How Much Does the Greece Golden Visa Cost in 2026: A Full Cost Breakdown for a Family

What the cost of the Greece Golden Visa is made up of

The main mistake in budget planning is to assume that the Greece Golden Visa costs exactly the amount of the investment threshold. People see the figure of 400,000 euros, pencil it into their budget, and are surprised when tens of thousands more surface at the transaction. In reality, the final cost of the Greece golden visa is the sum of at least six different items, and only one of them is the property itself.

Let us break down the costs of the Greece residence permit into logical blocks, so we can then calculate each one separately:

• The investment itself - purchase of a property at one of the three thresholds: 250,000, 400,000 or 800,000 euros. This is the main and largest item.
• Property transfer tax - 3.09% of the property value, paid at the transaction.
• Notary, lawyer and land registry registration - transaction support, title due diligence, execution of the deed.
• Government fees for the residence permit application - a fixed fee for the main applicant and a smaller one for each family member.
• Residence permit card fee - issuing a plastic resident card for each applicant.
• Annual costs - ENFIA property tax, health insurance, property upkeep.

Further on we will go through each item, and at the end we will pull everything into two budgets - for a single investor and for a family of four. If you are only just getting to know the programme, start with a basic overview of the Greece Golden Visa, and then come back to the budget calculation.

The investment itself: 250,000, 400,000 or 800,000 euros

The basis of the budget is the real estate investment threshold. Since 2024, Greece has had three price tiers, and all the subsequent arithmetic depends on which region and property you go into.

Important rules that affect the price:

• One property - one transaction. Since 2024 you must invest the whole amount in a single property; you cannot make up the threshold from several cheap flats in different places.
• Minimum area of 120 sq m. The property must be no smaller than this area, which in premium locations noticeably raises the real bill.
• Short-term rental is prohibited. Renting out a Golden Visa property on a nightly basis (via Airbnb) is not allowed - it risks the withdrawal of the residence permit and a fine, so the property will not pay for itself through tourist traffic.

The 250,000 euro threshold looks attractive, but it is only available for narrow scenarios - conversion or restoration, which require separate expertise and spending on the renovation itself. For most investors the real base is 400,000 euros, and in Athens and on the top islands it is 800,000 euros. A detailed breakdown of how to choose a property and region is set out in our article on real estate for the Greece Golden Visa, and a map of thresholds by location is in the article on the zones of the Greece Golden Visa.

Property transfer tax: 3.09%

The first mandatory add-on to the property price is the transfer tax. In 2026 its rate is 3.09% of the property value and it is paid at the notarial execution of the transaction, when the full amount is paid and the deed is registered with the land registry.

Let us calculate on the standard thresholds:

• Property at 250 000 € - transfer tax of about 7725 €.
• Property at 400 000 € - about 12 360 €.
• Property at 800 000 € - about 24 720 €.

A word specifically about VAT on new builds. Technically, the sale of new housing from a developer can be subject to VAT at a rate of 24%, but Greece has a suspension of this VAT for new builds - as of 2026 most developers take advantage of this pause, and the buyer pays not 24% VAT but precisely the reduced 3.09% transfer tax. This saves a serious amount of budget: the difference between 24% and 3.09% on a 400,000 euro property amounts to tens of thousands of euros.

Practical takeaway: check the tax regime of the specific property before the transaction. If the developer applies the VAT suspension, you pay 3.09%; if not, the calculation changes dramatically. We always check this point in advance so that no unpleasant surprise appears in the budget.

Notary, lawyer and land registry registration

A real estate transaction in Greece cannot be done without a notary, a lawyer and the registration of title with the land registry. These are not optional costs but a mandatory part of the budget, without which the transaction simply will not go through. The indicative rates for 2026 are as follows:

What these costs include:

• Notary draws up the sale and purchase agreement, certifies the transaction and gives it legal force - in Greece this is a mandatory figure.
• Lawyer checks that the property is clean: whether there are any encumbrances, debts or ownership disputes, and whether the property meets the programme requirements. This protects your money and is not a formality.
• Land registry registers the transfer of title into your name - without this record you are not legally the owner.

In total, the notary-lawyer-land registry block adds roughly 3-5% to the price. On a 400,000 euro property this is about 12,000-20,000 euros. The lawyer charges at the lower or upper end depending on the complexity of the transaction and the volume of checks. Skimping on the title check is the worst thing you can do: a defect in ownership can cost you the entire investment.

AFM, a bank account and the associated start-up costs

Before buying real estate in Greece, a foreigner has to go through several technical steps, each of which also costs money and time. These amounts are small compared with the investment itself, but they need to be built into the budget so that you do not overrun on the small things.

• Obtaining an AFM (tax number). Without a Greek tax number you can neither buy real estate nor open an account. Arranging it through the tax office or a representative is a small fixed cost plus the representative’s fee.
• Opening an account with a Greek bank. It is needed to carry out the transaction and pay taxes. The bank runs a compliance check, which is particularly thorough for applicants from countries under enhanced scrutiny.
• Transferring funds and confirming their source. The money must arrive legally, with a transparent origin. Bank charges for the international transfer and the preparation of source-of-funds documents are a separate item.
• Translations and apostilles of documents. Passports, certificates and statements are translated into Greek by a sworn translator - roughly 150 euros for each family member, sometimes more.
• Power of attorney. If you are not present at the transaction in person, a notarised power of attorney is drawn up for a representative - also a small cost for the notary and legalisation.

Altogether these start-up costs usually come to a few hundred up to a couple of thousand euros per family, depending on the number of documents and applicants. They are easy to underestimate, but it is precisely from such small items that the gap between the planned and the real budget arises. Enhanced source-of-funds compliance is the norm for applicants from the CIS, and you need to prepare for it in advance, without any attempt to circumvent sanctions restrictions.

Government fees for the residence permit application

Once the property has been bought, the migration part begins - filing the residence permit application. Here the state charges fixed fees, and they are calculated not for the whole family at once but separately for the main applicant and for each adult participant.

Reference figures for 2026:

• 2000 € - the government application fee for the main investor.
• 150 € - a fee for each adult family member included in the application (spouse, adult children, parents).
• Children under 18 - as a rule, exempt from this fee.
• about 16 € - a fee to issue a plastic residence permit card for each applicant.

The logic here is this: the main applicant pays the large fee once, while adding family members is relatively inexpensive. This makes the programme worthwhile for large families - the passports, or rather the residence permit cards, for the spouse and children cost nominal amounts compared with the main fee.

For example, for a family of four (two adults and two children under 18) the government fees will come to approximately: 2,000 euros for the main applicant plus 150 euros for the spouse plus a nominal card fee - around 2,200-2,300 euros in total. If adult children or parents are included in the application, another 150 euros is added for each. It is best to check the exact family composition and the children’s ages in advance - the final figure in the budget depends on it. Current fee rates are published by the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum (migration.gov.gr).

Full budget: item - single applicant - family of 4

Now let us bring everything into a single table. We will take the most common scenario - a property at the standard 400,000 euro threshold - and calculate the budget for a single investor and for a family of four (two adults, two children under 18). All amounts are indicative, in euros, for 2026.

The main takeaway from the table: the additional costs on top of the investment itself come to roughly 5.5-8.5% of the property value. At the 400,000 euro threshold this is about 27,000-35,000 euros. Note that the difference between the budget for a single applicant and for a family of four is minimal: family fees and cards add literally a couple of hundred euros. The Greece Golden Visa is a programme where adding a family barely increases the cost of the project, and that is one of its great advantages.

The annual ENFIA property tax

Buying real estate is a one-off expense, but owning it creates an annual cost that many forget to build into their long-term budget. This is ENFIA - the unified property ownership tax in Greece, which every owner pays once a year.

The size of ENFIA depends on several factors:

• Property location. Central districts of Athens, Mykonos and Santorini fall into high-rate zones because of their high cadastral value.
• Area and characteristics. The tax is calculated taking into account the area, the floor, the age of the building and the so-called objective value.
• Property type. For buildings the rate is roughly 2 to 16 euros per square metre per year; for land there are separate, lower rates.

In practice, for a typical property of around 120-150 sq m, ENFIA comes to roughly 800 to 2,500 euros a year - the exact figure depends heavily on the location and the objective value. Premium properties in expensive areas can cost more; real estate in the provinces is noticeably cheaper.

There is also some good news: insured housing qualifies for ENFIA discounts, and for homes in small settlements (up to 1,500 residents) the tax is being reduced from 2026, with a full abolition even planned for such properties in the longer term. All the nuances of property taxation are in a separate article on property taxes in Greece.

Other annual costs: insurance, upkeep, maintenance

Besides ENFIA, owning real estate and maintaining residence permit status create other regular expenses. Individually they are small, but they are worth seeing in the annual budget in order to understand the real cost of upkeep.

• Health insurance. The residence permit requires private health insurance - roughly from 150 euros a year per person, which for a family of four is several hundred euros a year.
• Utility bills and upkeep. Electricity, water, municipal charges, maintenance of the house or complex - it depends on the property and how it is used.
• Property management. If you do not live in Greece permanently, it is sensible to hire a management company to look after the property - a separate cost item.
• Accounting and tax representation. Filing the annual return and dealing with the tax office - either your own time or an accountant’s services.

An important nuance about taxes: obtaining the Golden Visa in itself grants the right to reside, but it does not automatically make you a tax resident of Greece. If you do not spend most of the year in the country and do not move your centre of interests there, you are not obliged to pay Greek tax on worldwide income. Tax residency is a separate choice with its own rules and benefits (including regimes for pensioners and high-net-worth individuals), and it should be planned deliberately rather than by default.

In total, the annual upkeep costs - ENFIA plus insurance plus utilities and maintenance - for a typical family scenario fall within roughly 2,000-5,000 euros a year, not counting personal spending.

How the investment threshold changes the whole budget

Since almost all the associated costs are calculated as a percentage of the property value, the choice of investment threshold changes not only the main amount but the entire trail of taxes and fees. Let us show this across three scenarios, so you can see the scale of the difference.

What is important to take away from this table:

• Percentage-based costs scale together with the price. The more expensive the property, the greater the absolute amount of taxes and services. At the 800,000 euro threshold, the associated costs alone can exceed 50,000 euros.
• The 250,000 euro threshold is not so simple. The low base is attractive, but on top of it come the costs of the conversion or restoration itself, which are not part of this budget and can be substantial.
• Government fees do not depend on the property price. The 2,000 euros for the main applicant are the same for a cheap and an expensive property - it is the only item that does not grow along with the investment.

That is why, when planning your budget, you should always count the full cost, not the bare threshold. The difference between the "sticker price" and the real budget at the 800,000 euro threshold is tens of thousands of euros that must be in your account in advance.

What is included in the cost and what is paid separately

A common source of confusion is the line between what the investment threshold covers and what is paid on top. Let us pin this down clearly so there are no blank spots in the budget.

Included in the investment threshold (counted by the state):

• The cost of the property itself - it is this that must reach 250,000, 400,000 or 800,000 euros.

Paid separately, on top of the threshold:

• Property transfer tax of 3.09%.
• Notary and legal services.
• Land registry registration.
• Government application fees and residence permit cards.
• AFM, bank charges, document translations, powers of attorney.
• Annual ENFIA and insurance.

In other words, the taxes and fees on the transaction do not count towards the investment threshold - the property must be worth the full threshold amount on its own, excluding the associated costs. This is a fundamental point: you cannot buy a property for 380,000 euros and "top it up" to 400,000 with taxes and services. The state looks precisely at the property price in the contract.

Understanding this line helps you avoid mistakes when choosing a property. If your budget is 430,000 euros in total, then in a standard region you have around 400,000 for the property itself, and the rest goes on the mandatory framework of the transaction.

Common mistakes when budgeting for the Greece Golden Visa

From experience, we see the same miscalculations that turn a "clear" budget into an unpleasant surprise. Let us list them so you build in realistic figures from the very start.

• Counting only the investment threshold. The most common mistake is to forget about the 5.5-8.5% of associated costs. On a 400,000 euro property this is around 30,000 euros that must be ready.
• Failing to account for the VAT regime. If a property does not fall under the VAT suspension, instead of 3.09% you may face 24% - which changes the budget radically. Check the developer’s status in advance.
• Forgetting about the annual costs. ENFIA, insurance and utilities are not a one-off expense but an ongoing burden for years to come.
• Underestimating the start-up costs. AFM, the bank, translations and powers of attorney are small items, but for a family they add up to thousands of euros.
• Counting on recouping the property through short-term rental. Nightly letting of a Golden Visa property is prohibited on pain of withdrawal of the residence permit - you cannot factor it into your return on investment.
• Buying without legal due diligence. Skimping on a lawyer to save a couple of thousand euros can end in losing the entire investment because of a hidden encumbrance.

A sound budget is not an optimistic one but a conservative one: it is better to plan costs to the upper limit and be pleasantly surprised than to overrun your budget at the transaction. The full picture of the programme and the thresholds is set out in our guide to the Greece Golden Visa.

How to read the budget correctly: a tax advisor’s view

When a client comes to me asking "how much does the Greece Golden Visa cost", I always ask them not to confuse the sticker price and the budget. The sticker price is the investment threshold, 400,000 euros. The budget is the amount that actually has to be in your account, and it is 6-9% higher. On a 400,000-euro property, keep at least 430,000 euros ready - ideally with a margin up to 435,000 - to cover the transfer tax, the notary, the lawyer, the land registry and the fees without strain.

Two things where people most often lose money. First, the VAT regime: if the property is not under the suspension, the difference between 3.09% and 24% turns the budget into a different universe, and this must be checked before the deposit. Second, the annual costs: people count the one-off transaction and forget that ENFIA and insurance will come every year. And I want to stress separately: the Golden Visa grants residence, but it does not automatically make you a tax resident - Greek tax on worldwide income arises only if you genuinely move your life here. Plan your budget conservatively, to the upper limit, and then the transaction will go through without surprises.

The bottom line: the real cost of the Greece golden visa for a family

Let us bring it all together. The cost of the Greece Golden Visa is not a single figure but the sum of the investment and a trail of mandatory costs. At the standard 400,000 euro threshold the full budget looks like this:

• The investment itself - 400,000 euros into real estate.
• Transaction costs - 3.09% transfer tax, notary, lawyer, land registry: roughly 25,000-33,000 euros.
• Migration fees - about 2,200 euros for a family of four plus nominal cards.
• Start-up costs - AFM, bank, translations: a few hundred to a couple of thousand euros.
• Annually - ENFIA, insurance, upkeep: roughly 2,000-5,000 euros a year.

So the real budget at the outset is around 428,000-435,000 euros for a family of four on a 400,000-euro property. The key advantage of the programme: adding a spouse and children barely increases the cost of the project - family fees are measured in hundreds of euros, not in percentages of the investment. That is why the Greece Golden Visa is especially advantageous for families.

All figures in this article are reference points for 2026; the final budget depends on the region, the property, the VAT regime and the family composition, and it should always be checked against the current rates on the portal of the Greek Ministry of Migration (migration.gov.gr) and worked out individually. If you want to stay in Greece for the long term and obtain EU resident status through a lawful route, start by choosing a property to match the required threshold - details are in the articles on the real estate for the Golden Visa and programme zones.