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If you’ve ever wanted to infinitely extend your Greek vacation, there’s a new option for entrepreneurs to become legal residents of the Mediterranean nation.
Greece now offers a new five-year golden visa for foreign investors, creating another enticing relocation option for Americans interested in moving abroad.
Through the new program, non-European Union citizens can invest a minimum of 250,000 euros (about $291,120) in a start-up listed on the national registry, Elevate Greece, across industries such as travel, real estate, defense, and financial technology. In exchange, they’ll receive a five-year Greek residence permit, according to Global Citizen Solutions (GCS), a residency-by-investment consulting firm. Greece introduced the program under Law 5187/2024 and included it in its draft 2025 fiscal plan, submitted to the European Commission in October. The program officially launched in November 2025, according to Fragomen, a global law firm that specializes in immigration.
The golden visa will be granted for one year but can be renewed every other year for the five-year duration, provided the applicant meets certain requirements. For example, they can’t hold more than 33% of the start-up’s shares or voting rights, according to Global Citizen Solutions. The company must also generate at least two new jobs in its first year post-investment and then maintain these positions for a minimum of five years, per GCS. If you’re able to extend your residency permit for another two years after that (via alternate programs), visa holders in Greece can apply for permanent citizenship after seven years of permanent and legal residence.
Interested investors must submit their application in person at a Greek consulate (appointments can be made online), the Consulate General of Greece in New York tells CNT. However, Marios Rafail, a Greece program specialist at investment-by-consulting firm Henley and Partners, says the visa is “not yet fully active or pursued in significant numbers.”
This isn’t Greece’s first residency-by-investment opportunity. Quite the opposite—it’ll help diversify the country’s golden visa portfolio, which currently only includes a real estate initiative. That program, regarded as one of the most affordable golden visas in Europe, has the same entry-level cost requirement: €250,000 to convert a commercial building into a residential one, or to restore a select building. Or, investors can purchase a €400,000 (about $465,970) property that’s at least 1,292 square feet, or a €800,000 (about $931,940) unit in Athens, Thessaloniki, or on a Greek island with more than 3,100 people. It’s known as one of the world’s most attractive golden visa programs due to Schengen area travel privileges.
However, golden visas, especially those based on the acquisition of real estate, have become a point of controversy in Europe. The EU expressed concerns about residence-by-investment programs in 2022, saying that they “raise inherent security, money laundering, tax evasion, and corruption risks.” And in Greece, the real estate visa initiative has been criticized for contributing to rising housing costs across the country’s popular cities and islands.
“The objective behind creating the start-up investment option is to diversify investment away from real estate and direct capital into business creation and local job growth in Greece,” Adalberto Pucca, the head of global mobility solutions at Global Citizen Solutions, tells Condé Nast Traveler. “This addresses concerns about the original real estate golden visa contributing to rising property prices.”
Countries such as Malaysia and New Zealand have recently announced similar “investor passes” designed to benefit local businesses. In Malaysia, the program offers a year-long residency for “senior decision-makers” in sectors such as manufacturing, education, and hospitality. And in New Zealand, investors who contribute at least $1 million New Zealand Dollars (about $567,300) to a local business can be placed on a three-year work-to-residency track.
