Greek Golden Visa in 2026: The Main Routes at a Glance
Greek Golden Visa routes in 2026: the real estate tiers under Law 5100/2024, the 120 sq m and single-property rules, and other investment routes, with sources.
10/18/20264 min read
General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.
If you have been reading about the Greek Golden Visa for a while, you have probably met three or four different sets of numbers, and many older articles online still describe thresholds that changed in 2024. This guide sets out the main routes as Greek law and official guidance describe them in October 2026, so that you can start your own research from a reliable base and then confirm the details with licensed Greek counsel.
What the Golden Visa is
The Golden Visa is the informal name for the Greek permanent residence permit for investors, which the Migration Code (Law 5038/2023) calls a type B.5 permit. Article 100 of that Code allows a non-EU national who owns qualifying real estate in Greece to receive a residence permit valid for five years, renewable for equal periods while the investment is kept. The real estate rules in Article 100 were rewritten by Article 64 of Law 5100/2024, and the Ministry of Migration and Asylum explained how it applies them in Circular 1 of 21 April 2026.
Despite the word "permanent" in its official title, this is a five-year permit that renews on conditions. We come back to that distinction in our article on residency and citizenship.
The real estate tiers in current law
Under Article 100(2), as replaced by Law 5100/2024 and restated in the Ministry's 2026 circular, the minimum purchase value depends on where the property is.
Higher-demand areas: EUR 800,000
The minimum is EUR 800,000 for property in the Region of Attica (which includes Athens), the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki, the Regional Units of Mykonos and Thira (Santorini), and any island with a population above 3,100 at the latest census. The Ministry's Circular 9 of September 2024 also confirmed that Evia counts as an island area for this purpose and falls under the EUR 800,000 tier.
All other areas: EUR 400,000
Everywhere else in Greece the minimum is EUR 400,000.
Conversions and listed buildings: EUR 250,000
A EUR 250,000 minimum applies only in two special cases. The first is a property whose main spaces are converted from commercial to residential use, with the change of use completed after 5 April 2024 and before you apply. The official procedure page on the National Registry of Administrative Procedures sets out the same conditions. The second is a listed (protected) building bought for restoration or reconstruction, where the full restoration has to be finished before the first renewal and the property cannot be transferred until then (procedure page). The 2026 circular adds that this lower value can be used only once for a given converted or restored property, so a later buyer of that same home would need to meet the standard tier.
Rules that apply to every real estate route
Several conditions now apply across the board, and they matter as much as the headline figure.
The minimum value has to be met through a single property. The 2026 circular explains that a storage room or parking space bought under the same contract, in the same building, can count towards the price, although it does not count towards floor area. For built property, or property with a building permit, the main spaces must cover at least 120 square metres in the EUR 800,000 and EUR 400,000 tiers; this size rule does not apply to plots without a building permit or to the EUR 250,000 cases.
The full price must be paid before you apply, by bank transfer, crossed cheque or card payment into a Greek account, as Article 100(5) sets out. Property used for a Golden Visa may not be let on a short-term basis through sharing-economy platforms, and breaking that rule can lead to the permit being revoked and to administrative fines. Long-term letting remains possible, as Article 100(7) and the circular confirm.
The permit gives no right to work in Greece, either as an employee or self-employed. The 2026 circular clarifies that holders may still own shares and sit as non-executive board members, provided they do not work in the company or act as its legal representative.
Other investment routes
Real estate is the best-known path, but the Migration Code also contains other investor permits. Article 99 covers financial investments such as fixed-term deposits with Greek banks, Greek government bonds and certain funds, and Article 100A, added by Law 5162/2024, covers investment in registered Greek startups. Each has its own thresholds and certification steps, so we do not quote figures here; please confirm them with counsel for your situation. Our earlier article on the deposit route looks at one of these options in more detail.
If you bought under the old rules
Many investors bought at EUR 250,000 before the 2024 changes. Law 5100/2024 (Article 64(3)) provides that permits granted under the earlier rules stay valid and continue to renew, provided the conditions that applied when they were granted are still met. The transitional windows for completing old-rule purchases have now closed, so anyone buying today is assessed under the current tiers.
How long it takes
Article 100(10) says the permit is issued within two months once the authority has the complete file. In practice the overall timeline also depends on finding the property, completing the purchase, gathering documents and attending biometrics, so it is worth planning with some flexibility.
Where to go from here
If you are weighing which route suits your family, we are happy to talk it through and point you to the right professionals. You can tell us a little about your plans through our enquiry form, and you can read more about how we help on our services page.
Sources
Law 5100/2024, Article 64 (replacing Article 100 of Law 5038/2023), consolidated text published by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum: https://www.migration.gov.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Νόμος-5100_2024-κωδικοποιημένος-με-τον-5167_2024-ΦΕΚ-Α-49_5.4.2024.pdf
Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Circular 1 of 21 April 2026 on Article 100 of Law 5038/2023 (Diavgeia ADA ΨΣΙ746ΜΔΨΟ-ΔΧΜ): https://diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/ΨΣΙ746ΜΔΨΟ-ΔΧΜ
Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Circular 9 of 25 September 2024: https://migration.gov.gr/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/9Εγκύκλιος-Golden-24.9.2024-FINAL.pdf
National Registry of Administrative Procedures (Mitos), Golden visa (change of use), initial issuance: https://en.mitos.gov.gr/index.php/ΔΔ:Permanent_golden_visa_(change_of_use)_%E2%80%93_Initial_issuance
National Registry of Administrative Procedures (Mitos), Golden visa (listed real property), initial issuance: https://en.mitos.gov.gr/index.php/ΔΔ:Golden_visa_programme_(investment_in_a_listed_real_property)_%E2%80%93_Initial_issuance
Ministry of Migration and Asylum, legislation list (Laws 5100/2024 and 5162/2024): https://migration.gov.gr/en/nomothesia-1-2/nomothesia-ypiresia-nomimis-metanasteysis/
Not legal advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements with licensed Greek counsel.
Cover photo by Efrem Efre on Pexels, used under the Pexels License. Cropped to 16:9 and colour-graded.