Since the Greek government released the Golden Visa Immigration Program based on buying a house in 2013, more than 20,000 Chinese have moved to Greece and have become the first source of immigration in Greece. The reason why Greece is popular among Chinese people is determined by its unique advantages such as having no residence requirements, being able to immigrate with parents, and not having to provide without crime proof . Even in 2022, Greece is still an important choice for many immigrants.
The Greek Prime Minister's speech on the price increase of immigration immediately aroused strong response from Chinese immigrants, but in fact, there is no need to worry too much, because in fact the Prime Minister does not have this power. The political system of Western countries is parliamentary system . Any law will be signed and officially implemented by the head of state after the parliament is reviewed and voted by the parliament. But so far, the Greek parliament has not received any proposals submitted by members of parliament on the price increase of golden visas, and there is no way to talk about the relevant legislative work.
Greek Parliament
Even if MPs propose relevant bills, their legislation and deliberation process will become extremely long due to the political game between different parties. The increase in the threshold for immigration to buy a house will inevitably face strong opposition from the Greek real estate industry. Therefore, even if its legislation and deliberation process is initiated, it will take at least more than a year. In addition, the adjustment of the Golden Visa Program must also be recognized by EU . The Greek government's loose review standards for immigrants' background has always been criticized by the EU. Therefore, any adjustment may lead to strong pressure from the EU.
From the above, it can be seen that the price increase plan cannot be achieved overnight, and it will take a long process. Even if the bill is issued, it will give a certain buffer period and will not be implemented immediately after it is issued. Many immigration intermediaries claim that they will be implemented in 4-6 months, which is nothing more than a marketing strategy to promote contract signing.
So will Greek immigration increase prices? It is impossible in the short term, but it is inevitable to raise prices in the medium and long term. Internationally, a large number of countries have raised the immigration threshold in 2022. For example, after the Portugal's golden visa has changed its rule, it is prohibited to purchase residential real estate in coastal cities such as Lisbon and Porto ; Turkey also significantly increased the naturalization threshold for buying a house from US$250,000 to US$400,000 in June. For Greece, 2023 will be the tenth year of the release of the Golden Visa Program. In the past ten years, inflation has risen, and the actual value of 250,000 US dollars has long been greatly reduced. Therefore, raising the immigration threshold will help Greece keep low-quality applicants out of the door and alleviate public dissatisfaction caused by high housing prices caused by home purchase immigration.
Greek investment immigration price increase is expected to be around 2024-2025. In addition to the price increase, there are still some possible changes that applicants need to pay attention to. For example, the entire city of Athens or certain specific areas in the city may be classified as prohibited areas, increase the residence requirements of immigrants in Greece, and strengthen the review of the personal background and legal sources of funds of immigrants at the request of the EU.
Compared with the price increase, the above changes in the application policy actually have a greater impact on many immigrants. However, the laws of Western countries are generally non-retrospective, which means that immigrants only follow the laws at the time of application, and future changes in laws will not have any impact on them. Therefore, Greek immigration is expected to have a two-year window, and interested friends should be prepared.
