The Greek Golden Visa in the Ionian Islands

What it is

The Golden Visa is a five-year Greek residence permit granted to non-EU nationals who make a qualifying investment, most commonly the purchase of a property. It is renewable for further five-year periods for as long as you keep the property, it can be held without a minimum stay in Greece, it extends to your family, and it allows stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the other Schengen countries. It does not give a right of access to employment in Greece (Article 100(9)), and it does not by itself make you a Greek tax resident.

The rules below come from Article 100 of the Migration Code (Law 5038/2023) as replaced by Article 64 of Law 5100/2024, in force from 5 April 2024 (purchases secured by 31 August 2024 could stay on the earlier rules), and from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum's Circular 1/2026 of 21 April 2026.

The thresholds

Since 1 September 2024 the minimum investment depends on where the property is. The Attica region, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and every island with more than 3,100 inhabitants at the latest census are in the €800,000 zone. Everywhere else is €400,000. The latest census is the one from 2021. We apply the rule island by island on the 2021 figures and have not found an official list of qualifying islands; the result is a real difference across the Ionian:

€800,000: Corfu, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Lefkada, Kythira.

€400,000: Paxos (with Antipaxos), Meganisi and Ithaca.

€400,000 on an island-by-island reading: Kalamos and Kastos off Lefkada, and the Diapontia islands of Ereikoussa, Othonoi and Mathraki off Corfu. Administratively these islands belong to the municipalities of Lefkada and Corfu, and we are not aware of an official ruling on how the 3,100 test applies to them; on a municipality reading the €800,000 level would apply. Ask your lawyer to confirm the classification in writing before you rely on €400,000.

Ereikoussa, Othonoi and Mathraki are also border areas, where a Golden Visa buyer — by definition from outside the EU — needs a permit from the Decentralised Administration before the deed is signed; our buying guide explains the rule.

A note on Ithaca: its 2021 population of 2,862 places it below the 3,100 line, so we show the €400,000 figure, which is what the law and the 2021 census give. The margin is narrow, so before relying on it ask your lawyer to confirm the classification in writing with the migration authority.

Two further routes exist anywhere in Greece, at €250,000, and the 120 m² requirement does not apply to either.

Change of use. An existing commercial, professional or industrial building converted to residential use. The €250,000 is the price in the deed: parking and storage bought in the same deed and building can be added to it, and the cost of works cannot. The conversion, carried out by the buyer or the seller, must be completed after 5 April 2024 and before you apply, and is documented by an engineer's report. A former industrial building needs five years without an industrial undertaking in it (craft workshops are excepted). The property cannot serve as the seat or a branch of a company, and the €250,000 level can be used once per property: a later buyer meets the standard thresholds. The route covers existing buildings, so a new building put up under an office permit and later amended to residences does not qualify.

Listed building. A listed building, or a property containing one, to be restored or rebuilt. The work must be completed before the first renewal of the permit; a transfer of the property before completion is void, and a failure to restore leads to revocation and a fine of €150,000.

The rules that trip people up

One property, and 120 m² of main areas where the test applies. The investment must be a single property. On the €800,000 and €400,000 routes, a built property, or one with a building permit, needs main areas of at least 120 m² in total; a bare plot without a permit and the €250,000 routes are outside the 120 m² requirement. Parking and storage do not count towards the 120 m², although their price counts towards the value when they are bought in the same deed and building. Two smaller units cannot be added together. Spouses can co-own one property on one threshold; unrelated co-owners must each meet the threshold on their own share.

Plots. A bare plot without a building permit can qualify on its own price, at the minimum for its zone. Commentators say the cost of building on a plot can be added to the plot's price for the value test, but we have not found this in the Ministry's texts; ask your lawyer to confirm it in writing before you rely on a plot-plus-build plan.

The value test is the price in the deed, paid in full before you apply, by bank transfer or card to an account in Greece. Payment by a spouse or a relative up to the second degree is allowed if it is declared in the deed. Money that returns to the buyer before or after the purchase, such as a rebate, cash-back or rent-back, reduces the real investment, and the permit can be revoked if that takes it below the minimum.

Letting for 60 days or more. A property bought under the current rules (purchases from 1 September 2024) may be let for stays of 60 days or more. Short-term letting within the framework of the sharing economy, and subletting, are prohibited; the penalty is revocation of the permit and an administrative fine of €50,000. "Short-term" follows Article 111 of Law 4446/2016: a stated period under 60 days with no services beyond accommodation and bed linen. Plan on the basis that any letting for shorter stays is covered. If your plan is summer rental income, the Golden Visa is the wrong tool; if your plan is a home you use and perhaps let for the winter, it works.

Keep the property. Selling before you own a replacement qualifying property cancels the permit. Buy the replacement first, notify the migration authority, and then sell.

Check any "Golden Visa" label against the zone minimum. In April 2026 the Ministry of Migration and Asylum issued Circular 1/2026, which addresses misleading advertising about the conditions of the permit — the price, how it is paid, the rights it gives — and money returned to the buyer around the purchase. It directs the Ministry's services to refer such cases to the tax and anti-money-laundering authorities, and permits already granted can be revoked (IMI Daily summarises the circular). On this site the Golden Visa mark appears only on listings whose asking price reaches the minimum for the island and which have at least 120 m² of main area, or €250,000 for a certified conversion or a listed building. The mark reflects the asking price and the stated size; the legal test is the price in the deed together with the conditions on this page, and eligibility is confirmed by your lawyer and the Ministry, not by us.

Family

The permit covers your spouse or registered partner, children under 21, the parents of both spouses and, since 2026 (Law 5275/2026), adult children without legal capacity. Children who turn 21 receive their own three-year permit.

Costs and timing

The main state fees are €2,000 for the main applicant at issue and at each renewal and €16 per card, plus private health insurance. Ask your lawyer for the fees that apply to each family member. Allow for the ordinary purchase costs described in our buying guide.

Proposed change, not yet law — transfer tax. The government has announced that the transfer tax on a home bought by an individual who is not a tax resident of the EU or EEA will rise from 3% to 15%. The draft bill (article 16) is in public consultation from 18 October to 1 November 2026 and gives 1 July 2027 as the start date. It has not been enacted. Which purchases will be exempt is not yet known, including how purchases for the Golden Visa and the €250,000 conversions and listed buildings will be treated. The purchase costs in our buying guide assume the current rate.

The law sets a decision period of two months from a complete file (Article 100(10)), and the Ministry's service descriptions estimate 50 to 60 days. Waits vary: ministry data reported by IMI Daily put the backlog at 29,273 applications at the end of July 2026.

What may change

The National Housing Strategy 2026–2035, presented in August 2026, proposes a new Golden Visa category for portfolios of several properties that are exclusively let long-term. It is a policy decision that still needs legislation; the existing thresholds are unchanged. The proposed transfer-tax change is described under Costs and timing. We update this page when the law changes, and we date it so you can see when it was last reviewed.

Golden Visa versus the other routes

If you are an EU citizen you need none of this. If you are moving to Greece to work remotely, the Digital Nomad visa (€3,500 net monthly income, no property purchase required) is usually simpler. If you will actually live in Greece, the next section covers the tax side.

Tax residency and the €100,000 flat tax

Tax residency is separate from the permit. Neither the purchase nor the permit makes you Greek tax-resident. More than 183 days in Greece in a twelve-month period generally does. Greece then offers newcomers three special regimes, each applied for separately with its own deadline.

The €100,000 flat tax (Article 5A of Law 4172/2013). A fixed €100,000 a year covers all foreign-source income, whatever its size. The payment is final: the foreign income need not be declared in Greece and no credit is given for tax paid abroad. Greek-source income is taxed normally. It lasts up to 15 tax years and cannot be extended.

You must not have been Greek tax-resident in seven of the eight years before moving, and must invest at least €500,000 in Greece within three years of applying: property purchase or construction, capital in a Greek company, Greek government bonds, a Greek alternative investment fund, or listed Greek shares or bonds — at most three, none from relatives, all kept for the whole period. Investments since 12 December 2019 count and you can apply up to three years after completion, so an earlier purchase can qualify.

Family, inheritance and gifts. Your spouse or registered partner, parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren can be added for €20,000 each per year. Movable assets abroad (securities, accounts) are exempt from Greek inheritance and gift tax; foreign real estate is outside Greek inheritance tax anyway.

The property Golden Visa alone does not satisfy the €500,000 condition. Only the separate investment-activity permit does. A property bought for at least €500,000 since 12 December 2019 can itself qualify; one at the €400,000 minimum falls short. Have your adviser confirm the classification in writing.

The procedure in 2026. Under Article 5A as amended by Law 5313/2026 (Gazette A' 102, 25 June 2026) and tax authority decision A.1147/2026 (Gazette B' 4431, 20 July 2026, corrected in B' 4838 of 4 August 2026): apply through the myAADE portal by 30 September of the year you move (the following tax year if you move after 2 July); documents by 31 October; decision within 60 days and no later than November's last working day; payment in one instalment by December's last working day. The tax authority sets these dates and can change them; we date this page.

The other two regimes. Pensioners (Article 5B) pay 7% flat on all foreign-source income for 15 tax years if not Greek tax-resident in five of the previous six years and moving from a country with a tax-cooperation agreement with Greece; apply by 31 October (tax authority decision A.1192/2026). New employment or self-employment (Article 5C) exempts 50% of Greek employment or business income for seven tax years: same five-of-six test, employees only in newly created positions, a declared intention to stay at least two years.

Residence rights are separate. None of these regimes lets a non-EU national live in Greece; that still needs a national visa and a residence permit, such as the Golden Visa. EU citizens settle freely but need the tax decision.

If you are leaving the United Kingdom. The UK ended its domicile-based regime on 6 April 2025. Anyone who later returns to the UK gets four years' relief on foreign income and gains only after ten consecutive tax years away. Under the inheritance-tax rules in force since then, anyone UK-resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years stays within UK inheritance tax on worldwide assets after leaving: three years after 10 to 13 years' residence, one more for each further year, ten after 20. Greek tax residency does not end exposure in the country you leave, least of all for inheritance tax. Plan the two systems together.

We are estate agents, not tax advisers. Take Greek and home-country advice before deciding where and what to buy, and before the deed.