Greece Golden Visa 2026: Current Thresholds, Processing Times, and What to Expect

The 800,000 EUR threshold covers Athens, Thessaloniki, Attica, Mykonos, Santorini, and any municipality with a population above 3,100. The 400,000 EUR threshold applies to everywhere else, but inventory in those zones is thin and mostly agricultural or rural land that is harder to exit. Both thresholds require a single residential property, not a portfolio split across units. The old 250,000 EUR floor that made Greece famous is gone and is not coming back.

The main applicant must be a non-EU national aged 18 or older with a clean criminal record. The permit covers a spouse or registered partner, dependent children up to age 21 (extendable to 24 if enrolled in university), and dependent parents of both the main applicant and the spouse. Siblings are not covered. The property must be purchased in the applicant's name or through a Greek legal entity where the applicant holds 100 percent of the shares.

After submitting a complete file, the Greek Ministry of Migration currently issues an interim certificate within roughly 30 to 60 days that functions as a residence permit while the physical card is processed. The residence card itself is valid for five years and is renewable indefinitely as long as the property is still owned. Greece does not require any minimum stay to renew, which is the single biggest structural advantage the program holds over most European competitors. For a full comparison of where Greece sits against other active programs, this overview of open golden visa programs in 2026 is worth reading before you commit.

Permanent residency in Greece requires five years of actual physical residence, meaning you must have spent a substantial portion of each year in the country. The golden visa itself does not count time toward that threshold unless you are physically present. Greek citizenship by naturalization requires seven years of legal residence with genuine ties, language proficiency, and passing a civics test. For holders using Greece purely as a travel-document anchor with no intention of living there, citizenship is a multi-decade project, not a five-year outcome.

On top of the property price, buyers face a property transfer tax of 3.09 percent on the assessed value (not necessarily the purchase price), notary fees of roughly 1 to 1.5 percent, legal fees typically running 1 to 2 percent, and agent commissions of 2 to 3 percent if using a broker. Government fees for the golden visa application itself run approximately 2,000 EUR for the main applicant plus 150 EUR per additional family member. Total transaction friction on an 800,000 EUR purchase typically lands between 55,000 and 90,000 EUR depending on the deal structure and professional fees.

Holding a Greek golden visa does not make you a Greek tax resident. Tax residency triggers only when you spend more than 183 days per calendar year in Greece or establish your habitual abode there. Greece's standard income tax scale runs from 9 percent up to 44 percent for income above 40,000 EUR annually, with a separate 15 percent flat tax option available to foreign retirees relocating income to Greece under a special regime. Rental income from Greek property is taxed at a flat 15 percent for the first 12,000 EUR and 35 percent above that. Most visa holders who do not live in Greece owe Greek tax only on income sourced inside Greece.