Residence permit

Greece's migration system, though digitally transformed, remains paralyzed by delays and inefficiencies. Red tape and outdated internet infrastructure stymie processes intended to expedite residence permits.

For many immigrants in Greece, like Fouad Salem, the quest for residence permits has become an endless struggle marked by bureaucratic red tape.

Salem, who moved to Greece from Egypt at 14 in 1995, faces challenges every time he needs to renew his residency documents. His permit expired in June 2023, but despite applying two months early, he is still waiting.

Thousands of empty and decaying ground-floor shops, mainly in the center of Athens and of Thessaloniki, now have the opportunity to be transformed. According to property market executives, the new Golden Visa provisions have already begun to mobilize investment interest in the acquisition of such properties, which can be converted into apartments.

The increase in investment by British, Americans and Israelis in the domestic real estate market, through the Golden Visa program, has been steep over the last year. This stems from the official figures of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, showing very large increases in the granting of initial permanent investor permits.

Greece's Golden Visa program has been in a transitional period since September 1, when the new changes voted a few months ago came into force.

The Golden Visa program that offers five-year residence permits to non-EU nationals who make sizable investments in Greece has started to show signs of decline.

It follows nearly two frantic years for buyers due to successive changes to the minimum investment threshold in order to secure the coveted permit.

The green card is a permanent residence card granting its holder the right to live and work in the US

New procedure for granting residence permits

Of these, 828 applicants have already received a "blue card" (temporary residence permit), while 3,952 applications are under examination

The Migration and Asylum Ministry is working on a draft law to modernize the administrative mechanism granting resident permits to legal migrants.