Greece Cuts Golden Visa Backlog by 10% in Just 3 Months

Greece is on track for about 8,600 applications in 2025, and the backlog has fallen by 3,542 applications since the start of the year.

Greece reduced its golden visa backlog by 2,772 cases in July 2025, the largest monthly decrease on record, as administrative reforms continue to narrow the gap between application processing and intake. The program received 511 applications while approving 734 cases during the month, maintaining the processing surplus that has characterized operations since April.

The July figures mark a turning point for a program that entered 2025 with over 52,000 pending applications. The total number of pending cases now stands at 47,909, a 9% decrease from January’s 52,521, with the entire reduction occurring over the past three months, following the backlog’s peak of 52,821 in April.

Application volume reached 511 in July, up 4% from June, the first uptick after three months of decline. Approvals fell 15% to 734 from June’s exceptional 860, though the figure still exceeds monthly application volume by 44%.

The program has approved 5,044 applications against 5,011 received through the first seven months of 2025. While handling all new cases, authorities continue to chip away at the accumulated backlog from previous years.

Processing completion rates show a clear trend: January applications have reached 26% completion while June filings stand at just 3%, as authorities prioritize older cases.

Overall, Greece has processed 42% of all 2024 applications and 15% of 2025 submissions through July, with monthly approval volumes consistently exceeding 700.

Authorities approved ten June applications within the same month of filing, while two July applications cleared in under 30 days. These rapid turnarounds contrast sharply with the 18-month processing times that characterized the program in 2024.

The improvement extends beyond isolated cases. Authorities have now processed 26% of applications filed in January 2025, 22% from February, and 17% from March. While these completion rates have declined for more recent months as resources shift toward older cases, the pattern indicates systematic progress through the backlog rather than selective cherry-picking.

Authorities have processed 26% of January filings, 22% of February applications, 17% of March, 13% of April, 5% of May, and 3% of June. Greece has processed 42% of all 2024 applications and 15% of 2025 submissions through July, while monthly approval volumes consistently exceed 700.

China maintains its position as the program’s largest constituency with 8,179 initial active visa holders, representing 47% of the total. Turkey has emerged as the fastest-growing segment, adding 1,529 visa holders year-over-year, a 158% increase that brought its total to 2,499 initial golden visa holders.

Turkish nationals added 338 golden visas in July alone, a 15.6% monthly increase that outpaced all other nationalities.

The composition of pending applications reveals the challenge ahead. Initial residence applications account for 41,019 of the 47,909 pending cases, with family members representing 29,132 of these.

Renewal applications, typically simpler to process, constitute just 6,890 pending cases and have shown the sharpest percentage declines in recent months.

Year-over-year comparisons highlight the program’s enhanced processing capabilities. July 2025 applications fell 28% from the 714 received in July 2024, while approvals surged 119% from 336. The divergence reflects both the impact of investment threshold increases that took effect in 2024 and the fruits of administrative restructuring.

Greece appears on track for approximately 8,600 applications in 2025, below 2024’s record 9,407, but still historically elevated. The moderation in demand, combined with sustained processing capacity above 700 approvals monthly, suggests the program will process more applications than it receives by year-end, continuing to erode the accumulated backlog while handling all new cases.

Attica remains the largest investment destination for golden visa investors, housing about 11,500 pending applications. Central and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace come in second, with around 1,000 pending applications, followed by the Peloponnese, Western Greece, and the Ionian islands, with just over 800 pending applications.