Pursuant to Article 20(b) of Law no 4251/2014, the granting of a five-year residence permit to third-country nationals (besides the EU), who own property (real estate) or have entered into at least a ten-year lease of hotel accommodation or tourist furnished houses in complex tourist accommodations, that worth at least 250,000 Euros (in both cases) is provided (For the Regional Units of the Central Sector of Athens, the Southern Sector of Athens and the Northern Sector of Athens, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Mykonos and Santorini the minimum value of the property required is 500,000 Euros). This residence permit can be renewed, as long as the interested parties maintain their real estate and they can also be accompanied by their family members.
In order to grant a residence permit to Greek real estate owners, they must be provided with an entry visa of any type, i.e., either type C (Schengen) or (preferably) type D (national entry visa). For the residence permit to be granted, the minimum price of 250,000 Euros (or 500,000 Euros for specific regions) must have been paid by two-line bank check or by depositing a bank transfer to the beneficiary’s account, held in a Greek banking institution or in a credit institution under the supervision of the Bank of Greece, the particulars of which are declared responsibly by the contracting parties before the notary and are written in the purchase or lease contract.
After the foreigner concerned has been provided with an entry visa, they should proceed to complete the transferring or leasing the real estate. Contribution of a lawyer specialized in real estate and foreign law matters at all stages of the process is particularly crucial and useful, as they will assist the foreigner in all the required steps of the process (title search, gathering of the required documents, inspection of the contracts to be signed, carrying out the whole procedure for issuing the residence permit etc.).
As soon as the process of signing the contract is completed and it is transferred to the competent Mortgage Registry or the Cadastral Office, and in any case before the entry visa expires, the foreigner can apply for a residence permit. The application is submitted at the one-stop service of the competent department of the applicant’s place of residence Decentralized Administration.
The residence permit granted in accordance with the above, does not establish a right of access to any form of work, but only allows the exercise of economic activity in the capacity of a company shareholder, a member of the Board of Directors, or the CEO of a company. Resale of the real estate during the validity of the residence permit, to another third-country national, entitles the new acquirer to a residence permit with the simultaneous revocation of the grantor’s residence permit.
After the payment has been made (at this stage an advance payment of 30% of the total fee is paid), we will contact you to send us the required supporting documents, so that the process can proceed. If you are not sure that you have the necessary conditions, you can contact our office, either by phone (2313 079293) or by email (info@siopi–law.gr), before proceeding with the payment.