Greece’s Golden Visa Enticing More Property Buyers

Photo source: European Commission / ©AdS/hamzeh

Online searches for information about Greece’s golden visa program increased by 75 percent in a single month, according to Astons, a leading investment immigration and relocation provider.

More specifically, the findings reveal that high net wealth individuals are currently seeking to invest in Greece. Indicatively, internet searches for “Greece golden visa” increased by 75.2 percent in March. Meanwhile, the number of applications for Greek investor visas from high net-worth US citizens grew by 740 percent in 2021.

Greece’s golden visa scheme grants five-year residency rights for third country nationals who purchase property in Greece valued at a minimum of 250,000 euros. The minimum investment is set to rise to 500,000 euros for some areas next month.

Astons analysts attribute Greece’s popularity as an investment option to the lifestyle, weather, and landscapes and to the affordability of the plan.

“Greece offers all of the geographical and lifestyle features that hold strong appeal amongst those looking to secure alternative residency via investment, not to mention the fact that it also offers one of the most affordable investment thresholds of all European nations,” said Alena Lesina immigration expert for Astons USA.

Investors are also interested in Spain with the number of searches up by 37 percent in a single month.

Declining were the number of searches for golden visa schemes in Portugal, down by 18.7 percent after it announced that it would be discontinuing its residence by investment scheme, Cyprus (-24.5 percent), Turkey (-30.8 percent), and Malta (-59.2 percent).

Overall, searches for “citizenship by investment” increased by 16.8 percent between March and April 2023, for “investment visa” by 9.1 percent and for “residency by investment’ by 7.7 percent.