Immaterial Investments

Immaterial Investments

  In the context of the successful implementation of the Golden Visa programme and listening to the needs of foreign investors, Greece has proceeded to extend the programme by establishing a flexible and fast procedure for foreign investors

For foreign investors who are not from EU Member States or the European Economic Area (third country nationals) and wish to obtain a residence permit by making an intangible investment in Greece in certain forms of securities or a bank deposit exceeding €400,000, either as natural persons or as individuals.

Categories of investments:

  1. Contribution of capital, in an amount of at least four hundred thousand (400,000) euros, to a company having its registered office or establishment in Greece, excluding Portfolio Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Companies, for the acquisition of shares in a share capital increase or bonds in the issuance of a bond loan, which are admitted to trading in regulated markets or multilateral trading facilities operating in Greece.
  2. Capital contribution of at least four hundred thousand (400,000) euros to a Real Estate Investment Company Limited by Shares (REIT) under article 21 of Law No. 2778/1999 (Government Gazette A’ 295), whose purpose is to invest exclusively in Greece, for the acquisition of shares in order to increase its share capital.
  3. apital contribution of at least four hundred thousand (400,000) euros to a Venture Capital Company (Venture Capital Holding Company) of article 5 of Law No. 2367/1995 (A ́ 261) for the acquisition of shares, or a capital contribution to a Mutual Fund for Business Participations (MEFP) under Article 7 of Law No. 2992/2002 (Government Gazette A’ 54) for the acquisition of shares, provided that the above mentioned Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) have the purpose of investing exclusively in companies having their registered office or establishment in Greece.
  4. Purchase of Greek Government bonds, with an acquisition value of at least four hundred thousand (400,000) euros and a residual maturity at the time of purchase of at least three (3) years, through a credit institution established in Greece, which is also their custodian.
  1. A term deposit of at least four hundred thousand (400,000) euros with a domestic credit institution, with a maturity of at least one year, with a fixed renewal mandate.
  2. Purchase of shares, corporate bonds and/or bonds of the Greek Government, which are admitted for trading or traded in regulated markets or multilateral trading mechanisms operating in Greece, with an acquisition value of at least eight hundred thousand (800,000) euros.
  3. Purchase of units with an acquisition value of at least four hundred thousand (400,000) euros in a mutual fund, which is established in Greece or in another country and which is intended to invest exclusively in shares, corporate bonds and/or Greek Government bonds admitted to trading or traded in regulated markets or multilateral trading facilities operating in Greece.
  4. Purchase of units or shares with an acquisition value of at least four hundred thousand (400,000) euros in an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), which has been established in Greece or in another member state of the European Union and whose purpose is to invest exclusively in real estate in Greece, provided that it is included, upon request, in the list drawn up by the Foreign Funds Directorate of the Ministry of Development and Investment in cooperation with the Hellenic Capital Market Commission.

Investors and their family members can apply for a residence permit without entering Greece with the relevant approval of : a) the Greek Consulate where they reside or b) the power of attorney document issued by a Notary Public located abroad and Haye Apostil (Seal of the Haye Convention dated October 5, 1961/ APOSTILLE) or, as the instance may be, the authorized Greek consulate.

 

 Investors and their family members who have applied for a residence permit must enter Greece within a period of twelve (12) months from the relevant application date and submit the necessary biometric data to the competent administrative unit.

 

The property owner is not affected by the processing time of his request, from the submission of the application to the competent services until the issuance of the decision of the Secretary General of the Decentralized Administration for the residence permit. This is because after submitting the application, a certificate of application submission is granted. The time required for the issuance of the residence permit varies according to the filing service, however, it usually does not exceed two months from the time all the elements of the file have been sent to the competent service.

The citizen of a third country, who submitted an application for a residence permit and has received the certificate of application submission, resides legally in the country for as long as it is valid (one year). The holder of a certificate of application submission enjoys the rights granted by the residence permit he is applying for. Therefore, it has the possibility to carry out any legal transaction related to the implementation of the investment and to deal with all the competent services.