Greece's Golden Visa runs on a three-tier property system: €800,000 in Athens, the Athens Riviera, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands over 3,100 residents; €400,000 everywhere else; and €250,000 only for commercial-to-residential conversions or heritage building restoration. It grants residence, not citizenship, and holds no minimum stay requirement to keep the visa.
TL;DR · LAST REVIEWED 10 July 2026
- Zone A, requiring €800,000, covers the entire Region of Attica, the Thessaloniki Regional Unit, Mykonos and Santorini, and any Greek island with a population over 3,100.
- Zone B, requiring €400,000, covers everywhere else in Greece, including most of the Peloponnese, most of Crete, and smaller islands.
- Zone C, requiring €250,000, applies only to two narrow property categories nationwide: commercial-to-residential conversions and protected historic building restorations, not standard residential purchases.
KEY FACTS
- Zone A, requiring €800,000, covers the entire Region of Attica, the Thessaloniki Regional Unit, Mykonos and Santorini, and any Greek island with a population over 3,100.
- Zone B, requiring €400,000, covers everywhere else in Greece, including most of the Peloponnese, most of Crete, and smaller islands.
- Zone C, requiring €250,000, applies only to two narrow property categories nationwide: commercial-to-residential conversions and protected historic building restorations, not standard residential purchases.
- Golden Visa properties cannot be used for short-term rentals such as Airbnb; only long-term letting is permitted, with breaches risking permit revocation and a €50,000 fine.
- The Golden Visa itself has no minimum stay requirement, but Greek citizenship, a separate and later milestone, requires 7 years of legal residence with at least 183 days a year actually spent in Greece, alongside B1-level Greek language proficiency and an integration examination.
A residence permit, not a passport
Greece's Golden Visa, running since 2013, is a residence-by-investment scheme, granting a renewable 5-year residence permit to non-EU nationals who make a qualifying investment, most commonly in real estate. It does not grant Greek citizenship, and the Court of Justice of the European Union's April 2025 ruling against Malta's citizenship-by-investment scheme, which addressed the direct sale of citizenship specifically, has no legal bearing on Greece's programme, since Greece grants residence rather than nationality for the investment itself. Greek citizenship remains reachable, but only through the ordinary naturalisation process, covered separately below, which requires materially more than simply holding the Golden Visa.
The three property tiers, by location
Greece restructured its property thresholds under Law 5100/2024, effective 31 August 2024, replacing the previous flat €250,000 threshold with a location-based, three-zone system, further clarified through Circular No. 1/2026 issued by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum in April 2026. Zone A, the highest tier at €800,000, applies across the entire Region of Attica, meaning Athens and its wider metropolitan area including the Athens Riviera, the Thessaloniki Regional Unit, the islands of Mykonos and Santorini specifically, and any other Greek island with a population exceeding 3,100 residents. Zone B, at €400,000, applies to everywhere else in Greece: most of the Peloponnese, most of Crete, smaller islands below the 3,100 population threshold, and inland and northern mainland regions outside the Thessaloniki metropolitan area. For both the €400,000 and €800,000 tiers, the qualifying investment must be in a single property of at least 120 square metres; investors cannot combine several smaller properties to meet the threshold within a single zone tier, though combining multiple properties toward the applicable higher threshold, where each individually qualifies, is permitted.
Zone C, at €250,000, is narrower than the other two tiers and easy to misunderstand from marketing material: it applies only to two specific categories of property, regardless of location anywhere in Greece, including inside Zone A areas: a commercial property converted into residential use, with the conversion completed before the Golden Visa application is submitted, or a building formally classified as a protected historic monument that has been fully restored. Genuinely qualifying properties in either category are limited in number, and prospective buyers should have any specific property's eligibility confirmed in writing by a qualified adviser before purchase, since the zone is determined by the property's municipality and technical classification rather than simply its advertised price.
The short-term rental ban and other conditions
A significant restriction applies across all three tiers: properties used to qualify for the Golden Visa cannot be used for short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb; only long-term letting is permitted. This rule is actively enforced, and breaching it risks revocation of the residence permit alongside a €50,000 fine, a genuine and material consideration for investors who had planned to generate short-term rental income from a qualifying property. Beyond real estate, Greece also offers non-property routes, including a €250,000 investment in an innovative start-up company registered with Greece's Elevate Greece platform, introduced under Article 44 of Law 5162/2024, alongside options involving investment funds, government bonds, bank deposits and company shares at their own respective thresholds.
No minimum stay for the visa, but real residence for citizenship
This distinction is the one readers most often get wrong, and it is worth stating clearly. Holding the Greek Golden Visa itself carries no minimum stay requirement at all; investors can renew the permit indefinitely provided the qualifying investment is maintained, without spending any particular amount of time in Greece each year. Greek citizenship is an entirely different proposition. Reaching it requires 7 years of legal residence, and critically, that residence must involve genuinely spending at least 183 days a year physically in Greece, alongside demonstrating B1-level Greek language proficiency and passing an integration examination covering Greek history, culture and civic knowledge. For the substantial majority of Golden Visa holders who use the programme precisely because it does not require relocating to Greece, this means citizenship is not a realistic or intended outcome of the investment; the programme functions, for most holders, purely as a Schengen mobility and EU residency-option asset rather than a citizenship pathway, and should be understood on that basis from the outset.
Family, processing and the UK position
Family inclusion covers a spouse, dependent children, commonly up to 21, or 24 if in full-time education, and the parents of both the main applicant and their spouse. Processing, from first engagement to a residence card in hand, commonly runs 4 to 6 months in straightforward cases, though this depends heavily on how quickly a Power of Attorney can be executed and apostilled from the applicant's home country, and on the current queue at Greece's Aliens and Immigration Directorate. UK citizens are eligible to apply on the same non-EU basis as other nationalities, and once granted, the residence permit provides Schengen Area travel access alongside the right to live in Greece, without requiring the applicant to give up British citizenship, since the UK places no restriction on holding foreign residency or citizenship alongside British nationality.
RELATED GUIDES
DISCLAIMER
This article is editorial information, not immigration, legal, tax or investment advice. Rules, thresholds and fees change and should be verified against the official sources cited below before acting. Kael Tripton Ltd receives no fee, commission or referral payment in connection with any programme described on this page.
Frequently asked questions
What are the current Greek Golden Visa property thresholds?
€800,000 in Athens, the Athens Riviera, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands over 3,100 residents; €400,000 everywhere else in Greece; and €250,000 only for commercial-to-residential conversions or heritage building restorations.
Does the Greek Golden Visa lead to citizenship?
Not directly, and not for most holders in practice. It grants residence only. Greek citizenship separately requires 7 years of legal residence with at least 183 days a year actually spent in Greece, plus B1 Greek language proficiency, which is a materially higher bar than the visa itself requires.
Do I have to live in Greece to keep my Golden Visa?
No. The Golden Visa itself has no minimum stay requirement and can be renewed indefinitely as long as the qualifying investment is maintained, regardless of how much time is actually spent in Greece.
Can I rent out my Greek Golden Visa property on Airbnb?
No. Golden Visa-qualifying properties can only be let long-term. Using one for short-term rental platforms risks revocation of the residence permit and a €50,000 fine.
Is the €250,000 Greek Golden Visa option still available for a standard property purchase?
No. The €250,000 tier now applies only to commercial-to-residential conversions and protected historic building restorations, not to standard residential property purchases, which fall under the €400,000 or €800,000 tiers depending on location.
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