10 On The Weekend is a weekly (-ish) feature in IMI, the concept of which is simple: Each time, we ask the same ten questions of a different IMI Pro, letting readers get to know the interviewee on a more personal and informal level than they might during the ordinary course of business.
Our guest this week is Anastasia Chroni, Founder and Chief Attorney at Chroni & Associates Law Firm
How do you spend your weekends?
With my little prince, my son. Weekends are our time together, and I try to enjoy every moment, with him and in life.
Whenever I can, we travel; discovering new places together is one of my greatest joys.
What are your top three business goals this year?
First, to grow our network of trusted referral partners across the Middle East, the Gulf, and Asia, so that more investors reach Greece through a lawyer acting only for them.
Second, to keep building the firm’s in-person presence in our key markets, from Cairo and Istanbul to the Gulf and India, where I have met many of our partners face to face.
Third, to make the Greek Golden Visa clearer for investors, through talks, articles, and practical guides such as our investor’s checklist.
What’s your biggest business concern right now?
Investors being sold properties as “Golden Visa eligible” when they do not actually qualify under the current rules.
Since the thresholds changed, eligibility depends on the property type, its location, and its history, and too many buyers find out after they have paid. That is why we insist on full legal due diligence before any funds move.
Which book is on your nightstand right now?
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins.
Its message is simple but powerful: Focus your energy on what you can control and let go of the rest. It’s a good reminder in a profession where so much depends on rules and timelines out of our hands.
How and when did you first get into the investment migration industry?
I founded Chroni & Associates in Athens in 2011, working in real estate, corporate, and immigration law.
From 2014, international investors increasingly came to us for the Greek Golden Visa. Given my background in law and economics (including an MSc from Queen Mary University of London), it became the heart of the practice: Structuring the investment soundly, not just filing the application.
What was your proudest moment as a service provider?
It is not one moment but a feeling that comes back every time an investor and his family receive their residence permits and I see how happy they are, knowing I helped them make it happen.
And the moments I quietly value most are the ones a client may never fully see, when our due diligence stops a problematic purchase in time and protects both his family’s future and his investment. That is what this work is really about for me.
Which investment migration market development has surprised you the most in the last year?
How strongly demand for Greece has held up despite higher thresholds.
Investors adapted rather than left. The €250,000 route for commercial-to-residential conversions and listed buildings became a serious option, though one that demands careful legal checks.
If you could go ten years back in time, what business decision would you change?
I would have started building international partnerships much earlier.
The relationships we have today with advisers in Egypt, the Gulf, and beyond have transformed how investors find us, and I wish I had invested in them from day one.
What investment migration industry personality do you most admire?
Rather than one person, I admire a type of professional: The lawyers and advisers who put the client’s protection before the sale.
They tell investors the truth, even when it costs a deal, and they build partnerships on trust rather than commissions. Every market has a few of them, and they are the ones who earn this industry its credibility.
I have been fortunate to work with several, and they inspire me every day.
If all goes according to plan, what will you be doing five years from now?
Leading a larger Chroni & Associates team in Athens, with long-standing partners in every major market we serve, and still personally advising the families and investors who choose Greece as their second home.
