Citizeo
Pathway

Greece Investor Residence Permit

Greece Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

This residence pathway is for applicants who can make and maintain a qualifying real-estate, financial, or registered-startup investment in Greece. Each category has its own amount, transaction, certification, and holding rules.

Type
Investment residence
Investment fit
Investors making a qualifying investment in Greece
Core requirements
Investment amount, source of funds, and required approvals
What to know
The exact asset and transaction must meet statutory rules
Duration
B.4 and B.5: 5 years; B.6 startup: 1 year initially.
Renewal / path
B.4/B.5 renew in 5-year periods; B.6 renews in 2-year periods while its conditions remain met.

Summary

Greece's “Golden Visa” label commonly refers to investment-based residence permits for citizens of countries outside the EU, EEA, or Switzerland. B.5 covers qualifying real-estate investment, B.4 covers specified financial investments, and B.6 is a separate permit for qualifying capital investment in a business listed in Greece's National Startup Registry. These are detailed legal categories; buying any Greek property, investment product, or startup stake does not qualify.

B.4 and B.5 permits are generally issued for five years and may be renewed for five-year periods while the qualifying investment is maintained and the other conditions continue to be met. B.6 is different: its initial permit is for one year and each renewal is for two years. The relevant statutes say that absence from Greece does not by itself prevent renewal of B.5 or B.6.

The lowest current headline amount is €250,000, but that amount applies only to narrowly defined real-estate conversion or listed-building restoration cases. Ordinary residential purchases require €400,000 or €800,000 depending on location and must satisfy additional one-property and size rules.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

For an ordinary real-estate purchase under B.5, the current thresholds are:

Two special real-estate routes remain at €250,000 throughout Greece:

The Code also covers specified long-term leases of integrated tourist accommodation and time-share tourist accommodation at the applicable location-based amount, as well as certain inheritance or parental-gift cases. These are document-heavy alternatives and should be checked against Article 100 before any transaction.

For B.4 financial investment, Article 99 defines the permitted products and amounts. The main current groups include:

Every financial route has additional requirements concerning the entity, custodian or intermediary, account, market, certification, and continued holding. The amount alone is not enough.

The separate B.6 startup route requires at least €250,000 in new capital contributed to a business registered in the National Startup Registry, in return for shares issued in a capital increase or bonds issued through a bond loan. The acquired interest cannot exceed 33% of the startup's capital or voting rights. The business must create at least two new jobs within the first year and maintain its total job count, including those new jobs, for at least five years. The funds must be remitted from abroad for the investment, the competent Foreign Direct Investment Directorate must certify the investment and its continued holding, and the exact rules differ where a legal entity makes the investment.

For B.5 real estate, the full price or qualifying lease amount must be paid before the application using a payment method permitted by Article 100, and the notarial certificate must record the transaction and payment details. The applicant must have entered Greece lawfully or already be lawfully present, provide the required insurance and application documents, and pay the current government charges. Source-of-funds, anti-money-laundering, sanctions, title, planning, tax, and beneficial-ownership checks can all be important in practice.

What This Route Allows

An approved B.4 or B.5 applicant receives a Greek residence permit normally valid for five years. It can be renewed for another five years while the qualifying property, contract, or financial investment remains in place and the other requirements continue to be met. A B.6 startup investor instead receives a one-year permit, renewable for two years at a time while the investment and other statutory conditions continue to be certified.

Qualifying family members may apply for linked residence documents under the current investor-family rules. Each relative must fit the legal definition and provide their own documents; family eligibility should be confirmed before the investment is made.

The permit allows residence in Greece and the short visits elsewhere in the Schengen area permitted under the general Schengen rules. It does not create a right to settle in another Member State.

The B.5 holder may rent the property on an ordinary basis, but the law prohibits short-term rental through the sharing economy and prohibits subletting. Property acquired through the conversion-to-residential branch also cannot be used as the registered office or branch of a business. Breach can lead to revocation and substantial fines.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a citizenship-by-investment program. It gives residence, not Greek or EU citizenship. A later naturalization application is judged under the ordinary rules and requires actual residence and integration; keeping an investor permit without living in Greece does not by itself satisfy those rules.

It is not a work permit. Articles 99, 100, and 100A state that these investor permits do not establish access to any form of work. Owning shares does not give a B.6 holder permission to take a paid or operational role that requires work rights.

It is not permission to buy several smaller ordinary properties and add their prices together. The current €400,000 and €800,000 purchase routes require one property. Nor does every €250,000 property qualify: the property must fit and complete the statutory conversion or listed-building route.

The €250,000 startup threshold is not a general “buy any business” option. The company must be in the National Startup Registry, the contribution and securities must fit Article 100A, the investor's interest must stay within the ownership and voting cap, and the business must meet the job-creation and job-maintenance conditions.

The permit is not guaranteed by signing a reservation agreement or paying a deposit. The property title, classification, size, use, payment, and notarial evidence—or the exact financial product and certification—must comply with the law. Old transitional deadlines for purchases begun under earlier thresholds have passed and should not be presented as options for a new 2026 investment.

The residence permit also does not decide tax residence or produce an automatic tax exemption. Property taxes, acquisition costs, rental taxation, and the separate Article 5A tax regime require individual advice.

Next Steps

  1. Choose the legal category first: B.5 real estate, B.4 financial investment, or B.6 registered-startup investment. Do not choose an asset only because its price matches a headline threshold.
  2. For real estate, obtain an independent written review of the location, census rule where relevant, one-property requirement, 120-square-meter rule, current legal use, planning status, listed-building status, title, liens, and seller's prior use of the property for an investor permit.
  3. If considering a €250,000 conversion, verify that residential use can lawfully be completed before filing. If considering a listed building, budget and contract for the restoration required before the first renewal and understand the restriction on transfer before completion.
  4. For a financial route, have the Ministry of Development/competent investment unit and a regulated Greek institution confirm in writing that the proposed fund, security, company contribution, bond, deposit, intermediary, and account structure fit Article 99.
  5. For a startup route, verify the company's current National Startup Registry status, the instrument used for the new capital, the 33% cap, the employment plan, the remittance route, the certification process, and the one-year initial permit before investing.
  6. Confirm the permitted payment path before sending money. Make sure a real-estate contract and notarial certificate will record all details required by Article 100.
  7. Complete source-of-funds, sanctions, tax, beneficial-ownership, title, and anti-money-laundering checks. Use independent Greek legal, tax, and technical advisers rather than relying only on the seller, developer, startup, fund promoter, or migration marketer.
  8. Check family eligibility and civil-record requirements before the main filing. Obtain compliant health insurance and the current identity and application documents.
  9. File through the official procedure and retain evidence that the investment remains qualifying. For renewal, keep the asset and all annual or periodic certifications required for that route.
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