In the global ranking for the best so-called golden visa programs, Greece is tied for second place with Austria, according to Bloomberg.
Portugal continues to offer the world’s best golden visa program, the news agency notes, explaining: “Affordable and high-quality living standards, easy access to other European countries and a clear path to obtaining European Union citizenship according to an index by the consulting company Henley & Partners’.
The consultancy’s ranking looked at factors such as time to citizenship, taxation, costs and reputation. Based on these parameters, tied for second place in the ranking are Greece and Austria with their own golden visa programs.
Despite mounting pressure to withdraw these programs that offer foreign investors permanent resident status through an initial investment, demand remains strong. In Greece and Portugal they are showing an upward trend with demand in Spain and Italy reaching record levels last year.
European countries are at the top of the rankings as they offer relatively easy access to citizenship and allow investors to travel visa-free anywhere in the European Union, do business and live on the European continent at relatively low costs.
According to the head of consultancy Henley & Partners, European programs still dominate the top positions of the most popular destinations.
These programs allow participation in some of the world’s best economies and are a way to reduce exposure to country-specific volatility.
Criticism of golden visa programs has intensified over concerns that they are contributing to rising property prices in cities such as Lisbon and Athens. Some countries have decided to limit their availability, as Portugal did last year and Greece decided in February.
Faced with a housing crisis partly blamed on wealthy foreigners, Portugal has decided to end tax breaks. However, wealth management consultants see the country continuing to attract foreign investors. Other countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Hungary have recently launched their own golden visa programs.
According to the consultancy Henley & Partners, around 128,000 people of affluent financial status worldwide will move to another country in 2024. First in the applications for golden visa programs are the Americans.
The Greek government is planning to increase the minimum amount foreigners must invest in property in areas where there has been an increase in rents.
In popular destinations such as Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos and Santorini, Greece doubled the amount required to invest in the golden visa program to a minimum of 500,000 euros. In the rest of the regions, the limit of 250,000 euros applies.
In the regions and islands where the pressure on the housing market is great the limit can be increased to 800,000 euros.
Since launching the golden visa program in 2013, Greece has received over 25,100 applications and approved 17,184 of them. Chinese investors account for almost 60% of golden visas approved with Turks accounting for 7%.
