Greece Tops Global 2024 List for its Golden Visa Program

Photo source: Visit Greece

Greece’s popular golden visa scheme is among the world’s Top 3 most attractive investment migration programs, according to global wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners.

More specifically, Greece’s residence by investment program ranked 2^nd and was dubbed by Henley & Partners as the “Mediterranean’s rising star”.

Overall, Europe prevailed in the 2024 Global Residence Program Index, with five European country visa schemes on the list. In the lead Portugal out of 26 programs with a score of 75 out of 100. Greece and Austria came in second with a score of 73, followed by the Swiss residence program with 72, those of Italy and the UK (71) in 4^th spot, and ranked 5^th the Canada and Spain (69) schemes.

Source: Henley & Partners

Meanwhile, according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report, 2024 is projected to be a record breaker in terms of millionaire migration, with 128,000 high-net-worth individuals forecast to move to a new country, compared to the 120,000 who did so last year, surpassing the pre-pandemic 2019 high of 110,000.

“Acquiring alternative residence and/or citizenship by participating in reputable investment migration programs enables greater flexibility and participation in the world’s leading economies, as well as optionality, which is now an indispensable part of any family’s insurance policy for the 21st century,” said Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, adding that last year, Americans were the top nationality applying for alternative residence and citizenship options through the company and that this trend has continued into the first quarter of 2024.

Greece’s golden visa scheme grants five-year residency rights for third country nationals who purchase property in the country. As part of efforts to attract more “significant investments”, Greek Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis confirmed that the government would be increasing the investor visa threshold and reducing the number of visas granted.