Greece’s Golden Visa Program will be expanded to include startup investments, the country’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced.
The recent changes come as part of the economic strategy introduced during the 88th Thessaloniki International Fair to further boost the country’s economy, Schengen.News reports.
The decision means that wealthy foreign nationals will be eligible to obtain a five-year residence permit through a €250,000 investment in Greek startups. However, the government has not provided any detailed information related to the recent announcement.
In this regard, Christos Th. Vardikos from international law firm Vardikos & Vardikos told Imi Daily that the proposed startup investment option indicates the Hellenic Republic’s commitment to fostering innovation and attracting international talent.
In addition, Vardikos said the new changes could open doors for tech-savvy investors looking to engage with the Hellenic Republic’s startup ecosystem.
Prime Minister Mitsotaiks said that he brings only suggestions for useful and effective options instead of a bag of frivolous benefits, emphasising a series of measures to increase wages, address housing challenges and support families.
However, labour unions called for protests in Thessaloniki, throwing criticism towards the government’s handling of living costs as well as inadequate wages.
New Golden Visa Changes Took Effect on September 1
The Residency by Investment Program of Greece, known as the Golden Visa Program, which offers international residency in exchange for financial investments, was subject to new changes that took effect on September 1.
As part of the new changes was also an increase in the minimum amount required for investments made through this program.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that from September 1, the minimum amount required for investments in some parts of the country, such as Thessaloniki, Mykonos and Santorini, as well as islands with a population exceeding 3,100 will surge from €500,000 to €800,000.
In other territories, wealthy international investors will have to pay €400,000 instead of €250,000 to buy a property through this program.
Nonetheless, the program continues to keep in place two €250,000 real estate investment options, converting commercial properties to residential use or restoring listed buildings.
What we are discussing with the finance minister is a further increase in the threshold for golden visa investments, and it will concern all areas where rents are high. It can go to €800,000.
Vardikos told IMI that clarity is still needed when it comes to the new changes applied to the Residency by Investment scheme.
Within the next few days, the government should clarify the conditions of how converted commercial property into a residential property is eligible for the €250,000 threshold. There are rumours that say the commercial property had to be vacant for the past five years.
The Golden Visa Program makes a significant contribution to Greece’s economy. The figures from Imi Daily reveal that in the first seven months of this year, Greece saw a total of 4,734 applications for the Golden Visa program, bringing more than €1.2 billion into Greece’s economy.
However, up to this point, there are nearly 30,000 unprocessed requests for this program awaiting review.
