Greece becomes new hotspot for golden visa seekers as US interest soars

As European countries tighten or shut down their golden visa programmes, many investors are turning their attention to alternatives, with Greece emerging as a top destination. Greece is quickly becoming a key player in the golden visa landscape. 

Forbes highlights in a recent article that golden visa programmes provide EU residency in exchange for investment. However, growing concerns about housing, security, and fairness have prompted many EU nations to either end or tighten these schemes. As Spain officially closes its programme, demand for similar opportunities has surged in Greece and Portugal, with Portugal implementing a digital process to expedite applications.

EU golden visa programmes enable non-EU nationals to acquire legal residency by making financial investments, typically through real estate purchases (as long as no mortgages are involved). These programmes generally offer permanent residency rather than citizenship, and once granted, they allow holders to travel freely within the Schengen Area of Europe.

However, several EU countries have closed their schemes. Spain recently announced the official end of its residency-by-investment programme, set to close on April 3, 2025. Euronews reported that the Netherlands shut down its golden visa programme in January 2024. Additionally, the UK and Ireland ended their programmes in 2022 and 2023, respectively, citing heightened security concerns following the start of the Ukraine war.

Spain's investor visa required a minimum property investment of $523,000 (500,000 euros), offering residency for three years. However, growing concerns about its effect on housing availability, especially in cities like Madrid and Barcelona, emerged.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez emphasized that a significant 94 per cent of these visas were linked to real estate investments in already overburdened housing markets.

From 2013 to 2023, Spain granted 14,576 golden visas, with the majority going to nationals from China, Russia, the UK, the US, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, and Mexico. In Barcelona, transactions tied to the programme represented over 5 per cent of yearly residential property sales. Experts contend that foreign property buyers have inflated prices, pushing local residents out of city neighbourhoods.

After Spain's announcement, there has been a noticeable increase in interest in other European golden visa programmes.

By Naila Huseynova