Greece Golden Visa is one of the most affordable residency by investment programs in Europe. Following the completion of appropriate investment, you can get a residence permit in the country. The program allows you to keep and renew your residency permit without any stay requirement.
According to a recent amendment to the Golden Visa law, investors can apply for Greece Golden Visa completely remotely. Furthermore, they can obtain their blue certificate (temporary residency permit) via a courier service. So, they don’t need a prior visit to Greece before their application.
Let’s now look at the details of these new changes.
How does it become possible with the changes?
Before the new regime, all applicants of the family had to make a prior visit to Greece at least once. This included minors as well. Without the prior visit, applicants couldn’t apply for the Golden Visa.
Now, this change will benefit many prospective investors who had restricted mobility rights at the time of the pandemic. If you are one of them and plan to apply for the Golden Visa, it will ease the process for you and your family.
It is likely that the Greece Golden Visa will now reach more investors around the world through this recent amendment.
After the recent change, you first need to sign a Power of Attorney at a local Greek Consulate. Then your local advisors will submit your application. Furthermore, they can also complete the investment on your behalf. This means that they can
- Buy properties in Greece worth at least €250,000 or
- Put a deposit in a bank for a minimum of €400,000 on your behalf.
The latter is not a recent change though. Yet, the use of Power of Attorney for the Golden Visa application without an entry into Greece is new.
What about family members?
Your dependent family members also do not have to enter the country either. So, they can benefit from the recent change as you can, as the main applicant.
Proof of biometrics
There is only one exception to the remote application. You and your dependent family members will only need to enter Greece once, to provide your biometrics in person.
Greece Golden Visa is now a more attractive option for the future generations
According to the recent amendments, for the Golden Visa process, minors can invest and be regarded as the main applicant. It means that they can now buy real estate by themselves or open a term deposit account in Greece. So, they can apply for the Greece Golden Visa as a main investor.
How did it work before? Before the recent change, if the minors were under 21 years old, the parents of the minors could only buy the property in their name. Then they could apply for the children as dependent family members. Up to the age of 21, the children could maintain their Golden Visa.
Through the recent change, now, the children’s future children, spouse, and parents-in-law will have the right to Golden Visa as well. So, their bond with Greece will be prolonged for generations.
