Greece to Present Advantages of Golden Visa Program to Chinese Investors

Aiming to boost the number of China nationals wishing to invest in Greece, executives from the Hellenic Capital Market Commission and the Athens Stock Exchange will be visiting Beijing on August 26 to present the advantages of the country’s golden visa program.

To date the golden visa offers five-year residency rights to non-European Union citizens in return for real estate acquisitions or for strategic investments exceeding 250,000 euros.

The Greek delegation will meet with the board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday, August 28, to inform that Chinese investors also have the opportunity to obtain the golden visa by acquiring Greek investment products, with a minimum investment of 500,000 euros (through the purchase of ETFs – exchange-traded funds – from their country, among others).

According to the latest data, a total of 1,725 “golden visas” (five-year residence permits for investment activity in the country) were issued to foreign real estate investors in the period 2013 – June 2017, up from 1,550 visas in 2016, 968 in 2015, 455 in 2014 and 20 in 2013.

Chinese real estate investors represent 42 percent (722 visas) of the total visas issued by June 2017.

In May, the Greek economy ministry announced plans to expand the current investment visa program to include extending “gold visas” to foreign nationals investing at least 250,000 euros in bonds or shares.