Greece Extends Golden Visa Deadline to February to Secure €750 Million Investment Pipeline

The Greek government has extended its Golden Visa property contract completion deadline from December 31, 2024, to February 28, 2025.

Through this extension, Greece hopes to preserve approximately 3,000 pending real estate transactions valued at €750 million.

The extension benefits investors who placed a 10% deposit before August 31, 2024.

Parliament has approved this measure to shield investors who had signed preliminary agreements but encountered administrative delays in completing their purchases.

These investors will retain access to the previous investment thresholds of €250,000 to €500,000.

The parliamentary amendment establishes that “procedures already at an advanced stage” qualify for “a two-month extension for obtaining residence permits.”

This decision prevents agreement cancellations and potential legal disputes.

Greece had announced modifications to its Golden Visa in March, introducing a new investment framework, which led to a surge in applications.

These changes raised minimum investment thresholds to €800,000 in prime locations, including Santorini, Mykonos, and the Attica region, and €400,000 for all other regions of Greece while preserving the €250,000 threshold for commercial-to-residential conversions.

A massive backlog of 31,000 applications and renewals that extended processing times to 18 months in early 2024 contributed to the administrative delays and, subsequently, the government pushing the deadline further.

According to MIBS Group Business Development Manager Katerina Saranti, the government has tackled this bottleneck by distributing applications across regional authorities rather than processing them exclusively in Athens.

She says that recent applications now secure approval “within three months.”

Greece is also on track to include a new investment category under the Golden Visa in 2025, allowing applicants to invest € 250,000 in startups.