Submission of the application through a proxy, without the obligation to previously enter Greece

Non-EU citizens who have made an investment through the three options of the Greek Golden Visa program can apply for a residence permit through a proxy, without the obligation to previously visit Greece. The Power of Attorney for the appointment of a proxy must be signed before a Greek Consular authority οr before a notary public and is duly apostilled or certified by a Greek consulate, as applicable. The non-EU citizen must enter Greece in a period of 12 months from the date of the confirmation receipt of the application, in order to submit his biometric data.

The Immigration and Social Integration Code (Law 4251/2014, Government Gazette 1, no 80) contains provisions that facilitate the stay of third-country investors, whose investments are characterized as strategic investments, via the provision of extended stay time limits for the representatives of investment bodies and their partners.

Moreover, it allows the granting of residence permits to third-country nationals and to members of their families, who purchase real estate property in Greece, the value of which exceeds € 250,000.
Specifically:

Permanent residence permit of the investor (Article 20B)

1. By decision of the Secretary General of the Decentralized Administration or the Directorate for Migration Policy of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, a residence permit for five years, subject to renewal,  is granted to  a third-country national who:
    (a) has legally entered the country with any type of visa or legally resides in the country, even if the type of residence permit that he possesses, does not permit a change of purpose.
    (b) has personally the full ownership, possession, and peaceful enjoyment of real estate property in Greece. In the case of jointly owned property, worth 250,000 euros or 500,000 euros depending on the location of the property, the right of residence is granted only if the owners of the property are spouses with indivisible shares in the property. In all other cases of joint ownership, the right of residence is granted only if the joint ownership rate of each joint owner is worth 250,000 euros or 500,000 euros depending on the location of the property.
    (c) has the full ownership, possession, and peaceful enjoyment of real estate property in Greece via a legal entity, whose shares are fully owned by him.
    (d) has concluded an agreement for at least a ten-year lease of hotel accommodation or furnished tourist residences in tourist accommodation complexes, pursuant to Article 8 par. 2 of Law 4002/2011 (Government Gazette 1, no 180).
    (e) has concluded a time-sharing agreement pursuant to the provisions of Law 1652/1986 "Time-sharing agreement and related issues" (Government Gazette 1, no 167), which is in force.

2. The minimum value of the real estate property, as well as the contractual consideration of hotel accommodation or tourist residences leases of this Article, is determined at two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) euros or 500,000 euros depending on the location of the property, and must have been paid in full upon the signing of the contract.

   The increase of the minimum investment amount, depending on the area where the property is located, will apply from August 1st, 2023. Investors are entitled to buy a property with a minimum value of 250,000 euros even in the affected areas, provided that they have already paid a 10% of the property value as a deposit until July 31st, 2023, and finalize the purchase contract by December 31st, 2023 as required by law.

   “The consideration is paid by a crossed bank cheque to a bank account of the beneficiary, held in a credit institution operating in Greece or with a credit transfer, as defined by Law 4537/2018 article 4, par. 24 (Official Government Gazette Α΄ 84) to a beneficiary’s bank account held in a payment service provider, as defined by Law 4537/2018 article 4 par. 11 operating in Greece or through a POS installed by a payment provider, operating in Greece, by charging a debit or credit card issued by a bank in the name of the buyer, to a beneficiary’s account held in a payment service provider, as provided in Article 4(11) of Law 4537/2018, operating in Greece. The afore-mentioned payments may be also executed by the buyer’s spouse or family members by blood or affinity, up to 2^nd degree”.

   By joint decision of the Ministers for the Interior and Finance, the value of the above real estate property may be adjusted and shall result from the property value stated in the contracts or from the lease agreements.

3. Το third country nationals, real estate property owners, the possibility of leasing that property is granted.
4. The above third-country national may be accompanied by the members of his family to whom, at their request, an individual residence permit is issued, that expires together with the residence permit of the sponsor.
    Family members shall mean:
    a. Spouses
    b. the other spouse or partner with whom a third-country national has a cohabitation agreement in Greece
    c. The direct unmarried descendants of the spouses, who are under the age of 21
    d. the direct unmarried descendants of the supporter or of the other spouse/partner, provided that their custody has been legally entrusted to the sponsor (for his/her children) and to the other partner (for his/her children), under 21 years of age
    e. the direct relatives of the spouses in the ascending line.
5. The above permit may be renewed for an equal duration, each time, provided that the real estate property remains in the ownership and possession of the third-country national or the agreements of paragraph 1 of this remain in force and all other requirements, provided by law, are fulfilled.  Periods of absence from the country shall not disrupt the renewal of the residence permit.
     "The resale of the real estate property during the period of validity of the residence permit, to another third-country national shall provide the right to the granting of residence permit to the new buyer with simultaneous withdrawal of the vendor's residence permit."
6. The residence permits, being granted pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 4 of this Article, do not establish the right of access to any form of employment.
   

Πηγή: ENTERPRISE GREECE

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