Recently, there was an increase announced for the Golden Visa Program in Greece, which could have an impact on its upper limit.
The lower limit of the program is expected to stay at €250,000, but the upper limit could go as high as €800,000 in some cases.
The announcement
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of Greece, confirmed the announcement and said that third-country nationals could be required to make a minimum investment of €800,000 for the Golden Visa.
This would be applicable to real estate investments in certain areas of the country. The Prime Minister said that areas that do not have any residential pressure would continue with the limit of €250,000.
He stated that they were having discussions with the finance minister about increasing the threshold for golden visa investments only in areas where rents are high.
Greece’s PM also added that people who purchase properties via the Residency by Investment Scheme could be told to rent them out by the government for a long period of time.
He emphasized that blaming a single villain for every complex problem was very convenient, adding that the Golden Visa was connected to just 7% of the real estate transactions in the last few years.
The investments
Kostis Hadjidakis, the Economy and Finance Minister of Greece, made an announcement earlier this month.
He stated that they were planning on increasing the investor visa threshold applicable to the Residency by Investment Scheme once more.
He revealed that this was because they wanted to attract more ‘significant investments’ to the country and also cut down the number of visas granted.
As per the Minister, the aim of the new changes is to balance the real estate market and also deal with market distortions.
According to Hadjidakis, the aim of the new changes is to boost the availability of properties for rent, support construction and also respect the rights of owners.
Residency
Buying a property is one of the most favorite and popular options of getting residency in the Hellenic Republic.
The Migration Ministry of Greece also shared statistics showing that almost €5.54 million has been brought into the real estate market of Greece via the Golden Visa Program.
This has happened during the decade that the scheme has been operating. There is a housing shortage in Greece at present.
According to the Minister of Economy and Finance, the purpose of the new changes is to bring down the rising prices of renting and buying properties in Greece.
In August last year, Greece had increased the minimum amount of investment needed for issuing a Golden Visa in some parts of the country.
The amount had increased from €250,000 to €500,000 in areas like Santorini and Mykonos, the Greater Area of Athens and the Municipality of Thessaloniki.
