Greece Golden Visa (residence by investment) (Greece): Requirements
Greece residence route
Greece Golden Visa (residence by investment)
Retirees making a substantial property or investment commitment who want residence without an income test or a physical presence requirement.
- Income threshold
- No income test
- Minimum age
- None
- Validity
- Five years, renewable indefinitely while the investment is held.
- Permanent residence
- The permit is effectively indefinite while the investment is maintained; long-term resident status has separate presence requirements.
- Processing
- 3 to 9 months
The financial test in detail
No income test. Investment thresholds are geographic: 800,000 euros in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with a population over 3,100; 400,000 euros elsewhere; and 250,000 euros for properties converted from commercial to residential use or for listed building restorations, regardless of location.
What the status gives you
- Renewal
- Every five years.
- Work rights
- No employment in Greece, though you may hold shares and receive dividends.
- How much time you must spend there
- None. This is the defining feature and the reason it appeals to people who want optionality rather than a home.
- Citizenship
- Seven years of actual residence, which golden visa holders rarely accumulate because the permit has no presence requirement.
- Government fees
- Visa: 2,000 EUR. A government application fee of around 2,000 euros for the main applicant plus lower fees for dependants, in addition to property transfer taxes and legal fees.
Your document checklist for this route
9 documents in total, of which 4 need authentication: 1 through the U.S. Department of State and 3 through a Secretary of State. All authenticated documents also need certified translation into Greek.
- U.S. passport Identity and the physical book the visa is placed in. Lead time: Routine renewal takes weeks; check current published times
- Passport-format photographs Every application. Specifications differ by country and are enforced strictly. Lead time: Same day
- National long-stay visa application form The core filing. Almost always country-specific and often only valid if printed from the consulate portal. Lead time: Same day
- FBI Identity History Summary (background check) U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications (federal) Apostille Almost every retirement and long-stay residence visa requires a national-level police clearance. For Americans that means the FBI Identity History Summary, not a local police letter, because consulates want a federal record covering all 50 states. Lead time: 1 to 10 days to obtain, then federal authentication
- Certified birth certificate Secretary of State for the issuing state Apostille Proves identity, nationality and, where relevant, family relationships for dependants. Lead time: 3 to 20 days depending on state
- Certified marriage certificate Secretary of State for the issuing state Apostille Required whenever a spouse is included as a dependant, and to prove joint income or joint savings. Lead time: 3 to 20 days
- Private international health insurance certificate Nearly universal. Schengen countries usually require a minimum of EUR 30,000 of coverage valid across the zone; other countries set their own floor. Lead time: 1 to 3 days
- Power of attorney for a local representative Secretary of State for the issuing state Apostille Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil and others require a local attorney to file on your behalf. Lead time: 1 to 5 days
- Certified translation of the authenticated set Non-English-speaking destinations require the document and its apostille translated by a translator they recognise. Lead time: 2 to 7 days
Why applications on this route fail
- The qualifying property must be at least 120 square metres and cannot be let on short-term rental platforms. Both rules were introduced with the 2024 changes and both are enforced.
- The permit does not build toward citizenship in practice, because citizenship requires actual residence that the golden visa does not require you to have.
- Thresholds have moved twice in recent years. Verify the figure in force before making an offer.
Apply here
- Enterprise Greece: residence by investment Official investment residence information.
- 1 Obtain the record Order certified copies from the issuing authority. Do not use photocopies, scans or hospital souvenir certificates.
- 2 Notarise if required Letters and affidavits need a notary acknowledgement before any state can authenticate them. Government-issued vital records do not.
- 3 County clerk (some states) A handful of states require the county clerk to certify the notary commission before the Secretary of State will act.
- 4 Authenticate State-issued documents go to the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Federal documents go to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications.
- 5 Apostille or legalise Hague Convention destination: an apostille finishes the chain. Non-Hague destination: the document then goes to that country embassy or consulate for legalisation. For Greece the apostille ends the chain.
- 6 Certified translation Translate the document together with its apostille. Translating first means paying twice.
- 7 File with the consulate Book the appointment at the consulate with jurisdiction over your state of residence and bring originals plus copies.
The expensive mistake: translating before the document is authenticated. The apostille or legalisation certificate is itself part of what the receiving government reads, so it has to be inside the translation. Do it the other way round and you pay for the same translation twice.
Greece Golden Visa (residence by investment): common questions
How much income do I need for the Greece Golden Visa (residence by investment)?
There is no published income test on this route. No income test. Investment thresholds are geographic: 800,000 euros in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with a population over 3,100; 400,000 euros elsewhere; and 250,000 euros for properties converted from commercial to residential use or for listed building restorations, regardless of location.
Can I work on this visa?
No employment in Greece, though you may hold shares and receive dividends. This is the field applicants most often misread, and in several countries remote work for a U.S. employer counts as work performed locally.
What documents need an apostille?
For this route we count 4 documents needing authentication: 1 federal, through the U.S. Department of State, and 3 state-issued, through the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Greece is a Hague Convention country, so an apostille completes the chain.
How long does it take?
3 to 9 months Consular decision and then the in-country residence card production are both variable.
How much time must I spend in the country?
None. This is the defining feature and the reason it appeals to people who want optionality rather than a home.
Does it lead to permanent residence?
Permanent residence: The permit is effectively indefinite while the investment is maintained; long-term resident status has separate presence requirements.. Citizenship: Seven years of actual residence, which golden visa holders rarely accumulate because the permit has no presence requirement..
Verified Sep 7, 2026
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This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal, tax, immigration or financial advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Immigration rules, income thresholds, fees and processing times change frequently and often without notice, and consulates apply them differently. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific consulate that has jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence before you act. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.
