Greece Golden Visa 2026: Tiers, Costs and Permit Rules
The €800k, €400k and €250k tiers, the short-term rental ban, true closing costs, and how the process runs from abroad.
- Threshold set by location: €800k (Athens, Mykonos etc.), €400k anywhere else, €250k nationwide, but only for commercial-to-residential conversions (the same threshold also applies to listed restorations).
- Cost table for the deed of sale: taxes, Land Registry, lawyer (property and investor permit) and agent’s fee.
- Title and permits are checked before signature — defects are the seller’s problem to fix.
- One trip, for biometrics only — everything else runs by power of attorney.
- Long-term letting permitted; Airbnb and short-term platforms banned — €50,000 fine and permit revocation.
- The visa creates neither Greek tax residency nor automatic citizenship.
Since Spain closed its programme in April 2025, Greece is the last major EU country where a property purchase carries a residence permit. The rules, however, changed radically in 2024: the flat €250,000 threshold gave way to a location-based structure, and that amount now applies only to the conversion of commercial premises to residential use, under specific conditions. It is a particularly popular route at the moment, both for its simplicity and because it keeps the required investment capital for a Golden Visa property lower; moreover, instead of drawing homes out of the Greek market, it creates new ones, a significant advantage for the sustainability of the property market. The same favourable threshold also applies to listed-building restorations.
This guide sets out the 2026 requirements, the full cost, and how the process runs from abroad, under Law 5100/2024, Law 5275/2026 and Circular 1/2026.
1. The Three Investment Tiers
Two thresholds are set by location; the third is set by property type. Standard residential property falls under the €800,000 or €400,000 band depending on where it sits. The €250,000 threshold applies anywhere in Greece, but only to a listed-building restoration or a commercial-to-residential conversion.
Greece Golden Visa — 2026 by the numbers
All of Attica, the regional unit of Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and any island above 3,100 registered inhabitants.
The rest of the mainland and the smaller islands.
Nationwide, but only for a commercial-to-residential conversion or listed-building restoration.
The single-property rule
In the €800,000 and €400,000 tiers, it is clarified that the investment must concern a single property of at least 120 m² of main living space. Aggregating the value of two smaller units to reach the threshold is no longer permitted, as it was in the past, so that the minimum investment amount is safeguarded.
Circular 1/2026 added two clarifications: spouses or registered partners may co-own the qualifying property where the combined value meets the threshold (co-ownership with siblings, business partners or adult children does not qualify), and the €250,000 conversion route anchors a permit only once per property: a subsequent non-EU buyer must meet the zone’s standard threshold.
Eligibility at €250,000 requires documentation
Eligibility at €250,000 depends on that property's specific title, permits and change-of-use status. Only a full legal and technical check establishes it; a listing marked “eligible” cannot be taken at face value. In addition, this route has no minimum floor-area requirement, a particularly attractive feature, since in the location-based €800,000 and €400,000 tiers, as noted, the main living space may not be less than 120 m².
Not sure which tier a property falls under?
Send the details of a specific property to have its threshold and eligibility confirmed.
Send us the property details for a threshold check →2. Restrictions on Use
Short-term letting, on Airbnb or any other platform, is expressly banned; a breach revokes the permit and triggers the €50,000 fine. Long-term leases are permitted, and many investors run the property as a yield asset from abroad; the rental income is taxable in Greece, from 2026 on a 15%–25%–35%–45% scale (Law 5246/2025).
- Long-term residential letting, on the statutory minimum term.
- Rental income from long-term lets.
- Selling — provided a replacement qualifying property is acquired first (see §6).
- Holding the property indefinitely while living abroad.
- Short-term letting on Airbnb, VRBO or any transient platform.
- Using a €250k conversion property as a company’s registered seat or branch.
- Filing the dossier for a conversion before the change-of-use is certified complete (for listed restorations, completion is required at renewal instead).
On the €250k routes, failure to complete the conversion or restoration on schedule triggers revocation.
What if a problem is found after you’ve paid a deposit?
A private agreement with a deposit paid to the seller’s account is common market practice — but a notarial preliminary contract is an official document, and only it makes the deposit enforceably refundable on specified grounds. That is why the checks run before any money moves.
3. What Does the Purchase Cost Beyond the Price?
Expect 11–15% above the agreed price in transaction costs: transfer tax, the estate agent’s fee, notarial fees, cadastral registration and legal work. The percentages and figures that follow are a realistic approximation, provided as is; every case is different.
| Cost category | Rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Property Transfer Tax (ΦΜΑ) | 3.09% | 3% tax plus a 3% municipal surcharge on the tax. Calculated on the higher of contract price or objective tax value. |
| Estate agent’s fee | 2–3% + VAT | Set by the brokerage agreement and agreed in writing before the preliminary contract; the agent’s mediation is recorded in the deed, as the law requires. |
| Notarial fees | ~1.5–1.8% + VAT | State scale, for the definitive deed. Under the one-stop-shop framework (Υπηρεσια μιας στασης), the notary directs the transfer end-to-end — filings, checks and submissions run through one office. |
| Cadastral registration | ~0.7–0.8% | Hellenic Cadastre registration of the transfer, submitted by the notary. |
| Legal due diligence + application | €5,000–€11,000 | Full Golden Visa oversight, start to finish — title due diligence through permit issuance. Scales with title complexity and the number of applicants on the file (a sole investor or a family with children; the parents of each spouse may also be included). The application presumes counsel who handles Golden Visa cases routinely, as this is specialist work. |
| State migration duties | €2,000 | Main investor; plus €150 per adult dependant and €16 per person for the card. |
Where the title check reveals a manifest error (προδηλο σφαλμα) in a prior deed, a corrective deed can be drafted and signed simultaneously with the new contract, resolved in the same appointment rather than in separate proceedings.
The transfer tax base is the higher of the contract price and the state-assessed value; where the assessed value is higher, the tax is computed on it. VAT on new builds is currently suspended.
The full additional sum should be in place before an offer is made; buyers who discover these costs late can fail to close and lose the deposit.
4. What Is Confirmed Before Signature
Three checks run before any contract is signed or deposit released.
Greek tax number (AFM)
Issued by the tax office for foreign residents; no deed can be drafted without it. How to obtain an AFM from abroad →
Title audit (Cadastre)
The lawyer confirms the property is free of mortgages, seizures, claims and competing rights.
Electronic Building Identity (HTK)
A civil engineer certifies the building matches its permits; unpermitted square metres stall the closing until legalised.
When a check turns up a problem, such as an undeclared extension or an unmentioned mortgage, fixing it is the seller’s obligation.
Circular 1/2026 simplified the process with favourable arrangements, such as allowing the residence permit to be issued before the registration of the transfer is completed, which previously had to be evidenced by a certificate from the competent Land Registry Office.
5. Timeline and Remote Execution
Many buyers do not plan to relocate to Greece right away. In almost every case the process calls for coordinated professionals, and the notary is the central figure in that coordination, bearing responsibility for the signing of the deed.
Everything up to and including the deed and residency filing runs under a power of attorney; only biometrics cannot be delegated, and it is schedulable within twelve months of filing.
Payment must come from the buyer’s own account, by bank transfer or banker’s cheque; cash above €500 and cryptocurrency are not accepted. Funds from a spouse or parent trigger a documentary process under AML rules, flagged before the transfer (see the payment methods guide).
Signed at a Greek consulate, or before a local notary with an apostille.
Opened by the lawyer under the power of attorney.
Title check, deed and residency application are submitted by the lawyer.
The one in-person step: fingerprints and a photograph.
A clean Athens file runs six to twelve weeks from instruction to deed. On filing, a temporary certificate issues immediately with the right to reside in Greece; Schengen-wide circulation attaches to the card itself (three to nine months for Athens, longer in peak periods), so until then travel follows the passport’s own rules, including ETIAS from late 2026.
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The Golden Visa does not make its holder a Greek taxpayer: tax residency requires physical presence — more than 183 days a year — which most permit-only investors never approach. Rental income is taxable in Greece; worldwide income stays taxed where the holder actually lives.
Investors who do relocate can elect the non-domicile regime of Article 5A: a flat €100,000 a year covering all foreign-source income, for up to fifteen years, for those not Greek tax-resident in seven of the previous eight years; below the €800,000 tier, confirm the investment condition with a tax adviser.
On resale: the permit is tied to the property. Selling ends it — for the investor and every family member on it — so moving capital into a different property requires completing the new purchase before transferring the old.
Residency, mobility, and citizenship
Three files, in brief
A ground-floor office, signed without a single trip until biometrics
A London buyer took a 48 m² ground-floor office for conversion; title check, engineer’s file and tax number ran through the notary’s office, deed signed by power of attorney, residency issued for a family of three.
✓ Full remote handlingA single apartment in the €800k zone
A Tel Aviv buyer took a 134 m² apartment in central Athens; the title check turned up an unpermitted enclosed balcony, resolved by the seller before the preliminary contract.
✓ Title issue resolved pre-contractOne visit to inspect the property and open the account; everything else remote
An Istanbul buyer saw the property once; title check, contract, tax number and residency filing ran by power of attorney over four months, with a second trip only for biometrics.
✓ Second trip for biometrics onlyDrawn from anonymised files, per privacy requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Almost none: tax number, bank account, title work, deed and residency filing all run under power of attorney; only biometrics requires one appearance in person.
Not on its own: a passport requires seven years of actual residence (183+ days a year, tax-paying) plus a B1 language and civics examination — holding the property from abroad does not count (§6).
Yes — long-term letting is permitted, taxable in Greece (from 2026: 15% to €12,000 · 25% to €24,000 · 35% to €35,000 · 45% above) under a Greek tax number. Short-term letting on Airbnb or similar platforms means permit revocation plus a €50,000 fine.
Selling the qualifying property ends the permit — for the investor and every dependent on it. To move capital between assets, acquire the replacement before selling the first.
No. Greek tax residency is triggered only by physical presence — more than 183 days a year — which most holders never approach. For a holder living abroad, the only Greek exposure is the rental income; worldwide income stays taxed in the country of residence (for relocators, see the Article 5A non-dom regime in §6).
- Law 5038/2023 (Migration Code), Art. 100 — investment residence framework. ΦΕΚ Α′ 44/2023.
- Law 5100/2024, Art. 64 — the current €800k/€400k/€250k tier structure. ΦΕΚ Α′ 55/2024.
- Law 5275/2026 — five-year card validity counted from issuance date. ΦΕΚ Α′ 22/2026.
- Circular 1/2026, Ministry of Migration & Asylum (22 April 2026) — resolves 22 procedural questions: encumbrance certificate abolished; co-ownership and one-time use of the €250k route clarified.
- Law 5246/2025 — VAT suspension on new builds extended through 2026; 25% intermediate rental tax bracket from 2026. ΦΕΚ 11 November 2025.
- Bank of Greece — net non-resident property inflows: €2.75 bn in 2024, a record. Statistical Bulletin, Q4 2024.
- Ministry of Migration & Asylum — 3,816 permits approved Jan–Apr 2026, ~11% over 2025. Press release, May 2026.
