
    What you hold
    certificate of application once the file is complete

  • Biometrics

    Legal deadline
    within 12 months of a remote filing
    What you hold
    certificate of application

  • Decision

    Legal deadline
    2 months from a complete file
    What you hold
    5-year residence card

Property

Step 1: choose a property that qualifies

Check four things before you sign:
  • The price reaches your area's minimum.
  • It is a single property: two flats adding up to €400,000 do not qualify.
  • For the €400,000 and €800,000 routes, the main living area is at least 120 m².
  • Whether the property already backs someone's golden visa. The notary checks and records prior use, and your lawyer confirms what happens to the seller's permit.
A couple in hard hats reviewing floor plans with an architect inside a stone house under renovation
Off-plan riskOff-plan is where timing goes wrong.

Spouses or registered partners who buy together count as one investment, while other co-owners each need a share worth the full minimum. A company qualifies only if you own 100% of its shares (Art. 100 par. 11); the law does not restrict where the company itself is registered.

You can file only once the property is transferred to you, so a new build still waiting for its permit or title holds up everything. Have an independent Greek lawyer check the title and building permits before you pay anything.

Tax number

Step 2: get a Greek tax number (ΑΦΜ) and sign a power of attorney

You can do the purchase and the filing from abroad. A power of attorney signed at a Greek consulate, or before a notary in your country with an Apostille, lets a Greek lawyer act for you (Art. 10 par. 11).

The first document is a Greek tax number (ΑΦΜ). A non-resident gets it from the tax authority and appoints a tax representative in Greece (AADE).

The payment must follow the channels in Step 3. The permit rules do not require a Greek account in your name; if you open one, each bank sets its own identity checks and decides whether it accepts a power of attorney.

Purchase

Step 3: buy the property and register the deed

A hand signing a document with a fountain pen at a wooden desk, house keys beside it
  1. 01Sign the purchase deed before a Greek notary.
  2. 02Pay the full price before you file, by bank transfer, a crossed bank cheque into the seller's account at a Greek bank, or a card at a Greek payment terminal. Cash does not count. The payer can be you, your spouse or a relative up to the second degree (Art. 100 par. 5).
  3. 03The notary issues a certificate with the price, the payment trail and the main area in m².
  4. 04Ask for registration at the Land Registry or Cadastre. Proof that you asked is enough for the first application; the final proof comes at renewal (Decision 214926/2025).
  5. 05File the property declaration (E9) with the tax authority.

There is no minimum bank balance or income test for this permit; proof of funds applies only if you choose to enter on a national D visa. Once the home is yours, home insurance protects the investment, though the permit does not ask for it.

Insurance

Step 4: arrange private health insurance for every applicant

The file needs a private health insurance contract for you and one for each family member. The minimums are set by ΚΥΑ 133692/2024: €10,000 a year for hospital care, €1,500 for outpatient care and €15,000 for accident disability, with a co-payment of no more than 20%. The full rules are in my guide to the cover a residence-permit office checks.

If a lawyer files for you from abroad, the policy can follow when you come for biometrics, within the 12 months (Art. 10 par. 11). When I check a policy for this file, I look for the insured person's name, the cover period and each of the three limits in writing. Keep the cover continuous, because renewal asks for a policy again. DigiCare arranges health insurance for a Greek residence permit.

You can get a quote for golden visa cover.

Filing

Step 5: file the application online and get the certificate of application

Your lawyer files on the ministry's application platform, and the file goes to the one-stop service of the Ministry of Migration or of your Decentralised Administration. The first application needs:
  • passport copy and photos
  • the notary's certificate
  • proof of registration at the Land Registry, or proof you applied
  • the E9 declaration
  • the private health insurance contract (or later, if filed remotely)
  • the €2,000 electronic fee

When the file is complete, you receive the certificate of application. It proves lawful stay and gives you the permit's rights until the decision (Art. 10 par. 8). It is not a Schengen travel document: Regulation (EU) 2016/399, Art. 2(16)(b)(i) excludes a temporary permit issued while a first application is pending, so until the card arrives you travel on your passport's own 90/180 status. You can enter Greece visa-free or on any visa. A national D visa (€180 consular fee) is optional.

Biometrics

Step 6: attend biometrics in Greece

If your lawyer filed from abroad, you come within 12 months of filing to give fingerprints and have your photo taken (Art. 10 par. 11). Every applicant pays €16 for the card at this step, children included (ΚΥΑ 95391/2024). Each family member attends their own appointment.

Decision

Step 7: the decision, the card and what the permit allows

The Secretary of the Decentralised Administration decides. You and each family member get a 5-year card, and all the cards expire on the same date.

  • Minimum days in Greece

    Yes or no
    none; absences do not block renewal

  • Travel in other Schengen countries

    Yes or no
    yes, up to 90 days in any 180 (Schengen Convention, Art. 21)

  • Work in Greece, employed or self-employed

    Yes or no
    no

  • Citizenship

    Yes or no
    no; naturalisation is a separate process

Costs

What the Greece Golden Visa costs beyond the property

  • Permit fee

    Amount
    €2,000
    Who pays
    investor
    When
    filing and each renewal

  • Family member fee

    Amount
    €150 per family member aged 18 or over, €0 under 18
    Who pays
    each adult family member
    When
    filing
    Source
    Art. 171

  • Residence card

    Amount
    €16
    Who pays
    every applicant
    When
    biometrics

  • National D visa (optional)

    Amount
    €180
    Who pays
    each visa applicant
    When
    before entry

  • Transfer tax

    Amount
    3% of the value
    Who pays
    buyer
    When
    purchase
    Source
    current rate (primeminister.gr, 6 September 2026)

  • Notary, lawyer, Land Registry

    Amount
    market rates
    Who pays
    buyer
    When
    purchase
    Source
    vary by property

  • Health insurance

    Amount
    per person, by age
    Who pays
    each applicant
    When
    before filing or at biometrics
    Source
    insurer quote

Worked example: a couple with a 12-year-old pays €2,000 + €150 + €0 in permit fees and 3 × €16 for cards, so €2,198 in state fees. Tax, professional fees and insurance come on top.

On 6 September 2026 the Prime Minister announced a rise in transfer tax from 3% to 15% for buyers from outside the EU (speech). As of 26 September 2026 no law or start date has been published, so I'd treat 3% as the rate until one is.

Family

Family members: who can join

  • your spouse or registered partner
  • unmarried children under 21
  • the parents of both spouses
  • adult children who depend on you and lack legal capacity (added by Ν. 5275/2026, Art. 29)

At 21 a child can get an independent 3-year permit on showing the previous family permit, for a €450 fee (Art. 95 par. 2; Art. 171 par. 1(β)). Family permits end when the investor's permit ends (Art. 95).

A three-generation family sharing lunch on a sunny terrace by the sea

Renewal

Renewal after five years, and what can cost you the permit

To renew for another five years:

  • still own the property
  • pay €2,000 again
  • show private health insurance again
  • file the E9 and final Land Registry proof
  • sign a declaration that the home is not let short-term
  • file in the 2 months before expiry; up to 3 months late is accepted with a €100 fine per month (Ν. 5275/2026, Art. 12)

What can end the permit:

  • short-term (holiday) letting or subletting: revocation plus a €50,000 fine (Ν. 5100/2024, Art. 100 par. 7A). Long-term letting is allowed.
  • using a converted property as a business seat or branch
  • not restoring a listed building before the first renewal: €150,000 fine (Ν. 5100/2024)
  • selling the property

What changed

What changed in 2025 and 2026, and what is only announced

  1. 5 April 2024

    the three investment thresholds are unchanged since this date.

  2. 11 November 2025

    in force: Decision 214926/2025 set a new document list; a Land Registry request is enough at first filing.

  3. 6 February 2026

    in force: Ν. 5275/2026 added adult dependants and set the renewal window and late fine.

  4. 6 September 2026

    announced: 15% transfer tax for non-EU buyers, no law yet.

Demand: 3,426 first-time applications filed from January to August 2026 (Ministry of Migration, August 2026 statistics).

FAQ

Golden Visa Greece: frequently asked questions

Yes. Since Brexit, UK nationals apply as non-EU nationals, on the same terms. At the end of August 2026 UK nationals held 840 active first-time investor permits, by the Ministry of Migration's count. Retiring on it works, but the permit gives no right to work.

No, there is no minimum stay. Owning Greek property without the permit gives you nothing extra: you stay up to 90 days in any 180 like any visitor.

Children qualify while under 21, and at 21 they can move to an independent 3-year permit. I found no rule on whether the filing date or the decision date counts, so confirm it with the one-stop service or your lawyer before the birthday.

No, the investor permit has no income or bank-balance test.

Not by itself: naturalisation is a separate process with its own residence and exam conditions.

The ministry's statistics count the five years from the filing date, so a file decided six months after filing leaves about four and a half years on the card. Check the dates printed on your decision; the renewal window counts back from that expiry date.

No, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens register under EU free-movement rules.
Costas Matheou, licensed insurance agent

About the author

Costas Matheou is a licensed insurance agent who writes and reviews the guides on DigiCare Insurance. This guide is general information on Greek law as of 26 September 2026, not individual legal, tax or insurance advice; your lawyer confirms your own file, and insurance cover is governed by the policy wording.

A woman filling in an online form on a laptop at a sunny café table

Health insurance for your Golden Visa file

A private policy for each applicant with the ΚΥΑ 133692/2024 minimums in writing, ready for filing or your biometrics appointment.

Get a quote