Migration Ministry

Greece has halted the processing of asylum applications from Syrian nationals following the collapse of the Assad regime, impacting approximately 9,000 applicants.

No official statement has been issued by the Greek government. Government sources told Kathimerini that the Migration Ministry is assessing the situation and is expected to release an official statement on Friday.

Greece is witnessing a surge in migrant arrivals via new sea routes, straining resources. Migrants land daily on Gavdos (off Crete) and Rhodes.

Greece will start bringing in workers from Egypt this summer to take on temporary farming jobs under a deal between the countries to tackle a labor shortage, the Migration Ministry said on Friday.

After a decade of pain, the Greek economy is forecast to grow nearly 3% this year, far outpacing the eurozone average of 0.8%.

Greece has tightened its Golden Visa rules raising the required investment to as much as 800,000 euros in a bid to help ease a housing crisis.

The successful program that has attracted thousands of Chinese launched in 2014 granting foreigners a renewable, five-year residence permit in return for a 250,000-euro property investment.

Fifty foreign nationals - 40 Pakistanis and 10 Georgians - will be returned to their country of origin after their asylum requests were rejected, Greece's Migration Ministry announced on Wednesday.

The requests that were examined had been submitted in the last 48 hours at the Amygdaleza predeparture centre. 

A total of 5.54 billion euros is estimated to have flowed into the real estate market and the economy in general through the Golden Visa program during its nearly 10 years of operation. Based on the latest data from the Migration Ministry, the total number of permanent investor permits issued (or to be issued in the coming months based on pending applications), amounts to 22,298.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to meet with Ylva Johansson, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, at the Migration Ministry on Monday at 11.30 a.m.

Following the meeting, he will address an event focused on "European Solutions to the Common Challenge of Migration." [AMNA]

The flows of irregular migrants were down by 42.06% in October this year compared to September, according to the Migration Ministry, which cited effective border management and better cooperation with Turkey.

More specifically, 6,581 irregular migrants were recorded as having arrived in Greece in October, compared to 11,470 arrivals a month earlier.

The first five months of 2023 saw real estate purchases with a total value of 975 million euros coming from investors from third countries interested in obtaining a residence permit through the Golden Visa program.

The financing for the renewal of the term of office of 800 fixed-term border guards in the eastern Aegean has been decided by the managing authority of the Migration Ministry.

The move aims to strengthen the operational capacity of the Hellenic Police for the protection and surveillance of the country's external borders.