Many investors from third countries seek a residence permit in Europe, and the motives for their behavior are obvious. Living in the European Union offers many advantages, both in terms of doing business and in a personal sense. These countries have a well-established legal system and less social and economic turmoil.
Investment immigration programs in the EU countries differ significantly from each other. Experts of the emigration center "Garant.in" give a detailed analysis of how to take advantage of the Greek program "Golden Visa", which opens the way to the status of a residence permit in this country.
Why choose Greece
The Greek "Golden Visa" program is one of the most demanded by investors from the former Soviet Union. There are several reasons for this.
- It sets a relatively low minimum required investment threshold.
- Its program is simple and clear in its structure.
- Greece is perceived in the minds of our fellow citizens as a close country, not only geographically, but also mentally. Our cultures and religions have been developing in close cooperation for many centuries.
- A residence permit in Greece is one of the ways to get EU citizenship later on with "little financial blood".
Just now we mentioned that the local program is inexpensive, simple, and easy to understand. Let's talk more about it!
The essence of the Greek program
Indeed, the provisions of the requirements of the "Golden Visa" of Greece consist of only two points.
- The investor is obliged to purchase real estate in the country for the amount of at least €250 thousand. Recall that the applicant must necessarily be a citizen of a third country (not a resident of the EU). The small size of the investment immediately catches the eye. For example, in Portugal, whose program is also considered one of the most affordable, this amount is € 100 thousand more. In addition, the Greek program does not make the size of the investment dependent on the region of the country (as it is often seen in the programs of its neighbors). The investor pays the above amount regardless of whether the housing is secondary or primary, whether it is purchased in a developed region or the provinces.
- The investor contributes a certain amount (at least €400k) in various business projects or government securities. This path is added to the program in mid-2019, it is at the approbation stage. In practice, it is almost always the purchase of real estate that is used to obtain a Golden Visa.
According to official assurances, the procedure for obtaining a residence permit in Greece takes 3-5 months, although, in reality, it can drag on for several months longer. In any case, the entire process will require the investor to visit the country three times.
The first visit to the country
Most of it is devoted to the selection and purchase of real estate. Even at this stage, the assistance of a professional lawyer will be important. The investor will need to:
- to find a suitable property for purchase;
- obtain a Greek tax number. You will need it to open an account in a local bank.
- Check all documents related to the property (seller's title, no debts, etc.). This isn't easy to do on your own, without the help of a specialist.
- Open a deposit in a Greek bank. It is better to do it in person, then the checks will take less time.
- Sign a contract of sale with the seller, and make (through an open deposit) a deposit of at least 10% of the total value of the object.
As you can see, this visit will prove to be eventful and quite responsible for the applicant. If everything is done correctly, he can leave for his home country, and the lawyers and relevant authorities will start checking all the documents.
Second visit
On average, it will have to be made one and a half to two months after the first one. During this time, there will be a full check of the legal purity of both the object itself and the transaction as a whole, and the property will be re-registered in the cadastral office. During the second visit, the investor submits an application for a residence permit, based on the already accomplished fact of the purchase of real estate.
The application should be prepared in advance, collecting a whole package of documents. If the applicant will receive a residence permit and his family members, part of the documents must be collected for each of them. At the stage of preparation for the application is also important to cooperate with trained lawyers to avoid unfortunate misunderstandings and blunders.
Important! Please be reminded that, according to the terms of the program, the applicant may include a spouse and minor children or children under 23 years of age in the family, provided that they are supported by the applicant. It is also allowed to include elderly parents in the family, but the investment amount must be doubled.
On the same arrival, the investor also pays most of the necessary taxes and fees, namely:
- registration tax;
- title tax;
- notary and lawyer fees;
- state duty for registration of residence permits for all family members.
The average amount of all these costs will be about € 18 thousand for a family of three (both spouses with one child).
Once the application for the Golden Visa has been officially submitted and all taxes have been paid, the main investor, together with the declared family members, can already be in Greece, enjoying all the rights of a residence permit. This "temporary resident" status is granted for one year.
Third visit
Once the application has passed the necessary checks and has been approved by the Greek authorities, it is necessary to visit the country again to undergo biometric procedures. Children under the age of 5 are not fingerprinted, so they may not attend the procedure.
A few weeks after the fingerprinting, the residence permit comes into effect. Your lawyer can also receive the document, for which it is necessary to send him the original passport.
Golden Visa is valid for 5 years, provided that investments are maintained. After this period it must be renewed. Note that this status does not entitle the investor and his family members to work in Greece, except for investment activities.
Obtaining Greek citizenship
For a long time, only the residence permit status allowed the investor to subsequently apply for Greek citizenship. This could be done by maintaining a residence permit for at least 7 years. This possibility is still available now. We would only add that when obtaining a passport it will be necessary to pass a test for knowledge of the Greek language.
But, starting in 2020, those who wish to acquire a Greek passport can do so "directly", bypassing the long seven-year waiting period. The citizenship-by-investment program was adopted by the Government at the beginning of the year, and its actual launch is expected in the spring.
According to it, third-country nationals can buy a Greek passport by investing in the country's real estate from €2 million. Of course, the amount of investment is many times higher than the cost of the Golden Visa, but it is a payment for speed. The investor gets the opportunity to become an EU citizen in 6-8 months after the transaction.
Conclusion
The issues raised in this article are quite extensive and complicated, and it is practically impossible to solve them successfully without the help of specialized emigration centers like "Garant.in". Our lawyers will help at every stage of preparation, especially when collecting a package of documents (it's detailed filling, due to the specificity of the issue, is not touched upon here).
Our main goal was to show potential investors the benefits of obtaining a Golden Visa for Greece, the essence of its program, and the actions that the applicant needs to take on the way to the desired goal.
