ATHENS – Greece has decided to postpone the decision to increase the minimum amount of investment needed for the Golden Visa.
The postponement has been decided for Golden Visa in some parts of the country for three months implying that billionaires interested in visa will still be eligible to invest €250,000 instead of €500,000 until July 1.
The decision comes weeks after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that minimum investment would be enhanced for the Golden Visa Program from May 1 this year.
The announcement regarding change in amount of investment for Residency through the Investment Scheme, called Golden Visa attracted large number of applications.
Ministry of Immigration and Asylum’s figures confirm that the number of applications for Golden Visa surged by a total of 252 per cent, totalling 1,446 requests in January and February this year, compared to 411 recorded in the same period last year.
For January and February this year, the number of golden visas issued was 574 contrary to 286 visas issued in 2022.
Like all other Golden Visa programs, Greece’s Golden Visa allows wealthy internationals to acquire residency in the country through investment under some conditions.
The Golden Visa Program is popular now a days; however, it is also facing criticism by EU countries who claim that the program allows criminals to find refuge in countries under the garb of investment. Recently, Portugal announced to end its Goldden Visa program in a major set back to the wealthy investors.
Some say that the scheme was ended due to surge in the prices of real estate and housing rents which made it difficult for locals to secure any place. Portugal is now envisioning a mechanism to regulate rent increases and will offer tax incentives to landlords who convert tourism properties into houses for locals to rent.
Meanwhile, authorities in EU countries have repeatedly pressed all European countries that offer Golden Visas to suspend the programme.
