Greece: Golden Visa, the 100,000 Euro Flat Tax and 7% Pensions

EU citizens: registration, not a visa

An EU citizen enters with an ID card and may stay. Anyone living in Greece for more than three months registers with the aliens department of the police and receives the registration certificate for Union citizens. The core requirements are ID, an address and proof that you work, are self-employed, or have sufficient means and health insurance. You also need a Greek tax number (AFM) for almost everything, from a lease to a bank account.

For EU citizens the golden visa only matters for non-EU family members: a spouse, partner or parents who want their own permit that does not depend on you actually living in Greece. The programme can cover a spouse, children under 21 and the parents of both spouses.

The golden visa since 2024: three tiers

Law 5100/2024 raised the real estate thresholds sharply. Since 31 August 2024:

• 800,000 euros in high-demand areas: the Attica region including Athens, the regional unit of Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and every island with more than 3,100 inhabitants.
• 400,000 euros in the rest of the country.
• 250,000 euros only for two special cases, anywhere in Greece: converting a commercial building to residential use, or restoring a listed building.

The conditions the brochures skip:

• One property, at least 120 square metres. In the two upper tiers the investment must sit in a single property with at least 120 square metres of main living space. Several small flats cannot be added together.
• Conversion must be finished first. The legal change of use must be completed before you apply. A building that could be converted does not qualify. Industry data show the conversion route now carries most new applications.
• Listed buildings must be restored before the first renewal, or the permit is revoked and a fine of 150,000 euros applies.
• No short-term letting. Renting the property through holiday platforms risks the permit plus a 50,000 euro fine. A ministerial circular of April 2026 defines short-term letting as under 60 days without additional services. Long-term letting is allowed. Properties bought under the pre-2024 rules have transitional protection.

In October 2026 the migration minister announced checks on purchases with hidden rebates that push the effective price below the threshold, for example a leaseback that returns part of the price to the buyer.

Besides real estate there are financial routes through bank deposits, government bonds, shares and funds. Law firms quote amounts between 350,000 and 800,000 euros, but not consistently, so treat those as guide values and check the current Migration Code with a Greek lawyer. In practice real estate accounts for the overwhelming majority of applications.

Process, fees and waiting times

Step by step:

• Tax number and bank account. No purchase without an AFM and a Greek account.
• Purchase and transfer tax. Resale property carries 3% transfer tax plus a 3% municipal surcharge on that tax, 3.09% in total. Add notary, lawyer and land registry fees.
• Application. Filed with the migration authorities, with biometrics taken in person. The ministry lists an electronic fee of 2,000 euros and 16 euros for the card.
• Permit. Valid for five years and renewable as long as you keep the investment. There is no minimum stay. Since Law 5275/2026, in force since February 2026, the five years run from the issue of the card rather than from the filing date, so processing time no longer eats into the permit.

Waiting time was the real problem for years. Industry figures put the backlog at more than 52,000 files, investors and family members together, at the start of 2025, and at about 29,000 at the end of July 2026. Waits of more than 18 months were common. Well-prepared new files now move faster, family member files still lag.

Two more limits. The golden visa does not allow employment in Greece. And it is not a path to a passport on its own: naturalisation requires seven years of lawful residence with genuine presence, Greek language skills and an exam. Owning a holiday home you visit a few weeks a year does not get you there. If citizenship is the actual goal, the overview of citizenship by investment covers the routes that lead to one.

Announced but not law: in September 2026 the prime minister announced a 15% transfer tax for non-EU buyers of residential property, now planned from 1 July 2027. No bill had been published by the end of October 2026. Buyers with long-term resident status are to be excluded, and EU citizens are not affected. If legislated as announced, it would make the real estate route considerably more expensive for every non-EU investor. A multi-property route tied to long-term letting, mentioned in the national housing strategy 2026 to 2035, is also only a proposal.

Article 5A: a 100,000 euro flat tax on foreign income

The best known regime sits in Article 5A of the Greek Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013). It is open to any nationality.

The conditions:

• New to Greece. You were not Greek tax resident in seven of the eight years before moving.
• An investment of 500,000 euros in Greece, in real estate, businesses, securities or shares of Greek companies, completed within three years of applying. It can be made by you, by close relatives, or through a company you majority-own. According to law firms, a golden visa property can count towards this investment as well.
• Greek tax residence, normally through more than 183 days or your centre of vital interests in Greece.

The result: one fixed tax of 100,000 euros a year on all your foreign income, regardless of the amount. Each family member added costs 20,000 euros a year, and foreign assets are then also outside Greek inheritance and gift tax. The regime runs for a maximum of 15 years with no extension.

The procedure became more flexible in 2026. Law 5313/2026 of 25 June 2026 abolished the old 31 March application deadline and moved payment from July to the end of December. Under the tax authority's decision A.1147/2026 you apply by 30 September. If you move by 2 July you can choose whether the regime starts in the year of arrival or the next year, later arrivals start the next year. Documents are due by 31 October, the assessment comes by the end of November, payment by the last working day of December. Family members can be added later within the 15 years.

What 5A does not cover: Greek income. Rent from your Greek property or a salary in Athens is taxed at normal rates. And the maths only works for large foreign incomes. On 150,000 euros of dividends a year, the flat tax is an effective rate of two thirds.

Article 5B: 7% on foreign pensions

For retirees there is Article 5B. The conditions under the current decision A.1192/2026 of 22 September 2026:

• A foreign pension from compulsory social insurance, an occupational scheme or group pension insurance.
• Five of the last six years before moving without Greek tax residence.
• Moving from a country that has an administrative tax cooperation agreement with Greece.
• Not combined with the 5A regime.

The result: 7% tax on your foreign income for up to 15 years, starting with the year of application. Apply by 31 October, with the same 2 July rule as for 5A, and pay in one sum by the end of December. There are no instalments, and paying late costs you the regime for that year and all following years. It covers only the applicant, so a spouse with their own pension files separately.

The trap for many retirees: foreign tax already paid is credited against the 7%, but any excess is not refunded. If your home country keeps the right to tax your pension under its tax treaty with Greece, which is typical for government pensions, 5B does little for that part. US citizens have an extra layer, because the United States taxes its citizens wherever they live, so the 7% mainly helps where the US credit system leaves room.

Article 5C: half the tax on work income

Article 5C is for people who move to Greece to work. For seven years, 50% of income from employment or from self-employed activity in Greece is exempt from income tax. The conditions: five of the last six years without Greek tax residence, a move from the EU, the EEA or a country with a tax cooperation agreement, a job with a Greek employer or a Greek permanent establishment or your own business in Greece, and a declaration that you will stay at least two years.

It used to apply only to newly created jobs. Law 5222/2025 of July 2025 removed that condition. Remote workers on a foreign payroll should not assume 5C applies automatically: the link to Greece is the core of the rule, and the digital nomad visa does not by itself unlock it.

The home-country side

Greece makes arriving easy. Your home country may not let you leave as easily. For a German that means three rules in short: keeping a German home keeps you fully taxable there, and the 1966 tax treaty with Greece then decides by permanent home and centre of vital interests, not by day counts; shareholdings of 1% or more trigger an exit tax payable in seven instalments; and moving to a preferential regime while keeping substantial German interests can extend German tax liability for up to ten years. A 100,000 euro flat tax on a seven-figure income is exactly the kind of preferential regime that last rule targets.

Other countries have their own versions: the UK has temporary non-residence rules, and the US taxes by citizenship. How residence and tax residence differ in general is covered in the overview of Plan B residency options. The outcome always depends on the individual case, and you need advice on both sides.

Greece compared

Within the EU, Greece competes mainly with Cyprus and Portugal. Cyprus is often cheaper for investment income, because non-doms pay no special contribution on dividends and interest at all and no investment is required. Greece wins on the flat tax for very large incomes, the 7% pension rate and the 5C regime for people who actually work there. Portugal dropped its pensioner regime with the end of NHR. Which golden visa programmes still exist in the EU in 2026 is covered in the EU golden visa overview.