Golden Visa Program Brings €1.32 Billion to Greece in 2023, Ministry Says

Golden Visa Program Brings €1.32 Billion to Greece in 2023, Ministry Says

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • The Golden Visa Program in Greece has generated €1.32 billion since the beginning of the year, and the Immigration and Asylum Ministry expects the total to reach €1.5 billion by year-end.
  • The program's popularity is evident in the 117 per cent increase in Golden Visa applications from January to November compared to the same period last year.
  • Currently, 5,302 golden visas have been granted, and there are 8,461 pending investor visa requests, with a significant portion related to property purchases in Attica.

A total of €1.32 billion have been brought to Greece since the beginning of this year through the Golden Visa Program, according to figures from the Immigration and Asylum Ministry.

The Ministry says that it expects the program to bring €1.5 billion in total by the end of this year, following the decision to increase the minimum amount of money required from investment in some parts of the country from €250,000 to €500,000 applied earlier this year.

The Ministry also revealed that for a period from January until November, a total of 9,459 applications for the country’s Golden Visa have been submitted, accounting for a 117 per cent increase over the same 11-month period a year ago.

In addition, the number of golden visas granted up to this point increased by 112 per cent to 5,302. At the same time, at present there are currently 8,461 investor visa requests pending with 7,490 of these concerning property purchases in Attica.

For a period from May 2022 to May 2023, authorities in Greece received 8,351 applications for investor visas, which indicates a strong demand.

According to the figures provided by the Ministry, the majority of those who benefited from the Golden Visa scheme came from China (45 per cent), followed by Russia (14 per cent), Turkey (10 per cent), and Egypt (5 per cent).

The Golden Visa Program of Greece allows wealthy internationals to acquire residency if they meet some conditions and financially invest in this country.

However, the program which is among the most favourite ones in Europe, has brought difficulties to the Greek housing market.

In August this year, the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced the country increased the minimum amount required from internationals for investment from €250,000 to €500,000 in some parts of the territory.

At the same time, the leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), Nikos Androulakis, said that the Golden Visa scheme has led to a shortage of apartments for the country’s residents.

“The government thinks it is dealing with the problem by raising the golden visa threshold to 500,000 euros ($551,216) in Athens, while leaving, for example, the limit at 250,000 ($275,608) in Piraeus. Is there anything in downtown Athens that hasn’t been bought?”Androulakis

In addition, he urged the government to abolish this scheme, thus adding that he would initiate a campaign in order to put an end to the scheme.

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