Greece prepares Citizenship by Investment Program
Published at: 16/09/2019 09:40 am
The new Greek Citizenship by Investment Program will be similar to Cyprus' passport scheme, according to Phileleftheros, the largest newspaper of the Mediterranean island nation.
The unconfirmed report says the new right-wing cabinet of Kyriacos Mitsotakis is planning to launch a citizenship by investment program in Greece. The EU passport solution will resemble the Cypriot programme to become a competitive offer for High Net Worth Individuals from the third countries (not EU).
The Cypriot Citizenship by Investment program contributed substantially to the recovery of the EU Member State's economy after the global financial crisis. According to the sources of Phileleftheros, the scheme will be launched in the second quarter of 2020 and the necessary amount of investment can reach the two and a half million euros. The mentioned amount is higher than the required fund (two million euros) in exchange for the Cypriot passport. However, the applicants must also pay VAT in Cyprus. Meanwhile, in Greece, the VAT payment may be deferred for three years. In this case, the necessary investment will be practically equal in both countries.
Greece can become a strong competitor for Cyprus. As the country has more and more affordable investments to offer and the Greek brand is stronger. On the other hand, citizens of Greece are enjoying the advantages of the European Schene zone, Cyprus has still to wait to join and Greek passport holders can also enter the US without a visa.
It looks like the Greek government implements various incentives for foreign investors. Under a new reform, the cabinet eliminated the VAT on property investments for the next three years.
Meanwhile, Greece is already the home of one of the most successful residency (not Citizenship!) by investment programme of Europe.
The permanent residency scheme offers various options, but perhaps the real estate investment attracted the most foreign investors. They must purchase residential real estate for at least 250,000 euros and keep it for five years. The process may take only ten working days, so this scheme must be one of the fastest solutions for those applicants who want to become residents in the EU Schengen zone. Click here to read all the details of the Greek residency by investment programme!