Imagine having a home in Greece and a European residence option for your family, while continuing to run your business in India. That flexibility is the attraction. Before looking at sea views, though, ask whether the property supports the life your family wants.
The Greece Golden Visa can offer that residence base through a qualifying investment. But the old idea that any €250,000 apartment will do no longer fits the rules. Here is how the programme works and what to check before paying.
What is the Greece Golden Visa Program?
If you want an overseas base without uprooting your family, Greece offers a five-year investor residence permit for qualifying applicants from outside the EU. You can renew it while retaining the investment and meeting the conditions. Time spent outside Greece does not prevent renewal, so there is no minimum annual stay for maintaining this permit.
That lets you plan around your business and family commitments in India. It gives residence in Greece, not an EU passport. Start with the purpose of the move, then compare the options.
Watch Paresh compare Greece and Italy before your family commits to a European investment route.
What does it give your family?
For holidays or visits to relatives, travel flexibility matters. With a valid Greek residence permit and passport, you can generally visit other Schengen countries for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, subject to entry conditions. Schengen is the European area with shared short-visit rules.
If your child plans to study elsewhere in Europe, check that country’s requirements separately. A Greek permit does not automatically allow long-term residence or study in another country. Likewise, if your budget depends on taking a job in Greece, this investor permit does not give employment rights.
For a wider comparison, read our Greece and Italy residency guide. Choose around your family’s intended use, rather than the word “Europe” alone.
How much do you need to invest?
Your preferred location can change the amount you need to commit. For a first property purchase under today’s standard rules, these are the starting points:
- €800,000: Attica, which includes Athens, the Thessaloniki regional unit, Mykonos, Santorini, and islands with more than 3,100 residents under the latest census.
- €400,000: other areas of Greece under the standard property route.
- €250,000: specific qualifying properties converted to residential use, or qualifying listed buildings, meaning officially protected buildings, requiring restoration or reconstruction.
If you are considering two smaller flats, pause. The standard €400,000 and €800,000 routes require one property. Built properties, or properties with a building permit, need at least 120 square metres of main space. Read our guide to the one-property rules before combining purchases.
If the €250,000 price is what makes your plan affordable, check the exception carefully. A qualifying change to residential use must be completed before applying. Listed-building restoration must be completed before the first renewal. These are different obligations, so ask your lawyer which one you are accepting.
Greece Golden Visa Requirements: can your family qualify?
To avoid buying a property your application cannot use, check the paperwork first. You need a recognised valid passport, the qualifying investment, accepted payment evidence, private health insurance and the required property records. Public-order, security and health conditions also apply.
If keeping the family together is your priority, check each person’s eligibility before choosing the investment. Eligible family members include a spouse, unmarried children under 21, subject to the relevant parentage and custody conditions, and parents of either spouse. Each needs an application. If a child is approaching 21, review their next residence step separately.
How to Apply for Greece Golden Visa
To keep control of the decision, separate the purchase from the application. I would work through these steps:
- Define the family goal. Decide who needs residence and whether you want a holiday base or a future home.
- Check the property before a deposit. Have independent Greek legal and technical advisers confirm ownership, permitted use, size and the qualifying route.
- Plan the full budget. Ask for purchase costs, taxes, professional fees, insurance and application charges. Review transfers from India with your bank.
- Complete and document the investment. Keep payment, contract and registration evidence together, plus route-specific certificates.
- Submit and complete identity checks. Applications go through the Ministry’s online system. Arrange the required fingerprints and photograph, called biometric data, and respond to document requests.
For your family’s travel planning, an application receipt is not the finished residence card. Wait for the appropriate documents before relying on travel rights.
What mistakes should first-time applicants avoid?
If the property’s rental income matters to your budget, check permitted use before believing a sales projection. Golden Visa properties cannot be rented through short-term sharing-platform arrangements. Do not build your plan around holiday-let income.
Do not confuse the property price with your full budget, or a seller’s assurance with an independent eligibility check. Ask for written answers before money changes hands.
Want a clear answer for your family’s situation?
Acquest advises Indian families on residency and citizenship by investment across the US, Europe, and the UAE.
My advice is straightforward. Choose the residence plan your family needs, then find an investment that qualifies. A beautiful property should support that decision, rather than make it for you.
Planning your family’s future in Europe? Reach out to Acquest Advisors to explore your Greece Golden Visa options.
About Acquest Advisors
Acquest Advisors is a trusted immigration consultancy. We work with HNI Indian families, business owners, and CXOs on residency and citizenship by investment across the US, Europe, and the UAE. Our advisory combines chartered accounting, corporate banking, and immigration expertise. That depth lets us handle Source of Funds planning, EB-5 project due diligence, documentation, and foreign remittance end to end.
FAQ
Do we have to move to Greece permanently?
No. The Greece Golden Visa has no minimum annual stay requirement for maintaining the investor permit, but you must retain the qualifying investment and meet renewal conditions.
Does any €250,000 apartment qualify?
No, that price alone is insufficient. The property must meet a specific qualifying exception, such as an eligible residential conversion or listed-building restoration route.
Can we sell the property and keep the permit?
Do not plan on keeping this property-based permit after selling the qualifying investment. Sale triggers revocation of the seller’s investor permit, so review your family’s residence position before an exit.
To know more about the Greece Golden Visa, visit
About Paresh Karia
Paresh Karia is the CEO of Acquest Advisors. Chartered Accountant by training and a former senior banker at HDFC, ICICI Bank, and ABN Amro, he brings over two decades of experience across global finance, real estate, and investment immigration. That dual lens, financial structuring on one side and immigration strategy on the other, is what lets Acquest evaluate Source of Funds files and EB-5 projects with a depth most pure immigration consultancies cannot match. Read more about Paresh.