According to comprehensive reports from Worldway: As reported by the Greek newspaper "Chinese-Greek Times," on October 22, the Greek Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Development, and Enterprise Greece jointly held a press conference to announce the implementation status of the country's real estate residency policy 16 months after its introduction, and to reveal potential optimization plans for the investment immigration law. The Greek "buy property to get residency" policy (also known as the "Golden Visa" policy) has been further relaxed.
Angelos Syrigos, Secretary General of the Greek Ministry of Interior, stated that although several Southern European countries such as Portugal and Spain introduced real estate investment immigration policies earlier than Greece, the Greek authorities' lower investment threshold and fewer restrictions have been welcomed by the international market, for which he expressed satisfaction.
According to figures released that day, as of September 30, 2014, the Greek government had issued a total of 436 residence permits for real estate investments by non-EU citizens, with 83 applications still in progress. The largest number of applicants were Russian, having obtained 185 residency quotas. They were followed by Chinese citizens, who were granted a total of 119 Greek residence permits. Egypt ranked third with 33 immigration qualifications.
At the meeting, Syrigos clearly pointed out that the latest decree will explicitly name the relevant residency as an "Investor Permanent Residence Permit," which further clarifies that the residence permit obtained by purchasing property in Greece worth 250,000 Euros or more can be retained permanently as long as the investor holds the property.
In addition, the measures already relaxed by the Greek government based on the original investment immigration law include: children under 21 of legal residence holders can apply for a 3-year renewable visa; no medical examination is required when applying for residency, and there is no need to hold a valid entry visa. The current method of issuing residency by affixing a sticker to the investor's passport will change after May 2015, at which time, residence permit holders will receive an independent residence card.
Meanwhile, Syrigos revealed that the Greek "buy property to get residency" policy is expected to be further simplified and relaxed. Relevant proposals will be submitted to the Greek Parliament for deliberation before the end of this year, with content mainly involving: 1. Parents of real estate investors may be eligible to apply for Greek residence permits as dependents; 2. The duration of holding the property-based residence permit can be counted towards the years required for applying for Greek citizenship; 3. The property purchased by the investor can be resold to other third-country citizens, who can also apply for a residence permit.
The implementation of the Greek property investment immigration policy has exceeded expectations. The continuously improving economic trend and the increasingly relaxed immigration policy will surely attract more attention from investors. As a leading institution in European investment immigration, Worldway was the first to promote the Greek 250,000 Euro Aegean "Second Home" project in China, launched the Greek investment immigration project in China together with the Greek Ambassador to China, and quickly organized investors to visit Greece for property inspection and immigration applications. Recently, there has been good news regarding Greek immigration: a Worldway client's entire family obtained their Greek residence permits in just three days. Worldway's professional, safe, and fast immigration services have been highly praised by investors. The Greek property investment immigration policy continues to be popular. Welcome to call the Worldway domestic investment immigration hotline: 400-138-2929
Worldway Editor
