Living in Greece long term

Schengen short stay (tourist): US citizens are visa exempt for Schengen short stays; the US State Department Greece page confirms no visa is required for stays of 90 days or less. The official EU ETIAS page, checked 2026-10-15, states that ETIAS is not yet in operation, shows a fee of EUR 20 for when the system starts, and says the EU will announce the start date in advance.

Digital Nomad Visa: For remote work for employers or clients outside Greece; the applicant declares they will not work for a Greek employer. US passport holders may enter visa free and apply for the permit in Greece, or apply for the type D visa (category Z.1) at a consulate first; both entry paths and the accommodation and private insurance documents are listed in Joint Ministerial Decision 95391/2024. Resources rise for family members (20 percent more for a spouse or partner, 15 percent per child) per the document lists reproduced by the Greek MFA visa application center and Greek law sources; family members may not work in Greece. Durations are set in Law 5038/2023 itself: the type Z.1 visa runs up to 12 months (Art. 68 para 1), and the type I.8 permit that follows runs 2 years (Art. 68 para 4). Long term resident status after 5 years follows the EU Immigration Portal conditions summarized in the investor route note.

Financially independent person residence permit (sufficient means, type I.8): Permit type I.8 under Art. 163 para 8 of Law 5038/2023, entered on a national (type D) visa as a person with sufficient means. The permit gives no right to work in Greece. Duration of 3 years, renewable for a further 3 years, is set in Art. 163 para 8(a) of Law 5038/2023; it was 2 years under the old law. A savings alternative of EUR 84,000 (EUR 3,500 x 24) is reported by secondary outlets but could not be confirmed in an official text and is not relied on. A reported requirement to spend at least 183 days a year in Greece to keep the permit likewise could not be confirmed in the law texts fetched. Fees and document lists are from Joint Ministerial Decision 95391/2024 (I.8 section: EUR 180 consular fee, EUR 1,000 grant fee, EUR 1,000 renewal fee).

Golden Visa: real estate investment (permanent investor residence permit, type B.5): What changed: until September 2024 a single EUR 250,000 threshold covered most of Greece. Law 5100/2024 raised it to EUR 800,000 and EUR 400,000 by zone and confined EUR 250,000 to conversions and listed building restorations; buyers who had paid a 10 percent deposit under the old rules could complete under them until 28 February 2025. Long term rental of the property is allowed; short term rental and subletting are banned, and a conversion property may not be used as a business headquarters. Breach means revocation plus a EUR 50,000 fine (Art. 100 para 7A). The permit gives no right to work in Greece (Art. 100 para 9). Permanent residency here means the EU long term resident permit: 5 years of lawful continuous residence with absences under 6 consecutive months and 10 months in total, own income of at least the annual minimum wage, full health cover, and integration evidence such as Greek language certification (EU Immigration Portal; Joint Ministerial Decision 95391/2024 section M.1 sets a EUR 150 fee plus EUR 16 card printing). Years spent mostly outside Greece do not build that status. The Ministry of Migration English Golden Visa page still describes the pre 2024 law and was not used for the tiers.

Investor residence permit: financial investments and startups (types B.4 and B.6): Art. 99 of Law 5038/2023 (FEK A 81, 1 April 2023) covers term deposits at a Greek bank, Greek government bonds, shares, and units in funds investing in Greece; the amounts in the investment field are read from that article itself. Art. 100A, added by Law 5162/2024 (FEK A 198, 5 December 2024), covers investment in companies on the Elevate Greece national startup registry at EUR 250,000, with a EUR 50,000 joint fine and revocation for breach of its job conditions. A related route, type B.3 for shareholders and executives of Greek companies (Art. 98), carries the same EUR 2,000 fee as type B.4.

Work residence permit (dependent employment, type E.4): Summary level. The employer first obtains approval of an invitation for dependent employment; the worker then applies online through the Ministry of Migration and Asylum platform (Mitos procedure E.4, checked 2026-10-15). An EU Blue Card route also exists for highly qualified workers; Greek law sources put its salary test at 1.6 times the national average gross salary with a 2 year renewable permit, which was not verified on an official page in this pass. Years to long term resident status and citizenship follow the standard tests summarized in the investor route note.

Student residence permit: Summary level, from the EU Immigration Portal Greece student page (European Commission, content supplied by the Greek authorities) and Joint Ministerial Decision 95391/2024 refers the student means amount to the decision under Art. 176 para 51 of Law 5038/2023; that decision, Joint Ministerial Decision oik. 225679/2024, sets it at EUR 650 per month. Student residence counts at half value toward the long term resident permit (Art. 144 para 2 of Law 5038/2023), and a student permit is not among the titles on the 7 year naturalization track.

Citizenship by descent (child of a Greek citizen): Brief entry, officially documented on the Mitos registry: a child born to at least one Greek citizen parent automatically acquires Greek citizenship at birth (Art. 1 para 1, Law 3284/2004, Code of Greek Citizenship). The Greek parent must be registered in a Greek municipal register. Registration is done at the municipality, or through a Greek consulate for families living abroad. This entry covers the automatic rule for children of a Greek parent only; a Greek grandparent alone does not trigger it, because the parent must be a Greek citizen.