Turkish investors have made a dynamic entry into Greece with the Golden Visa program which grants a Greek residence permit to foreigners who buy property in Greece worth more than €250,000.
Turks are firmly in second place after the Chinese in taking advantage of this visa scheme, Proto Thema reported.
According to the updated statistics of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, from 2014, when the Golden Visa was implemented for the first time, until today, a total of 7,825 foreigners have invested at least €250,000 to acquire real estate in Greece.
At the top of the list are the Chinese with 5,770 registrations, followed by 527 Turkish investors and 363 Russians. The rest of the ranking is as follows: Lebanon (159), Egypt (153), Iran (121), Iraq (95), Jordan (68), Ukraine (63), Syria (57) and other countries (449).
Based on the Greek Immigration Code, it is possible to issue residence permits to third country nationals and their family members who purchase real estate with a minimum amount of €250,000, an amount that must be paid in full at the time of signing the contract. Residence permits are renewed every 5 years as long as foreign investors still own the real estate they acquired in Greece.
In this context, the total issuance of residence permits to investors-buyers of real estate and their family members in the period 2014-2020 amounts to 23,361. Of these, 17,475 were given to the Chinese, followed by 1,427 Turks and 976 Russians.
The most successful year of attracting investments was in 2019 when 3,339 third country citizens bought real estate with contracts over €250,000 euros in Greece.
As a result, 10,775 residence permits were issued last year to investors and their families.
It is unknown how the coronavirus pandemic will affect foreign interests in buying property in Greece, but it is likely many will take advantage of reduced prices.
