GlobeQuest

Greece visas and residency

Who can visit Greece without a visa, and the 4 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Greece, by passport

How the 198 passports we track get in. A visitor entry is never permission to work, study or settle — that is what the routes further down are for.

United StatesVisa-free · 90 daysUnited KingdomVisa-free · 90 daysIndiaVisa requiredCanadaVisa-free · 90 daysAustraliaVisa-free · 90 daysGermanyFree movementFranceFree movementNetherlandsFree movementIrelandFree movementSpainFree movementItalyFree movementPortugalFree movementPolandFree movementSwedenFree movementSwitzerlandFree movementSouth AfricaVisa required
No visa at all

Who can simply move to Greece

EU/EEA and Swiss free movement

Citizens covered by EU/EEA and Swiss free movement need none of the routes below

Citizens of EU and EEA countries and Switzerland can live, work and study in each other's countries without a visa or a work permit.

For the first three months a valid passport or national ID card is all you need. Beyond that you may have to register as a resident, and if you are not working or studying you need enough money to live on and health cover. Switzerland issues an EU/EFTA residence permit on the same terms.

Verified November 2026:Your Europe — residence rights when living abroad in the EUState Secretariat for Migration — free movement of persons Switzerland–EU/EFTA
Long stay

How you actually move to Greece

Digital nomadHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Digital Nomad Visa

Remote employees, freelancers and owners of non-Greek businesses who want to be based in Greece. You may not work for a Greek employer or serve Greek clients on it.

What you need
  • Monthly income of at least €3,500 after tax, rising 20% for a spouse or partner and 15% for each dependent child
  • Proof of remote work: an employment contract, client contracts, or company ownership outside Greece
  • Private health insurance
  • Clean criminal record certificate
  • Proof of accommodation in Greece
  • A declaration that you will not provide services to Greek employers or clients
How long it lasts
12-month visa first, which converts to a 2-year residence permit that is then renewable.
Path to permanent residence
Time counts toward long-term residence at 5 years. Citizenship requires 7 years of lawful residence plus a language and integration exam, so this is a slower route to a passport than Portugal or Spain.
Cost
€1,000 application fee, plus €150 per accompanying family member.
Processing time
Consulates target around 10 working days for the visa; the residence-permit step in Greece takes considerably longer.
Worth knowing
  • The income figure is net, not gross — a distinction that catches out applicants comparing it against Portugal's or Spain's gross thresholds.
  • There is a 50% income-tax reduction on Greek-source income for seven years under Article 5C of Law 4172/2013, for new tax residents who take up Greek employment or self-employment, have not been Greek-resident in five of the previous six years, and commit to at least two years. You must actually become Greek tax-resident to use it, which most nomads should model carefully.
  • The 5C deadline is commonly misreported as 31 March. That is the deadline for the 5A high-net-worth and 5B pensioner regimes. Article 5C runs off when you start work: begin on or before 2 July and you apply by the end of that same year; begin later and you apply by the end of the following year.
  • Greek administrative timelines are slow and appointment-driven. Budget for months of overlap, not weeks.
Sources:Ministry of Migration and AsylumGreek MFA — Visas
InvestmentHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Golden Visa (residence by investment)

Investors buying Greek property, and their families. The most-used investment residence programme in the EU after Portugal narrowed its own.

What you need
  • Property investment of €800,000 in high-demand areas: the Attica region including Athens, the regional units of Thessaloniki, Mykonos and Thira (Santorini), and all islands with a population above 3,100
  • €400,000 in the rest of Greece
  • €250,000 anywhere in Greece for two narrow cases only: restoring a listed building, or converting a property from non-residential to residential use
  • A single property. Law 5100/2024 killed the old trick of assembling the threshold from a portfolio, and a 2026 circular confirmed the single-property rule applies to every category
  • At the €400,000 and €800,000 tiers, the property must have at least 120 m² of main areas. The €250,000 restoration and conversion routes carry no minimum size
  • Alternative routes exist via shares, bonds and bank deposits at their own thresholds
  • Funds transferred from abroad through the Greek banking system
How long it lasts
5-year renewable residence permit, renewed as long as the investment is held.
Path to permanent residence
It grants residence, not a fast track to citizenship: naturalisation still needs 7 years of *actual* lawful residence, and the Golden Visa imposes no stay requirement — so holders who never live in Greece never start that clock.
Cost
The investment itself, plus around €2,000 per main applicant in fees and the usual transaction taxes and legal costs.
Processing time
Several months; a blue receipt issued on filing lets you stay while it is processed.
Worth knowing
  • It is three tiers, not two, and the geography is the story of Law 5100/2024, in force from September 2024. Confirm which tier a specific property falls into before committing — island population thresholds decide it, and the 120 m² main-area floor disqualifies plenty of city-centre apartments that clear the money.
  • The €250,000 route can be used on a given property once. If the first permit holder later sells that converted or restored residence to another non-EU buyer, the buyer must meet the full €400,000 or €800,000 threshold — the favourable price is spent on the first grant.
  • There is no minimum stay, which makes it attractive as an EU access option but useless as a citizenship route unless you genuinely relocate.
  • Short-term rental of Golden Visa property has been restricted under the reformed rules; assumptions about Airbnb yield may no longer hold.
Sources:Ministry of Migration and Asylum
RetirementMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Financially Independent Person (FIP) visa

Retirees and people living on passive income who do not intend to work.

What you need
  • Stable passive income of at least €3,500 per month from pensions, dividends, rents, trusts or similar, plus 20% for a spouse and 15% for each dependent child — raised from €2,000 by Law 5038/2023, the immigration code in force since 1 January 2024
  • Private health insurance
  • Proof of accommodation
  • A commitment not to work in Greece
How long it lasts
3 years initially, renewable in 3-year blocks. The 2-year term was extended to 3 under Law 5038/2023.
Path to permanent residence
Counts toward long-term residence at 5 years, with the same 7-year citizenship clock.
Cost
Around €1,000 in fees plus the residence-permit costs.
Processing time
Two to three months.
Worth knowing
  • The FIP and the Digital Nomad Visa are often confused. FIP forbids work entirely; the nomad visa permits foreign work. Applying for the wrong one is a common and consequential error. Note also that FIP carries a substantial minimum-stay obligation while the Golden Visa carries none.
  • Greece offers a flat 7% tax rate on foreign pension income for qualifying retirees who relocate — a genuine draw, but it requires becoming tax-resident.
Sources:Greek MFA — VisasMinistry of Migration and Asylum
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Employment residence permit

People with a Greek job offer — the least-used of Greece's routes among internationals, by some distance.

What you need
  • Job offer from a Greek employer
  • A position within the annual labour-needs quota set per region and occupation
  • Approval from the labour authorities before the visa is issued
How long it lasts
Typically issued for the contract term, renewable.
Path to permanent residence
Counts toward long-term residence at 5 years.
Cost
Permit fees plus employer-side costs.
Processing time
Slow — the quota and pre-approval steps commonly add months.
Worth knowing
  • The quota system means an offer alone is not enough; if the regional quota for your occupation is exhausted, the answer is no regardless of merit.
  • Greek salaries are low relative to Western Europe, so this route rarely competes with the nomad visa for remote workers.
Sources:Ministry of Migration and Asylum
On the ground

Where you'd land in Greece

Athens

Ancient ruins, island light and a 50% tax break — the cradle of democracy reborn as a sun-soaked, bargain-priced base for the EU remote-work crowd.

Full Athens guide
Thessaloniki

Greece's second city: a metro two years old, a food culture older than the country, and colder winters than anyone expects.

Full Thessaloniki guide

Greece at a glance

Capital
Athens
Population
10.4M
Languages
Greek
Currency
EUR