Greece · Programme open · Updated 2026-08-07
The Greece Golden Visa, Priced Honestly
Greece runs one of the cheapest golden visas still open in the EU, and one of the most misdescribed. The €250,000 figure that still dominates search results has not been the standard property minimum since September 2024. This page sets out what the programme actually costs, where the higher threshold bites, and the two conditions that cause most of the trouble afterwards.
The short answer
An ordinary property purchase costs €400,000, or €800,000 in high-demand areas. Law 5100/2024 raised the thresholds for transactions completed from 1 September 2024. The €250,000 tier still exists but only for converting commercial premises to residential use or restoring a listed building. Standard purchases must be a single property of at least 120 m². There is no minimum-stay requirement, and government fees are €2,000 for the main applicant.
What a property purchase costs
The Attica region including all of Athens, the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and any island with more than 3,100 residents.
Single property, 120 m² minimum
Mainland regions and smaller islands outside the high-demand list. This is the standard minimum for an ordinary purchase, not €250,000.
Single property, 120 m² minimum
Available anywhere, but only for a change of use (commercial premises converted to residential) or the restoration of a listed building. It is not a cheap route into an ordinary apartment.
No 120 m² minimum
The thresholds come from Law 5100/2024, published in the Government Gazette on 5 April 2024 (FEK A' 49) and applying to transactions completed from 1 September 2024. A transitional rule let buyers who had paid a 10% deposit by 31 August 2024 and completed by 31 December 2024 keep the old €250,000 and €500,000 thresholds. That window has closed, so 31 August 2024 is not the date the new tiers took effect. It was the deadline for escaping them.
The catch most buyers hit is the island rule. The €800,000 threshold applies to any island with more than 3,100 residents, which captures Crete, Corfu and Rhodes even though the law names only Mykonos and Santorini. It is a population test, not a list. Check the specific island before you commit to a budget.
Routes that are not property
These routes get far less attention than property, which is odd given that the startup and fund options are the cheapest ways into the programme. They also avoid the short-let prohibition below entirely, because there is no property to let.
The two conditions that cause trouble
You cannot let the property short-term
A property bought for the permit may not be let short-term through the sharing economy, and may not be subleased. Breaching this revokes the residence permit and carries a €50,000 fine. This matters more than it sounds, because the rental yields quoted in a lot of golden-visa sales material assume exactly the short-term letting the law forbids. Long-term letting is not caught, but get the distinction confirmed in writing before you sign.
It must be a single property of 120 m²
For the €800,000 and €400,000 tiers the investment has to be one property with at least 120 m² of main areas. You cannot assemble the threshold from two cheaper apartments, which was a common structure under the old rules. The 120 m² minimum does not apply to the €250,000 conversion and restoration route.
Fees and timelines
Government fees are €2,000 per application for the main investor, payable on the initial grant and again at each five-year renewal. It is flat per application. It is not charged per year, and it is not calculated across the family. Adult family members pay €150 each, and children under 18 are exempt from that fee. Every card issued carries a separate €16 fee, and children are not exempt from that one.
On timing, be sceptical of any firm quoting a confident range. There is no statutory end-to-end deadline. The law requires issuance within two months, but that clock starts only once the authority holds a complete file, and it is routinely exceeded in practice. A realistic expectation is four to six months for a well-prepared application outside a congested office, six to nine months as an average, and twelve months or more in Attica.
After filing you receive a blue submission certificate. It lets you live in Greece legally while the decision is pending, but it does not allow Schengen travel, which surprises people who assumed filing was equivalent to holding the permit.
Who you can bring
The permit covers a spouse or registered partner, unmarried children under 21, and the parents of either spouse or partner. Greece including both sets of parents is unusually generous and is a genuine reason families choose it over the alternatives.
The part worth planning for is what happens at 21. A child who completes their 21st year is granted an autonomous three-year permit, and the only statutory requirement is submitting the previous family permit. That permit cannot be renewed in the same category, so at roughly 24 the holder has to change category, hold a qualifying investment of their own, or naturalise if eligible.
That autonomous permit carries its own €450 fee, separate from the €2,000 the main investor pays.
There is no student or dependency extension to 24, whatever you may read elsewhere. The age-24 horizon people describe is simply the arithmetic of a three-year permit granted at 21. The single exception, added by Law 5226/2025, covers adult children of any age who lack legal capacity, proven by a final court decision.
How it compares
Stay requirement: ~7 days/year
Stay requirement: None
Stay requirement: —
Greece is cheaper than Portugal if you buy outside the high-demand areas, and it asks for no minimum stay at all. It is also the shorter route to a passport on paper: Greek naturalisation needs seven continuous years of lawful residence, where Portugal moved to ten years for most nationals under Lei Orgânica 1/2026, with seven kept for EU and CPLP citizens. The catch is that Greece expects genuine physical presence of roughly 183 days a year across those seven years, so a permit held passively will not get you there.
Common questions
How much do you need for a Greece Golden Visa in 2026?
For an ordinary property purchase, €400,000 in most of the country and €800,000 in high-demand areas: the Attica region including all of Athens, the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and any island with more than 3,100 residents. The widely quoted €250,000 is not the standard minimum. It applies only to a change-of-use conversion or the restoration of a listed building. Non-property routes start at €250,000 for an Elevate Greece startup and €350,000 for fund units.
Is the Greece Golden Visa still €250,000?
Not for an ordinary purchase. Since 1 September 2024, under Law 5100/2024, the €250,000 tier survives only for converting commercial premises to residential use or restoring a listed building. A normal apartment or house now costs €400,000 outside the high-demand areas and €800,000 inside them. Listings still advertising €250,000 apartments as golden-visa eligible are usually describing the conversion route, or are out of date.
Do Crete, Corfu and Rhodes qualify at €400,000?
No. The €800,000 threshold applies to any island with more than 3,100 residents, which includes Crete, Corfu and Rhodes. This catches people out because those islands are not named in the law the way Mykonos and Santorini are. They are captured by the population rule instead.
How long does the Greece Golden Visa take?
There is no statutory end-to-end deadline. The law requires the permit to be issued within two months, but that clock only starts once the authority holds a complete file, and it is routinely exceeded. In practice a well-prepared application outside a congested office runs roughly four to six months, six to nine months is a fair average, and Attica can take twelve months or more. After filing you receive a blue submission certificate that lets you live in Greece legally while you wait, but it does not permit Schengen travel.
What are the government fees?
€2,000 per application for the main investor, paid on the initial grant and again at each five-year renewal. It is a flat fee per application, not per year and not per family. Adult family members pay €150 each, and children under 18 are exempt from that fee entirely. Every card issued carries a separate €16 card fee, including cards for children, because the exemption covers the application fee only.
Who can be included as a family member?
A spouse or registered partner, unmarried children under 21, and the parents of either spouse or partner. Their permits run co-terminously with the investor's. A child who completes their 21st year is granted a separate three-year permit, and the only statutory requirement is submitting the previous family permit.
What happens when a child turns 21?
They receive an autonomous three-year residence permit of their own. That permit cannot be renewed in the same category, so at around age 24 they must change category, hold a qualifying investment themselves, or naturalise if eligible. There is no student or financial-dependency extension to 24 anywhere in the law, despite how often that is claimed. The one exception, added by Law 5226/2025, covers adult children of any age who lack legal capacity, proven by a final court decision.
Can you rent out the property on Airbnb?
No. A property bought for the permit may not be let short-term through the sharing economy or subleased. The penalty is severe: the residence permit is revoked and a €50,000 fine applies. Long-term letting is not caught by this prohibition, but take advice on the distinction before signing anything, because the rental yield assumed in many sales pitches depends on exactly the short-term letting the law forbids.
Does the Greece Golden Visa require you to live in Greece?
No. There is no minimum-stay requirement to hold or renew the investor permit, which is why it remains attractive compared with routes that demand physical presence. Be aware that spending more than 183 days in Greece in any twelve-month period makes you a Greek tax resident, taxed on worldwide income, which is a separate question from immigration status.
Talk to a Greek lawyer before you commit
The threshold, the island rule and the letting prohibition all turn on facts about a specific property. Compare lawyers who handle Greek investor permits and check their credentials with the Athens Bar before you transfer anything.
Compare Greece Golden Visa lawyers