Golden Visas for share and bond buyers

The Greek state is set to expand its Golden Visa program for the concession of residence permits to third-country investors in stocks, bonds and bank accounts, and not just real estate, Kathimerini understands.

In the program’s first five years, up until August 30, 2018, 3,154 permits were issued to non-European Union citizens for property investments of at least 250,000 euros apiece, while the amount of money invested in properties under the scheme has come to almost 1 billion euros, Migration Policy Ministry data show.

Now people who invest a minimum of 400,000 euros in Greek securities will also earn the right to a five-year residence permit for both themselves and their families.

The new criteria include the investment of at least the above amount in stocks or corporate bonds in the Greek capital markets (or 800,000 euros in unlisted Greek companies or treasury bills), or the investment of a minimum of 400,000 euros in state bonds of at least three years’ duration through a Greece-based bank, or the investment of a minimum of 400,000 euros in a mutual fund set up in Greece or abroad to invest exclusively in shares and bonds trading in Greece and with total assets of least 3 million euros.