Greece speeds up the Golden Visa scheme for China

Jiang Rungong, an investor from China, moved to Greece in 2016. He says that was one of his best decisions, and he and his family could not be happier. He says that he really likes the atmosphere in Greece and moved here due to its history, cultural heritage and freedom.

Mr Rungong moved to Greece with his wife and son on the Golden Visa. His son, 18-year-old Jiang Semniao, attended a public school in Greece and managed to learn Greek in just two years.

Under the Golden Visa scheme, non-EU nationals get a 5-year Residence Permit for investing a minimum of $275,000 in real estate in Greece.

Besides Greece, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus also run the Golden Visa scheme.

After a 10-year-long recession, the price of real estate has dipped pretty low in Greece. This has made the Golden Visa scheme even more popular. There has been an increase of 46% in the number of Residence Permits issued to non-EU nationals last year.

As per official data, Greece has so far issued 5,300 Residence Permits since the Golden Visa scheme was launched in 2013. Out of these, 3,400 permits have been issued to Chinese investors.

Chinese shipping giant Cosco bought two container terminals at the port of Piraeus in 2008. Ever since then, Greece and China have been building closer investment and trade ties with each other.

Immigration Experts say that the Chinese no longer consider Greece as just a route to the Schengen zone of the EU. The ones who have moved to Greece actually enjoy their life in the country.

To make investments easier, the new Govt. has approved a bill in October to circumvent China’s strict capital control. Investors can now use multiple bank terminal transactions to transfer $250,000.

However, the European Commission, in a report, said that wealthy investors do not face adequate security and background check under the Golden Visa.

Despite this, Greece is trying hard to attract more foreign investors to the country. As per the Bank of Greece, more foreign investors in the country is helping to revive the sluggish housing market of the country.  The Bank estimates that Greece has attracted 469 million Euros in Chinese investment in 2018. The Chinese have invested almost 443 million Euros in the first six months of 2019. In contrast, the investment was just 77 million Euros in 2017.

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