The Greek Golden Visa process: 7 steps from choosing a project to receiving the 5-year residence card

The Greece Golden Visa process runs through 7 sequential steps, from preparing documents in Vietnam through to the investor receiving the physical residence card valid for 5 years. For Vietnamese investors, there is one important date to keep in mind: 11 September 2026 — when the Apostille Convention formally takes effect between Vietnam and Greece. Before and after this date, the way official documents are legalised is entirely different.

This article analyses each step of the Greece Golden Visa process in detail, sets out the documents to prepare, gives the actual 2026 processing times, and outlines the two document-legalisation scenarios corresponding to the legal periods before and after 11 September 2026. All information in this article is based on rules published by the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum and the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

To understand the overall context of the programme, readers should first refer to the overview article on Greece Golden Visa together with the country profile Greece. This article focuses on the implementation process itself.

Overview of the 2026 Greece Golden Visa process

The 2026 Greece Golden Visa process falls into three major stages: preparation in Vietnam, the transaction and application stage in Greece, and receiving the residence card. Each stage has its own tasks, costs and timeline.

According to data published by the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum for 2025, 8,879 residence cards were issued, up nearly 95% on the previous year. This improvement reflects the system’s growing processing capacity. Average processing time now runs 4–6 months for well-prepared applications and 6–9 months for ordinary cases.

The whole process can be summarised in the table below:

Step	Main provisions	Estimated time	Where it takes place
1	Consultation, choosing the investment threshold and project	2–4 weeks	Vietnam
2	Preparing and legalising personal documents	3–6 weeks	Vietnam
3	Opening the AFM and bank account	1–2 weeks	Greece (via power of attorney)
4	Signing the contract and the property transaction	4–8 weeks	Greece (via power of attorney)
5	Filing the residence card application	1 week	Greece
6	Biometrics	1–2 months after Step 5	Greece (in-person attendance required)
7	Receiving the physical residence card	1–2 months after Step 6	Greece

From start to holding the 5-year residence card, an investor needs around 5–9 months in total. Across the whole journey, only Step 6 (biometrics) requires the investor to be physically present in Greece; the rest can be handled through a power of attorney for a local lawyer.

Step 1: Initial consultation and choosing the right investment threshold

The Greece Golden Visa process begins with a strategic consultation stage. At this step, the investor needs to settle three core questions: choosing the type of investment, choosing a region that fits the budget, and confirming their own and their family’s legal status.

Greece currently applies a three-tier property investment threshold by geographic zone. The premium zone (Zone A) covers Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with a population above 3,100, and requires a minimum of €800,000 for a single property of at least 120 m². The intermediate Zone B covers the rest of Greece and requires a minimum of €400,000 with the same minimum floor area.

Besides the zone-based thresholds, Greece maintains two special €250,000 thresholds. The first applies to converting commercial property into residential use. The second applies to restoring heritage properties classified under Greek law. Both thresholds carry their own technical requirements and need careful legal due diligence before deciding.

Besides choosing the threshold, the investor needs to work out which family members can be included. The Greece Golden Visa allows the main applicant to include a spouse, children under 21, and both sets of parents, with no age limit on parents. This is one of the most flexible features among European residence-by-investment programmes.

Practical advice: investors should not lock in an investment level before being clear about how they plan to use the card. Those who only need the card as a backup option may choose the €250,000 threshold; those who want to combine the investment with rental income tend to favour Zone A in central Athens.

Step 2: Preparing and legalising personal documents in Vietnam

This is where the 11 September 2026 milestone becomes especially important for Vietnamese nationals. The two legal periods use entirely different document legalisation procedures, so investors need to plan their filing accordingly.

2.1 Before 11 September 2026: three-step consular legalisation

Before the Apostille Convention takes effect for Vietnam, every Vietnamese public document used in Greece must go through a three-step consular legalisation procedure. According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, documents must first be notarised and translated into English or Greek, then certified at the Ministry of Justice or the local Department of Justice.

The third step is consular legalisation at the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi or the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ho Chi Minh City. Finally, the documents must be certified at the Greek Embassy in Hanoi.

This four-step chain typically takes 3–6 weeks and involves fairly significant translation, notarisation and consular fees. Investors filing during the period before 11 September 2026 should allow at least 6–8 weeks to prepare documents ahead of their intended filing date in Greece.

2.2 From 11 September 2026: Apostille only

According to the HCCH (Hague Conference on Private International Law), Vietnam deposited its instrument of accession to the Apostille Convention on 31 December 2025. The Convention will formally take effect between Vietnam and other member states from 11 September 2026.

Greece has been a member of the Apostille Convention since 1985. From 11 September 2026, therefore, Vietnamese public documents used in Greece will need only a single Apostille stamp, issued by the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi or the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ho Chi Minh City. The certification step at the Greek Embassy is removed entirely.

According to estimates from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Apostille mechanism can cut time and cost by up to 90% compared with traditional consular legalisation. For investors with flexible timing, pushing the filing date back to after 11 September 2026 is worth considering on economic grounds. For more detail on this mechanism, readers can refer to the dedicated article The Apostille.

2.3 Documents to prepare

The basic personal file for each family member includes: a passport valid for at least 18 months (24 months is best), a birth certificate, a marriage certificate (if applicable), a judicial record card No. 2 issued by the Department of Justice within the past 6 months, and a health certificate.

Investors also need documents proving the legal source of funds: bank statements for the most recent 6–12 months, and proof of income (business registration certificate, employment contract, property sale agreement, etc.). All of these must be notarised, translated and legalised under the procedure for the relevant period.

Step 3: Opening an AFM tax number and bank account in Greece

Before carrying out any financial transaction in Greece, investors must obtain an AFM tax number (Arithmós Forologikoú Mitróou). This is the financial identification number issued by the Greek Tax Authority (AADE) and is used for all civil and commercial transactions in the country, including opening a bank account, signing a sale contract, registering property ownership and paying the transfer tax.

AFM registration can be handled entirely remotely through a power of attorney (POA) to a Greek lawyer. Investors do not need to fly to Greece specifically for this step. AFM issuance typically takes 5 to 10 working days from the lawyer’s full submission of the file.

Once the AFM has been issued, the investor opens a personal bank account at one of Greece’s four major banks: Piraeus Bank, Alpha Bank, Eurobank or the National Bank of Greece. The investment amount is transferred from Vietnam into this account, then paid directly to the property seller. Investors should note that Greek regulators require a transparent cash flow: funds must come from an account held in the investor’s own name, not through a third-party intermediary.

Step 4: Signing the contract and completing the property transaction

As soon as the AFM and bank account are in place, the investor enters the core stage: legal due diligence and signing the property sale contract. This is the highest legal-risk step in the whole process, which is why a local lawyer plays such an important role.

The legal due diligence process includes: checking the Title Deeds at the Land Registry (Hellenic Cadastre), verifying there are no outstanding property tax debts, checking the zoning status, and confirming the actual floor area matches the documents. This step typically takes 2–4 weeks.

Once due diligence is satisfactory, the two parties sign a Preliminary Agreement, with a deposit typically set at 10% of the property value. The final sale contract is signed before a Greek Notary Public, then registered with the land registry. The transfer tax (3.09% for existing property, or 24% VAT for new, previously unsold property) must be paid before registration.

The entire transaction at this step can be carried out by the lawyer acting under a POA, provided the POA has been fully legalised in Vietnam (via the Apostille or consular legalisation procedure, depending on the period).

Step 5: Filing the Golden Visa residence card application

Once the transaction is complete, the representing lawyer files the Golden Visa residence permit application with the relevant regional immigration office (Decentralised Administration of Attica or the equivalent authority). The application is submitted online through the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum’s public service portal.

Within about 7–10 days of filing, the investor and family members receive a temporary residence certificate (informally known as the “blue paper”). This is valid for 1 year and allows lawful residence in Greece while the official card is pending, but it does not yet grant free movement within the Schengen area.

Government fees at this step include: an application fee of €2,000 for the main applicant, €150 for each family member, and a €16 physical card issuance fee per person. All payments are made through a Greek bank.

Step 6: Biometrics in Greece — the step requiring in-person attendance

This is the only step in the Greek Golden Visa process that requires the investor and every family member to be physically present in Greece. The appointment is usually scheduled 1–2 weeks after the application is filed in step 5.

At the biometrics appointment, each applicant provides fingerprints, a signature sample and a digital photo. Children under 6 do not need fingerprints; children under 12 do not need a signature sample. The appointment takes place at the immigration office of the relevant regional immigration authority and lasts about 30–60 minutes per person.

Under current regulations, applicants must complete biometrics within 6 months of the filing date, and no later than 1 year after filing. Beyond this deadline, the application risks being cancelled, forcing the investor to reapply from scratch. It is therefore advisable to combine the biometrics trip with a visit to the purchased property, making the most of the time spent in Greece.

Step 7: Receiving the physical 5-year residence card

Once biometrics are complete, the application moves to the final stage: printing and issuing the physical residence card. Issuance typically takes 1–2 months, depending on the administrative region. The card is a credit-card-sized plastic card printed with the applicant’s photo, permit type and validity period.

Investors can collect the card in person at the relevant regional immigration office, or authorise a lawyer to collect it on their behalf. When collecting the card, the applicant must present the original passport and return the temporary residence certificate issued in step 5.

Under reforms planned for 2026 announced by the Greek Minister of Migration, the Greek Golden Visa card will count its 5-year validity from the date the physical card is issued, rather than backdating to the filing date as before. This is a positive change, allowing investors to make full use of the entire 5-year residence period.

The Greek Golden Visa residence card allows free movement throughout the Schengen area for up to 90 days in every 180 days, with no minimum residence requirement in Greece. After 5 years, the card can be renewed if the investor maintains the original investment. After 7 years of actual residence (a minimum of 183 days per year), the investor can apply for Greek citizenship through the Panhellenic citizenship examination and by meeting the required language and integration criteria.

Summary and next steps

Although the Greek Golden Visa process has 7 main steps, most of the actions can be carried out remotely through a power of attorney to a local lawyer. The 11 September 2026 milestone — the date the Apostille Convention takes effect for Vietnam — will be an important turning point, significantly reducing the time and cost of document legalisation.

For investors planning for 2026, there are two different timing strategies. Those who prioritise speed should proceed now, accepting the three-step consular legalisation process. Those with flexible timing who want to optimise cost can wait until after 11 September 2026 to benefit from the simpler Apostille mechanism.

The next recommended read is Greece Golden Visa profile for the full list of required documents, then read about renewing the 5-year Greek Golden Visa to prepare well for the next cycle.