Greece residence permit.

The Greek residence permit and Greek tax residence are two separate things, and this is the single most important point for a private client to grasp. Holding the permit imposes no minimum stay, so you can hold EU residence indefinitely while remaining tax resident wherever you are today — the permit by itself creates no Greek tax exposure on your worldwide income. If you do choose to make Greece your tax home, two preferential regimes exist. The first is the Article 5A non-dom regime: by investing at least EUR 500,000 in Greek real estate, businesses or securities (completed within three years) and not having been Greek tax resident for seven of the prior eight years, you pay a flat EUR 100,000 per year that fully discharges Greek tax on ALL foreign-source income, regardless of how large that income is, for up to 15 fiscal years. Greek-source income is taxed separately under normal rules. The second is the Article 5B regime for foreign pensioners: a flat 7% on all foreign-source income (not only pension income — also foreign dividends, interest, rents and gains) for up to 15 years, available if you have not been Greek tax resident for five of the prior six years and you relocate from a country that has an administrative tax-cooperation agreement with Greece.

Decide deliberately which of three positions you want, because they are mutually exclusive and the permit lets you choose. (1) Pure Plan-B hold: keep the permit, stay non-resident in Greece, spend zero days if you wish, and incur no Greek worldwide tax — the right sits in reserve. (2) Non-dom relocation (Article 5A): suited to a high earner with very large foreign income, where a fixed EUR 100,000 ceiling is a small fraction of the standard 9%–44% progressive scale (the 44% top rate now applies above EUR 60,000). The EUR 500,000 investment requirement overlaps with — but is separate from — the property you buy for the residence permit, so structure the two together with advice rather than double-spending. Add family members under the same regime for EUR 20,000 each per year. (3) Pensioner relocation (Article 5B): the 7% flat rate is usually decisive for a retiree with a substantial foreign pension plus foreign investment income. Whichever path, you elect into the regime by a fixed annual deadline and the clock runs for 15 years, so time your move to start the window when your income profile benefits most.

Tax outcomes are personal and depend on your citizenship, your current tax residence, double-tax treaties, exit-tax rules in the country you leave, and how your assets are held. The figures above are illustrative, not a quote. The 5A and 5B regimes apply ONLY if you actually transfer your tax residence to Greece and meet the prior-non-residence and (for 5B) treaty-cooperation conditions; simply holding the residence permit does not by itself grant them. Engage a qualified Greek tax adviser and a cross-border adviser in your home country before acting — 8T20 coordinates this, but the personalised opinion must come from licensed counsel.

The Greek Golden Visa is a renewable five-year residence permit with no minimum-stay requirement: you do not have to live in, or even visit, Greece to maintain it. As the holder of a residence permit issued by a Schengen country, you and your included family members may travel throughout the Schengen Area visa-free, staying in other Schengen states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period as of right. Time you spend in Greece itself under the permit is unrestricted. Because you hold a residence permit, you and your family members are also outside the scope of the EU's new Entry/Exit System (EES, live since 2026) and the forthcoming ETIAS travel authorisation — both of which target short-stay visitors, not residence-permit holders. In practice that means smoother borders and a permanent, pre-cleared legal status in Europe.

Treat the permit as a standing European base you control on your own timetable. Keep it purely as optionality — renewing every five years with no days spent — while you live elsewhere, and the visa-free Schengen access is there whenever you want to use it for business, education visits, medical appointments or family. Because the permit, not a tourist allowance, governs your status, you avoid the EES/ETIAS friction and the risk of accidentally burning your 90/180 tourist days in Europe. If your travel pattern is heavy across France, Italy, Spain and beyond, the residence permit removes the recurring administrative load that ordinary visitors now face.

Schengen residence does not equal Schengen citizenship. Your unlimited right to reside is in Greece; in OTHER Schengen states you remain subject to the 90-days-in-180 short-stay limit for visits — the permit is not a work-and-live-anywhere passport across the EU. To live or work long-term in another EU country you would need that country's own authorisation. The right to free borderless travel also depends on Schengen rules remaining as they are; member states can reintroduce temporary internal border checks. Always carry your valid permit and passport when crossing borders.

• A single investment covers the main applicant, the legal spouse or registered partner (including same-sex partners), and is granted on the same five-year renewable terms.
• Unmarried children up to age 21 are included; a child can then continue on a residence permit until age 24 while in full-time study at a Greek institution.
• Dependent parents of BOTH the main applicant and the spouse are eligible — covering three generations under one programme, a notably broad family scope.
• No minimum-stay requirement applies to family members either, so children can study or work abroad and parents can remain elsewhere while all retain the EU residence right.
• Family members share the same Schengen visa-free travel benefit and the same exemption from the EES/ETIAS short-stay systems.
• If the family relocates for tax purposes, each additional family member can be brought under the Article 5A non-dom regime for EUR 20,000 per year.