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Despite the increase in the minimum amount of investment and the fact that several countries are already abolishing such schemes, the Golden Visa Programme of Greece continues to attract a large number of wealthy foreign investors, especially Americans.
According to a recent report by CNBC, the interest of foreigners in the Hellenic Republic’s Residency by Investment scheme almost doubled last year, with a total of 2,767 requests registered by the Greece Ministry of Asylum and Migration, or up from 1,521 registered in 2021, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The same notes that the majority of applicants for Greece’s Golden Visa last year were Chinese citizens, accounting for a total of 63 per cent of the total number of requests since the scheme became effective in 2014.
In addition, applications for Golden Visas from wealthy internationals from the United States also increased significantly.
Previously, the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced that the minimum amount of investment for the Golden Visa scheme in some parts of the Hellenic Republic would increase from 250,000 to 500,000 euros.
“In order to increase the affordability of real estate for Greeks, we are now increasing the minimum amount of investment required for the issuance of a golden visa from €250,000 to €500,000 (£434,000, $500,000),” the Prime Minister of Greece confirmed, according to a report provided by International Adviser.
Greece local media reports noted that the changes applied to the country’s Golden Visa would include the North Part of Greece, the Central and South Sector of Athens in the Attica Area, as well as the islands of Mykonos and Santorini and the Municipality of Thessaloniki.
The announcement led foreigners to run to the Hellenic Republic’s Golden Visa programme last year, before the increase in the minimum amount of investment for such visas.
In the last quarter of last year, authorities in Greece received a total of 2,432 golden visa applications, while the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum noted that they experienced an increase of a total of 125 per cent compared to the figures registered during the same period in 2021.
The same source revealed that the increase in the number of applications was significant for a period between September and December last year:
- September- 377
- October- 438
- November-878
- December- 1,116
The Hellenic Republic’s Golden Visa scheme offers wealthy foreigners the opportunity to acquire residency in this country provided they make a financial investment, and meet the required conditions.
Still, following reports of being involved in unlawful affairs countries such as Ireland and Portugal have already abolished these programmes, while EU authorities continue to call on all countries that offer Golden Visa programmes to abolish them as soon as possible.
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