Once a property is identified, our lawyers will proceed with completing a Private Reservation agreement between us and buyer (you) with an engagement deposit, 10% of the agreed purchase price.

To be able to legally represent you (and your dependents) a Power of Attorney is required. This will be required both for the purchase execution as well as the Golden Visa application.

Depending on where you are located (country of residence) or if you are thinking of visiting Greece (instead of remotely executing the process) there are 3 ways that you can relinquish Power of Attorney;

Visiting Greece: If you visit Greece alone or with you family member, you can draft a Power of Attorney in front of any Public Notary in Greece. The PoA can be individual or joint.

From Abroad:

A. If you are residing in a county that is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, we can send you the PoA document in English for your consideration. You should notarize your signature with a local Public Notary, or Lawyer of Immigration of Foreign Affairs (depending on the Country/State) and have the document Apostilled. The apostille process usually takes 1-2 weeks.
The document can be accepted in English, bilingual or even be translated to your local language if that is what your authorities demand from the certification/notarization and apostille of.

B. If you are residing in a country where the Apostille process is not supported, you should get in touch with the local Greek Consul/Embassy to request an appointment for drafting a Power of Attorney.

In this case, your Greek Lawyer should email the document in Greek to the Consular Office and wait for them to indicate a suitable time and date, as well as a list of approved sworn translators that you must pick from and arrange to be with you on the date of signing.

It is worth noting here, that if you have dependent member that you would like us to submit their applications alongside theirs, during this stage it would be preferable to start preparing for their PoAs as well, or even better arrange for all member to relinquish a Joint PoA that would allow us to promptly tackle their applications as well alongside yours.

The PoA will allow your proxy to issue you a Tax identification No# and represent you in front of all Bodies and Authorities required to conclude the sale of the estate, as well as to sign the final contract on your behalf.

As soon as the final contract of acquisition/purchase is notarized, a copy of it is being submitted to the respective land registry for the transcription of the Deed. Within 2-5 working days the Certificate of Pending Transcription is issued, and we can proceed to submit your Golden Visa applications. At this stage, you need to settle the expenses relating to the Visa application (State/Public fee per member, Health insurance policy, legal fees).

Documentation

As a Main Applicant we only require your PoA and Passport. For your dependents we will require their PoAs (or joint PoA), Passports and certificates proving kinship. The Certificates must be accurate copies from the respective authorities and again depending on the country of issuance, they either must be apostilled or certified by the local Greek Consulate/Embassy.

It takes 2-7 working days for your applications to be processed, a Certificate of Submission is issued immediately as receipt/proof of your pending application, which can also be used as an Entry Visa to Greece and GREECE only, with unlimited stay, for 1 trip only. This is a helpful workaround for the client who do not have a valid Schengen visa to travel to Greece for their Biometrics appointment.

Sadly, the only step that cannot be executed remotely is the Biometrics submission. This means that the main sponsor and his dependents must travel to Athens for 1 single day (morning of a working day) for 1-2 hours max, to submit their fingerprints. As soon as this step is completed it takes roughly 6 months for the Visas (plastic cards) to be issued.

Please see the first paragraph of this email detailing the thresholds applicable.

Yes, you have the right to rent your property immediately after the acquisition and enjoy income from the rent. However, you are not allowed to exploit your property through the Short-Term rental platforms.

No, your investment is required to be directed towards 1 property.

The Greek Golden Visa framework dictates the following payment methods:

• Wire funds from their Personal bank account, wherever in the world that is, as long as the main applicant is Holder or Co-holder of the account.
  Mediums or Virtual institutions are not supported (ie. Monese, Wise, Paypal, Venmo, Crypto etc.)
• Wire funds from a Personal bank account belonging to a first or second degree of kinship member
• Open a bank account in Greece. This will require either the client to visit Greece, or provide a PoA in advance, for the proxy lawyer to open the bank account.

Russian, Belarussian, and Iranian banks are sanctioned by EU Banks/Swift service at the moment. Transfers are not possible.

If the applicant does not have all the funds or no funds at all, the purchase can also be financed from 1st or 2nd degree of kinship members. The kinship must be evidenced by relevant family certificates.

According to Greek Golden Visa Program family members that may benefit from the same investment include:

• Spouse/partner with whom the investor is married or has concluded a civil partnership contract in Greece.
• Children who are under 21 years old when the original application is submitted and until they can benefit from the program, till their 24th birthday.
• Parents and in-laws of the main investor (wife’s / husband’s parents).

In no case does the investor residence permit (Golden Visa) provide access to any type of employment. However, employment according to the Law, does not include the exercise of economic activity in the capacity of a shareholder, a Chief Executive Officer or a Board Member.

Yes, there is annual property TAX, and Rental Income Tax (if you decide to rent your property).

There is a uniform real estate property tax called ENFIA. It is charged annually to both natural and legal entities who own properties in Greece. When you buy a new property, it is advisable to check the comparable properties around its region. You can pay your ENFIA as a lump sum or you can pay it in five monthly installments between September and January. The tax base of ENFIA is the objective property value on January 1st of each year. Tax authorities assess this. There are two different tax amounts regarding ENFIA.

When you rent your property out, you’ll need to pay tax on the rental income. For individuals, there are progressive tax rates, depending on the gains from the rent. You can see the rates below.

Up to a rental amount of €12,000: 15%
Between €12,001 and €35,000: 35%
More than €35,001: 45%