If you set yourself the goal of buying real estate in Greece, you may enter the country with a Schengen visa of any type, the crucial point is that you would have enough time within the validity of your visa to finalize all the necessary procedures during the real estate purchase process. So, the sequence of your actions will be as follows:
- Direct acquaintance with your future legal representative, i.e. a Russian-speaking lawyer, registered in Greece
- The check-up of the real estate property objects, chosen preliminary in accordance with your wish list by our Russian-speaking realtor
- Obtaining a taxpayer identification number in the authorized state tax service of Greece
- Openning a bank account in the Greek bank with the best standing in the country
- Preliminary discussion of the terms of the bargain with the owner of the real estate property that you have chosen and making a deposit payment in the presence of your Russian-speaking lawyer, whose job is to provide you with complete comfort and security at both material and psychological levels
- Based on the results of the preliminary agreement with the real estate property owner, proceeding with the payment of a one-time real estate tax during the ownership rights transfer (3% for secondary real estate property objects, 23% for primary real estate property objects though registered after 31/12/2005)
- Conclusion of the sale agreement in the presence of a notary and your lawyer
- Total legal concession of acquisitive possession of the real estate property object after its registration in the cadastral register of Greece
INFORMATION REGARDING RESIDENCE PERMIT
Your lawyer’s subsequent steps, namely arranging a residence permit for you, will depend on the value of the real estate property object that you have purchased. Thus, when you buy one or more real estate objects of a total value of Euro 250 000, you will be granted with a residence permit for a period of 5 years. If the real estate property value is less than mentioned above, you will receive the residence permit for two years as a person who is independent financially, provided you receive a D type national visa at the Greek Consulate.
Owing to the prompt actions of your Russian-speaking lawyer in Greece, you will be able to obtain your residence permit within one (1) week. The advantages of having a residence permit are obvious:
- Unlimited period of stay in Greece
- Being able to visit any moment any other European country, that is one of the members of the Schengen Agreement without having to issue a visa
- After the first five years (provided the total investment value is Euro 250 000) of your long-term residence permit are expired and subject to an extension of its validity period, it is possible to apply for Greek citizenship, provided that you have a stable income within Greece and speak the Greek language
- Being able to arrange a residence permit for your family members as well, i.e. for your spouse, your children under 21 years old and parents of both spouses, provided the total investment value is Euro 250 000
The law office of Mrs. Svetlana Kasatkina-Kouskou offers legal services regarding the title check of real estate property and also cooperates with the real estate agencies in order to offer assistance with purchasing or selling real estate property in Greece. It also takes care of the process needed to obtain residence permit for the owner of the real estate property and his or her family in Greece, which is valid for the whole Schengen area for 5 years. In addition to this the law office offers special legal services for starting a company and/or a branch of a company in Greece and at the same time is responsible for obtaining the residence permit for the company/branch’s members in the County.
