How can financially independent people get a Greek residence permit?

Greek residence permits for financially independent persons are issued to foreign nationals whose home country incomes exceed €2,000 per month. Along with the main applicants, these residence permits are also issued to spouses and children under 18 years of age, but in this case, the minimum income amount increases by 20% when applying with the spouse and by 15% per child.

Residence permits for financially independent persons are issued for two years, after which holders can renew them every three years. The period of stay in Greece is not limited, and residence permit holders can live there permanently or not visit the country at all.

Greece reviews the documents required to obtain this type of residency thoroughly. Another option to get a Greek residence permit is through the golden visa programme under grants investors residence with property purchases from €250,000. This programme has two advantages: first, the parents of both the main applicant and his or her spouse and children under 21 years of age are eligible for residency, and, second, this residence permit only needs to be renewed every five years.

Applicants only have to visit Greece once to obtain a residence permit for financially independent persons. The whole procedure takes 10 to 14 weeks. The total cost of obtaining the residence permit for financially independent persons is about €3,000 (and an extra €1,500 for the spouse and €1,000 per child).

To get a Greek residence permit for financially independent persons, you need to:

1. Apply for a Greek type-D visa.

1. Get a Greek Tax Identification Number.
2. Open an account with a Greek bank.
3. Apply for residency.
4. Submit fingerprints.

1. Type-D visa

The long-term Greek type-D visa is necessary when applying for residency. It costs €180 and usually takes 15–20 days to be issued.

The documents are to be submitted through the Greek consulate in the applicant’s home country and include:

• application form;
• passport;
• proof of home country income and its legal origin;
• medical insurance;
• police clearance certificate; and
• health certificate

2. Tax identification number

The Tax Identification Number is issued in Greece. This can be done independently or via a lawyer (who is granted power of attorney in advance). The applicant will require legal assistance, and the lawyer will act as his or her guarantor.

Documents required:

• passport and passport copy; and
• marriage certificate (if the tax identification number is also issued to the applicant’s spouse).

3. Bank account

Submitting documents to the bank in person is advisable, but in some cases, a lawyer may be appointed to do this (provided a power attorney is issued to him/her in advance and the documents are apostilled by a Greek notary).[1]

Documents required:

• passport and passport copy;
• tax return copy, tax residence certificate or personal income tax forms for the three previous years (rendered into Greek or English by an authorised translator);
• employment certificate (translated into Greek or English);
• copy of your utilities bill (translated into Greek or English); and

• phone number ownership certificate (translated into Greek or English).

After opening the bank account, the applicant must deposit a minimum of €24,000 for him/herself and additional funds for the family.

4. Residence permit

The documents required to obtain residency are submitted to Greece’s migration service in person or via a lawyer. The document check takes 2–3 months.

The document package includes:

• full passport copy;
• Type-D visa;
• state duty receipt (the duty is paid online);
• personal insurance agreement;
• Greek private account bank statement copy;
• proof of home country income and its legal origin;
• 4 photos in print and on CD-ROM (taken not earlier than a month before, photo size: 4 х 6 сm); and
• proof of Greek property ownership or rental agreement, or invitation from an individual.

The spouse’s document package also includes:

• marriage certificate (notarised and apostilled, with a notarised translation into Greek or English);
• kinship certificate (double legalised or apostilled (duly translated in the Greek or English); and
• written statement regarding the validity of the marriage, signed by the main applicant in the notary’s presence (notarised and apostilled, with a notarised translation into Greek or English).

The child’s document package must include:

• birth certificate or passport (notarised and apostilled, with a notarised translation into Greek or English),
• kinship certificate (double legalised or apostilled (duly translated in the Greek or English); and
• child custody proof if the parents are divorced (notarised and apostilled, with a notarised translation into Greek or English).

Upon submitting the documents, the applicant will receive a submission receipt (Blue Paper), which allows him or her to stay in Greece for a year. However, it does not allow travel across the Schengen area.

5. Fingerprints

Fingerprints can be submitted the same day the documents are submitted, or up to 30 days after that. The application lead time is calculated starting from the day the fingerprints are submitted.

Taxes and expenses

If the residence permit holder owns property in Greece, he or she has to annually declare it and pay a property tax (about 0.5% of the cadastral value per year). A local lawyer or accountant acting as a tax representative can take charge of organising tax payments. Their fees amount to about €200 per year.

The main applicant will spend approximately €3,000 on the residence permit and an extra €1,000–1,500 per family member. None of the expenses indicated in the table below includes VAT (24%).

Tranio can assist financially independent persons in obtaining Greek residency. Submit a request to speak to our consultants.

Anna Danishek, real estate editor at Tranio.com

Tranio.com is an international real estate platform with a network of 700 partners worldwide and a catalogue of more than 80,000 listings in 54 countries. The company publishes daily news, high-quality analysis on foreign realty, expert advice, and notes on laws and procedures related to buying and leasing properties abroad so that readers can make their property decisions with confidence.