Greece’s Golden Visa May Soon Include Investors Buying Bonds

One step further in efforts to bring in much-needed cash, Greek authorities said they are looking into expanding the current investor visa program to include individuals investing over 250,000 euros in bonds and equity.

The running visa program offers investors five-year residency rights in return for real estate acquisitions or for strategic investments. The Chinese have expressed the greatest interest in the plan now holding 664 so-called golden visas. A total of 1,573 residence permits have been issued to residents of third countries who invested in real estate in Greece in the period to Jan. 31, 2017.

Enterprise Greece representatives met with Alternate Economy Minister Stergios Pitsiorlas to discuss potential changes and improvements to the investor visa plan including alternative deposit methods and allowing foreign buyers to launch business activities in specific sectors of the economy if the investment exceeds 250,000 euros.

Launched in July 2013, the program has followed the model implemented in Portugal and Spain.