The Greek Citizenship Code allows third country nationals to obtain permanent residence permits in Greece by investing in real estate. Specifically, article 20(B) states that a 5-year renewable residence permit will be granted to those who purchase real estate in Greece worth at least €250,000. The permit also extends to spouses, underage children, and parents of the property owner. While the permit does not provide the right to work or lead to Greek citizenship, it does allow travel within the Schengen Area without visas for up to 3 months in a 6 month period.

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Permanent Greek residence permits for third States investors
purchasing property in Greece
Greece joined the European Union (hereinafter “EU”) in 1981 (back then the EU was
known as “EEC”, i.e. “European Economic Community”) and became the 10th
Member State of the contemporary EU that today consists of 28 Member States
(Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia.
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania. Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain. Sweden, United Kingdom (UK)) with a population of 508,191,116 covering
an area of 4,324,782 km2 (1,669,808 sq mi). The EU area is the third largest territory
on earth with China being the first and India the second, although it is not yet a
federal State, or a confederation. The EU in 2011 issued the Single Permit Directive
(2011/98/EU) which was adopted in Greece pursuant to the Law No. 4251/2014
(“Greek Citizenship Code”, hereinafter “the Code”).
The proposal which led to the Single Permit Directive was published by the
European Commission in 2007, given that legal problems, political reluctance and
institutional gamesmanship complicated the negotiating process which finally
ended in December 2011. The Directive aims at establishing a simple and
harmonised procedure that a citizen from a third State (i.e. from a State other than
the 28 Member States of the EU) is obliged to undergo so as to obtain a residence
permit. Pursuant to article 2(a) of the Single Permit Directive a “third-country
national” is a person who is not a citizen of the EU within the meaning of Article
20(1) TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) establishing the
citizenship of the EU by stipulating that every person holding the nationality of a
EU Member State shall be a citizen of the EU (the EU nationality is additional to
national citizenship and does not replace it).
The Code consists of 148 articles and it was amended in 2015 by the Law No.
4332/2015. There are several provisions and as it concerns potential investors from
third States we find article 20(part B) of the Code (as amended) to be applicable.

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(Hereinafter, articles, articles’ parts -if existent or applicable-, paragraphs and sub
paragraphs -if existent or applicable-, of an article are written in brackets, e.g.
article 20(B)(1)(a) reads article 20, part B, paragraph 1, sub-paragraph a).
The original title of article 20(B) was “Owners of property in Greece”, however, in
2015 this title was deleted and was amended (pursuant to article 8(27) of the Law
No. 4332/2015) in “Investor Permanent residence permit”, which means that
although the Code initially did not set a legal framework for a permanent permit,
this changed in 2015 and now any investor investing in Greece will be granted a
permanent permit. The residence permit holders will have access to health and
public education like the rest of the native Greek population. However, the Code,
as it is applicable today, does not allow permanent permit holders to be granted
Greek citizenship.
The Code in article 20(B)(1) stipulates that by decision of the secretary general of
the decentralised administration, a five-year residence permit subject to renewal
shall be granted to a third country national who has legally entered Greece with
any type of visa or legally resides (article 20(B)(1)(a)) in Greece and either has the
full ownership, possession and peaceful enjoyment of real estate property in
Greece with a minimum value of €250,000 (article 20(B)(1)(b)) or has the full
ownership, possession and peaceful enjoyment of real estate property in Greece
with a minimum value of €250,000 via a legal entity whose shares are fully owned
by such national (article 20(B)(1)(c)).
Nonetheless the five year permit can be renewed pursuant to article 20(B)(5) (as
amended pursuant to article 8(29) of the Law No. 4332/2015) for an equal period
each time (i.e. for five years pursuant to articles 20(B)(1) and 20(B)(1)(B)) provided
that the real estate property remains in the ownership and possession of the third
country national, and all other requirements provided for by law are met.
Moreover, periods of absence from Greece shall not hinder the renewal of the
residence permit. Nonetheless, the possession of the real estate is paramount,
given that pursuant to article 20(B)(5) a potential resale of a real estate property

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during the period of validity of the residence permit to another third-country
national shall entitle the buyer to the issue of a residence permit with a
simultaneous revocation of the original permit already granted. Thus, it seems that
“permanency” is conditional and dependent upon the retention of the property
bought.
Article 20(B)(2) of the Code as amended by article 14(1) of the Law No. 4332/2015
stipulates that the minimum value of the real estate property referred to in this
Article (i.e. article 20(B) of the Code) is set at two hundred and fifty thousand euros
(€250,000) and must be fully paid up on the signing of the agreement. Although
the amount of €250,000 is mentioned for the first time in article 20(B)(1)(a) of the
Code, article 20(B)(2) determined that the amount of the investment, that can be
no less than €250,000, must be fully paid on the signing of the agreement which in
the real estate business means a contract signed before a notary. Moreover, the
consideration is paid by crossed bank cheque or other bank transaction, issued by
a Greek Bank (which means that the investor must hold a bank account in a Greek
Bank) the particulars of which must be solemnly stated by the contracting parties
before the notary who prepares the contract and are declared in the contract.
The amount of €250,000 constitutes the minimum amount that the Code requires
for the granting of a permanent residence permit. Of course the amount of any
investment may exceed the minimum amount required. If two persons purchase a
property of €500,000 they may both be granted a permanent permit, however this
would not be valid if those persons buy a property of e.g. €450,000 given that each
person must invest a minimum of €250,000 in order to be granted a permanent
permit. However, this is not valid for a married couple, given that with the purchase
of a property in Greece (of a value no less than €250,000) in cases of joint
ownership, the residence right is granted to both spouses. If the couple is not
married, then the separate individuals must each purchase a property of a
minimum value of €250,000 for every investor. The minimum amount of €250,000
must be written in the contract of purchase (whether or not the properties bought
are either commercial or residential does not concern the Code) and does not

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necessarily include VAT or any other expenses (e.g. legal fees, realtors’ fees,
notary’s fees et.c.). An investor can purchase two or more properties with a value of
less than €250.000, however, he or she will be granted a permit if the combined
value of the properties purchased is no less than €250.000.
Pursuant to article 20(B)(3) a third-country national owning real estate property
may lease that property and this may prove beneficial for an investor, who may in
the long run see a return of the money he or she has invested, especially if the
investor has purchased a commercial property where the rents are higher (they
may amount in €2,000 or even €10,000 per month depending on the property
purchased) compared to residential properties.
Under article 20(B)(4) (as amended pursuant to article 8(28) of the Law No.
4332/2015) the permit is valid not only for the property owner but also for his or
her spouse (20(B)(4)(a)), for the lineal descendants of the spouses or either spouse,
who are under 21 years old (20(B)(4)(b)) and for the direct ascendants of the
spouses (20(B)(4)(c)). It seems that the term “family members” does not include
unmarried partners pursuant to the provisions of the Code. The spouses must be
over 18 years old, and the linear descendants may be adopted. However, the
descendants must not be married and if the investor is married to a person having
children from another marriage, he or she must have been entrusted the exercise
of parental responsibility. Children over the age of 21 can acquire a renewal as an
independent residence permit until they reach the age of 24 and then it is possible
to renew it further according to the applicable immigration legislation.
Under article 20(B)(6) the residence permits issued pursuant to articles 20(B)(1) and
20(B)(4) shall not grant the right of access to any form of employment and this is
also valid for the owner and the persons mentioned in article 20(B)(4)(a), 20(B)(4)(b)
and 20(B)(4)(c). This article seems to be in accordance with article 1(2) and article
3(1)(b) of the Single Permit Directive. However, the term “employment” pursuant
to article 20(6) of the Greek Law No. 4251/2014, does not include the exercise of

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economic activity in the capacity of a shareholder or a Chief Executive Officer of a
company.
Pursuant to article 20(B)(7) of the Code the residence permit shall be issued within
two months from procurement of all file information to the issuing authority. This
paragraph was amended pursuant to article 8(30) of the Law No. 4332/2015. Before
the amendment article 20(B)(7) was article 20(B)(8), however, the original article
20(B)(7) was repealed and the original article 20(B)(8) was renumbered in article
20(B)(7) which is now valid. The omitted article 20(B)(7), that today is not current,
stipulated that the period of residence referred to in the provisions of part B hereof
was not considered for inclusion in the status of long-term resident and the
granting of nationality to the relevant residents. It is obvious that the amendments
of Law No. 4332/2015 changed the spirit and the letter of the Code and now the
permits granted to investors are permanent as this is evident pursuant article
20(B)(5) coupled with articles 20(B)(1) and 20(B)(1)(B) as they are currently valid.
Pursuant to the Joint Ministerial Decision No. 68.019/10.16.2015 (FEK Β
2272/21.10.2015) of the Ministers of Interior, of Administrative Reconstruction and
of Foreign Affairs amending the Joint Ministerial Decision No. 30825/2014 of the
same Ministries, for the initial granting of the residence permit the Greek
Authorities must be provided with an official copy of the property purchase
contract and of the transfer certificate in a land registry or cadastre (whichever
applicable in any given case, since certain properties are registered in the local
cadastre and if a local cadastre does not yet exist they are registered in the local
land registry office).
As it concerns the free movement of persons in the Schengen area, the residence
permit and long-term visas are valid, thus any citizen of a third State holding a
long-term visa (for example the permanent residence permits for real estate
owners) issued by a Member State (provided that they are valid for one year), are
able to travel to other Member States for up to 3 months within a 6 month period,

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under the same conditions applicable to the holder of a residence permit and they
are also granted the right for multiple entries.
The Schengen area includes 26 European countries which have abolished passport
and any other type of border control at their mutual borders. The Schengen area
includes a population of 419,392,429 and it is 4,312,099 km² (1,664,911 sq mi) wide.
The Schengen area includes 22 out of 28 EU Member States. Of the 6 EU Member
States that do not form part of the Schengen Area, 4 of them (Bulgaria, Croatia,
Cyprus and Romania) will join the area, while Ireland and the UK will not. Moreover,
4 EFTA (European Free Trade Association) Member States, (i.e. Iceland,
Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) which are not EU Member States have
signed agreements on association with the Schengen Agreement and the States of
Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City are viewed as being de facto participants.
Despite the current difficulties that many European States are facing (e.g. terrorist
attacks), generally speaking the Schengen area is still considered operational.
This means that any investor holding a Greek permanent residence permit will be
able to travel in most of the EU Member States and in other European States
relatively effortlessly. It would seem that the investment is very promising for those
able and willing to consider the opportunities presenting themselves and Greece
could effectively constitute the gateway to the rest of Europe.
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