Perhaps today the most attractive type of residence permit in Greece is a residence permit when buying real estate. It is no coincidence that it is called a golden residence permit, because the happy owner of foreign property immediately receives both a house by the sea and the right of permanent residence in a European country. In addition, the conditions for obtaining such a residence permit in Greece are the most loyal in Europe: the price of real estate starts at 250,000 euros, a residence permit promises the owner a number of advantages, and the process of obtaining it is as simple as possible and does not take much time.
Each type of residence permit in Greece has its own rules and restrictions. They mainly depend on the purposes of obtaining, and most often affect the following aspects:
The period for which the residence permit is issued;
The need to obtain a D visa in advance;
Work permit;
Obtaining a residence permit for family members of the applicant;
The possibility of extending the residence permit;
Calculation of the period of residence for obtaining citizenship.
Any residence permit provides for rights common to all categories, for example, the right of permanent residence in the country, access to the educational system, unhindered movement in the Eurozone states, etc. At the same time, compared to other categories, a residence permit in Greece gives a number of undeniable advantages when buying real estate. Here are just a few of them:
Residence permit for family members
One of the main advantages of this type of residence permit. The right to receive is automatically acquired not only by the owner, but also by his spouse, children of both spouses under 21 and parents of both spouses.
Validity
Residence permit in Greece when buying real estate from 250,000 euros is issued immediately for 5 years, with the right of subsequent extension. The only condition is to remain the owner of real estate worth 250,000 euros.
Guarantee of obtaining a residence permit
A distinctive feature of this type of residence permit is a 100% guarantee of receipt, provided that you own real estate in Greece for the required amount.
The possibility of obtaining citizenship
Another important advantage is the ability to apply for citizenship after seven years, provided that you have lived in Greece for more than 183 days each year for 7 years.
No requirement for permanent residence
Unlike most types of residence permits, in this case you are not required to reside permanently in Greece.
No need to confirm funds
Perhaps this is the only type of residence permit for which the state does not require a certain amount in the account or other evidence of your financial solvency.
Unlike the restrictions imposed by other EU countries, in Greece any type of real estate gives the right to obtain a residence permit. The only rule is that its cost should be 250,000 euros. But still, there are several nuances here that are worth paying attention to.
The law does not distinguish between residential and commercial property. Whether it is a city apartment, a house by the sea for recreation or rent, a land plot, a hotel complex or an apart-hotel - any of these objects gives the right to obtain a residence permit. Situations are not uncommon when the owner acquires real estate for personal use, and in his free time he leases the object. That is why Greece Invest has a department dedicated to managing our clients' properties .
Greece does not set any restrictions on the number of properties. Thus, you can own a house, a couple of cottages or several apartments for the required amount. The number of objects does not matter, only their total cost matters. Moreover, it is not at all necessary to own the same property - you can sell it and buy another at any time. The main thing is that the total value of all real estate owned by you is 250,000 euros.
The same rule applies in the opposite direction: for example, four people can jointly purchase an object with a total value of 1,000,000 euros, and at the same time each owner and his family members have the right to obtain a residence permit in Greece.
The location of the object of interest can make a difference. Greece has so-called border areas, which are subject to certain restrictions on the purchase of real estate. However, the presence of property in these areas still gives the right to obtain a residence permit. Rather, the restrictions apply to the buying process itself. Fortunately, popular tourist regions were excluded from the list of border areas.
The procedure for obtaining a residence permit in Greece through the purchase of real estate takes place in several stages.
Obtaining a residence permit is expectedly preceded by the choice of a property for subsequent registration in ownership. At this stage, your presence is required - first of all, to issue a power of attorney to a lawyer. At the same time, there is an inspection of the object, negotiations on the cost, agreement on the timing of the conclusion of the contract and making a deposit In addition, you need to open an account with a Greek bank and get AFM - the Greek analogue of INN. The specialists of Greece Invest will help you to do this.
The next step is the signing of the purchase and sale agreement and the accompanying procedures : checking the legal purity of the object, paying state duties, collection and submission of the necessary documents, registration of the contract, etc. All this you can do through a trusted person.
After the registration of the contract, the stage of preparing a package of documents for a residence permit follows. The collection of the necessary documents can be done personally or through a representative.
The last step before issuing a residence permit will be the submission of documents to the Department of Migration Affairs. Here again, your presence is required for the fingerprinting procedure. After submitting the application, you will be issued a blue certificate (μπλε βεβαίωση), which will allow you to stay in the country until the residence permit is issued.
Greece Invest legal department specialists are ready to advise you in detail on the acquisition of real estate and filing documents, as well as represent your interests at all stages of the transaction and obtaining a residence permit for real estate owners.
You can apply for a residence permit of the owner of real estate immediately after registering a purchase and sale transaction. To do this, you must submit an application to the Department of Migration Affairs, accompanied by a package of necessary documents. Since the submission of documents takes place in person, you first need to apply for a visa at the consular office of your country. An important point: in this case, the category of visa does not matter, while residence permits for other reasons require the preliminary registration of a special visa of category D. When obtaining a gold residence permit, you can enter Greece even on a Schengen visa issued by another state - then is, according to any document that would allow you to legally stay in the country.
Application for a residence permit. Served in 3 copies
Four recent color photographs, both printed and on CD
Sample digital signature
Certified copy of a passport with a valid visa or similar document
Receipts for payment of state fees (2.002 euros) and state. collection of paravolo (18 euros)
Medical insurance valid in Greece
Copy of the real estate purchase and sale agreement for a total amount of 250,000 euros
Certificates from the land cadastre on registration of the contract and on the absence of encumbrances
It should be noted that this package of documents is not exhaustive, and in some cases additional information may be required. So, when buying a land plot, depending on the category of land, you may need a building permit, a contract with a construction organization, etc. In general, the procedure for submitting documents has its own nuances, and the full package of documents depends on the type of property. For more specific information, you can contact the specialists of Greece Invest .
Family members can apply either jointly with the property owner or at any other time. Since in this case a residence permit is issued for family reunification, it is accompanied, in particular, by documents confirming kinship. They must be certified with the APOSTILLE stamp and translated into Greek by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or by a Greek lawyer. The state fee for filing documents is 2.002 € for the head of the family and 152 € for each subsequent family member, and another 18 € for each family member for a plastic residence permit card. State duty is not levied on applications of minors, family members.
After receiving the documents for a residence permit when buying real estate, Greece issues the relevant certificate to the interested person, giving the right to stay in the country until the main document is received. In this case, the applicant enjoys all the rights on the territory of the country that the corresponding residence permit provides. The rule does not apply only to visa-free travel to other countries of the Schengen area - for this you need a residence permit.
The duration of the processing of the application depends on the speed of verification of all data, after which the Secretary General signs the decision on the issuance of a residence permit. As a rule, this period does not exceed two months from the date of receipt of the application by the relevant service.
As already mentioned, a residence permit for property owners and their family members is issued for a period of five years, with the right of subsequent extension. With each re-submission of documents, it is necessary to confirm that the applicant still owns the property of the required value. In addition, photographs, a copy of a valid ID, insurance and a previous (expired) residence permit are attached to the application.
The applicant's children have the right to extend the residence permit if they are not yet 21 years old. But even after reaching this age, the child has the right to use the already issued residence permit until the expiration of its validity period. Then you can extend the residence permit for other reasons.
An application for the extension of a residence permit must be submitted no later than two months before the expiration of the document. Upon re-submission, the applicant again provides biometric data, which means that personal presence is again necessary.
So, you are the lucky owner of your own home in Greece. The residence permit is issued, you can freely reside in the country and enjoy all the relevant rights. However, as practice shows, real estate in Greece is most often bought either for summer vacations, or, conversely, people come to Greece for the winter. And the rest of the time they prefer to either rent out the property, or simply leave it to wait for the owners.
In any case, unless you plan to permanently reside in Greece, you should take care of a trusted person who will monitor the technical condition and safety of the facility, pay bills and taxes, keep your bookkeeping, deal with rental issues, prepare the house for the arrival of the owners, etc. .d.
Conventionally, all actions for property management can be divided into three categories: maintenance, rent and accounting issues. Needless to say, it is better to entrust the solution of these pressing issues to professionals. That is why Greece Invest support is not limited to services in the field of real estate sale and purchase and residence permit registration. After all, it is much more convenient when one company deals with all issues, and therefore relations with our clients, as a rule, flow into long-term ones. Learn more about managing your property in Greece here .
The law does not impose any obligations on you in this regard. You can collect and submit documents either in person or through a trusted person / attorney. However, given the language barrier and the need to stay in the country to collect and submit documents, the best option would still be to entrust this to a professional.
Residence permit holders have access to educational institutions of the country on an equal basis with Greek citizens. Education in Greece is free, including in universities. For treatment and medical care, you and your family members must be insured to cover the related costs.
The residence permit for property owners does not give the right to work in Greece. Does not provide for access to the labor market and residence permit for family reunification, which are received by the relatives of the owner of the property.
Like other types of residence permits, this residence permit guarantees the right of free movement in the Schengen area and stay in the territory of its member states for three months in half a year, but since there are no borders within Europe, then check how many months you have lived in other Schengen countries are not possible. The number of entries is not limited by law.
Since 2018, this right has been provided for at the legislative level. The important point here is that Greece does not prohibit dual citizenship. The procedure for applying for Greek citizenship and the requirements for applicants are the same as for any other grounds. However, this rule applies only to the owner of the property. His family members must first obtain the status of persons residing in Greece for a long period of time.
As a general rule, the minimum value of an object (or the aggregate value of several objects) of real estate is 250,000 euros. Real estate must be purchased with your own funds: buying on a mortgage or using other borrowed funds or installments does not give the right to obtain a residence permit. The required amount must be reflected in the sales contract. Thus, VAT, transfer tax and other related costs are not included in the price. It is worth noting that with joint ownership of property by spouses, the right to obtain a residence permit for property owners is granted to both of them. This does not affect the value of the property.
To conclude a transaction, the buyer of real estate must prove his solvency. To do this, you must provide documents confirming the source of the origin of funds. This can be an extract from the tax office, confirmation of a bank account, a certificate of income from participation in a business, or other documents. When making a transaction, the amount of money is paid by transferring a crossed bank check or other bank transaction.
A Schengen visa of another country gives the right to enter Greece to resolve issues related to the transaction and the submission of documents for obtaining a residence permit. Thus, you do not need to obtain a visa to enter the country.
