In April of this year, the Greek Parliament passed an "Investment Immigration Promotion Law," which stipulates that non-EU citizens who purchase property in Greece worth 250,000 euros or more can apply for a 5-year temporary residence permit in Greece. As long as the investor continues to own the property, the residence permit can be renewed every 5 years. The investor's family members (spouse and children under 18 years of age) can also obtain residence permits. Applicants with residence permits can travel to other Schengen countries without a visa, provided they do not stay for more than 90 days within any 6-month period.
12In December, the Greek Ambassador to China, Mr. Vassilios Costis, stated in an interview with the media in Shanghai that he is full of confidence in the attractiveness of Greek property investment immigration: "Compared with other countries that have introduced similar policies, Greece has the lowest investment amount, at 250,000 euros. In addition, Greek property prices are currently relatively low, 30% lower than before the crisis broke out, but at the same time, the quality of Greek property is quite high."
In the Ambassador's view, the current relationship between China and Greece is very close and friendly. "I hope that during my tenure as Ambassador to China, the exchanges and interactions between the two countries in economic, cultural, and other fields will be further improved. For example, we welcome Chinese investors to actively participate in our privatization projects." Currently, Greece is implementing the largest state-owned asset privatization campaign in Western history, including airports, ports, railways, and water companies, all of which are among the projects for sale or cooperation. Greece hopes to achieve the goal of raising 50 billion euros by 2022 through this move to make up for the fiscal deficit and repay foreign debt, while its fundraising target for 2014 is 3.56 billion euros. "Airports, ports, infrastructure, energy, and even tourism projects are waiting for Chinese investors."
Regarding property investment immigration, on July 21, Worldway, a leading European investment immigration agency, and the Greek Ambassador to China jointly launched the ceremony for the Greek investment immigration project in China. The Ambassador extended a warm invitation to Chinese investors on the spot and emphasized that the Greek Investment Immigration Promotion Act is the only immigration law to date that links property purchase with residence status, which has unique advantages compared with the immigration laws of other European countries. Currently, Greek property prices are at their lowest point, and the initiative for bargaining is in the hands of the buyer. We hope that Chinese investors will seize this rare opportunity to visit Greece for property investment. In the future, as the Greek economy improves, investors will gain dual benefits from tourism and real estate development.
