Greek residency for financially independent persons

THE RESIDENTS PERMIT OF GREECE

 The benefits and rights obtained by a resident of Greece as are as follows:

• visa-free entry to all the countries of the Schengen Agreement practically not limited in time;
• the whole family has the right to live in any country of the Schengen area during the period when the residence permit is valid;
• there is no need to stay in Greece for a certain period of time;
• the right to register or purchase his own business;
• the right to educate his/her children in educational institutions of the Schengen countries;
• the right to obtain the permanent residence after five years from the date of obtaining residence permits;
• the right to apply for citizenship after five years from the date of obtaining permanent residence.

The categories of residence permit provided by immigration legislation of Greece are as follows:

• Residence permit for financially independent persons (for 2 year).
• Residence permit for conducting independentbusiness activity (for 1 year).
• Residence permit for real estate owners(up to 5 years).
• Residence permit for sound investments (up to 5 years).
• Residence permit for strategically important investments (up to 10 years).
• Residence permit for supervising staff of Greek companies or subsidiaries of foreign companies (for 2 years )

NEW GREEK RESIDENCE PERMIT PROGRAM

Residence permit for financially independent persons (for two years)(article 20 p. A law 4251/2014) in further this program will be described

Residence permit for financially independent persons can be obtained by those third-country citizens who:

• Have a stable income(from2.000EUR per month), whichallows them tolivein Greece not applying to the country’s social securitysystem
• Did not have a criminal record in the past and are not included in the Greece Undesirable Persons Catalog.
• Financially independent person has the right to be accompanied by family members (only the spouse and children under the age of 18 years are considered), who receive a residence permit as a family members of the financially independent applicant.

This residence permit category:

• does not provide the right to work and the right to be engaged in business activities.
• does not allow to change the residence permit category.
• is issued for a period of two years with the possibility to extend it every three years, provided that the income of the person who received residence permit is maintained.

The registration of this residence permit category can begin with:

1. D visa registration at the nearest diplomatic embassy of Greece;
2. the direct submission of the application for residence permit to the Immigration Department of  Greece. The submission of an application and the obtaining of a residence permit can be made either by Greek Attorney basing on the Power of Attorney certified by a Notary and an Apostille, or directly by the Applicant.
   In order to obtain the residence permit of this category the biometric data is provided personally to the Immigration Department.

In order to obtain D visa the following documents must be submitted:

1. Valid travel passport or other travel document with a valid visa that is recognized by Greece.
   Prerequisite: A passport must be valid for at least three months after visa expiring, have at least 2 blank pages and be published during the last decade.
2. Certificate of no criminal record.
3.  Health certificate issued by a public or private medical institution that is recognized by the State of which the applicant is national, where it will be indicated that the applicant does not suffer from the disease dangerous to public health, according to the international standards of the World Health Organization, or other disease requiring quarantine to protect public health.
4.  The proof of having monthly income of 2,000 EUR per month.

The documents proving the existence of income are:
• tax return
• income certificate
• certificate of dividends receipt
• the bank account in the name of the main applicant in Greece bank, where should be placed at least 48,000 EUR, which in accordance with the requirements of the program cover the minimally required amount of the minimum income of 2,000 EUR / month for the period of 24 months.

 If the  main applicant register the residence permit together with the spouse, the amount of the minimally required profit is increased by 20%, i.e. 400 EUR / month.

If the  main applicant register the residence permit together with the minor children, the amount of the minimally required profit is increased by 15% for each minor applicant, i.e. 300 EUR / month.

Health insurance

The real estate in Greece should be owned or leased by the applicant or the applicant should have the registration address, which can be provided by our partners for 2.000 EUR / year.
This program is governed by the Circular of Greek Ministry for Foreign Affairs №4415/2006 (code of publication FEC B 398 / 03.04.2006).

When applying for residence permit of Greece under the program for financially independent persons the application should be accompanied by the following documents:

1. Two (2) color photographs, as well as the CD with the photos in the format JPEG2000.
2. The copy of the valid passport or other travel document recognized by Greece with a valid visa.
   Prerequisite: The passport must be valid, at least three months after visa expiring, have at least two blank pages, and be published in the last decade.
3. Health certificate issued by a public medical institution, where it will be indicated that the applicant does not suffer from the disease dangerous to public health, according to the international standards of the World Health Organization, or other disease requiring quarantine to protect public health.
4. The document confirming the payment of governmental fee in the amount of 300 EUR per adult person.
   In accordance with Art. 132 Law №4251 / 2014 minor applicants do not pay the fee.
5. The proof of having stable income in the amount of 2.000 EUR/months for the last 12 months.
6. Certificate of no criminal record issued not less than 3 month before the submission of application on the residence permit.
7. Health insurance providing full medical and pharmaceutical care in Greece and covering the expenses on medical care in the amount of 30.000 EUR.Any private insurance company may serve as an insurance Institution.
8. Marriage certificate (in case of registration of the residence permit for a married couple).
9. Birth Certificate of minor child (in case of registration of the residence permit for minor children together with main applicant and/or married couple).

All documents must be officially translated into Greek or English.

THE TERM OF AN ORDER FULFILLMENT:

1. In the case of registration of a residence permit through the registration of D visa, it will last for 2 months:

• Registration D visa – 2 weeks;
• Registration of a residence permit – 2 month.

2. In the case of registration of a residence permit directly through the Immigration Department of Greece, it will last for 1 month.

EXTENSION OF RESIDENCE PERMIT:

For the extension of residence permit it is necessary to submit the following documents to the Immigration Department at the place of registration two months before the expiration of the residence permit:

1. Application for the extension of residence permit;
2. Two color photos;
3. Copy of the valid travel passport;
4. Copies of all pages of the passport for the period of valid residence permit;
5. Certified copy of the current residence permit;
6. Document confirming the payment of governmental fees.

The cost of our services:

• registration of the Greek residence permit for the main Applicant – 10,000 EUR ;
• residence permit for the additional family members of the main Applicant – 5,000 EUR;
• extension of the Greek residence permit for the main Applicant – 5,000 EUR ;
• extension of the Greek residence permit for the additional family members of the main Applicant – 2,500 EUR.

In the case of registration of a residence permit through a D visa, the payment for services of our company is as follows:

1. 50% of our fees is paid after signing of the Agreement;
2. 40% before submitting an Application for a D visa;
3. 10% before submitting an Application for the residence permit of Greece.

In the case of registration of a residence permit through the Immigration Department of Greece, the payment for services of our company is as follows:

1. 50% of our fees is paid after signing of the Agreement;
2. 40% before submitting an Application for the residence permit of Greece;
3. 10% after obtaining the residence permit of Greece.