Greece Golden Visa for citizens of India

The one trip: do you need a visa?

Schengen visa required (Annex I)

Indian citizens need a Schengen visa to enter Greece: India is listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 (consolidated text of 30 December 2025, checked 12 September 2026). Because biometrics for the residence permit are given in person in Greece, at least one short-stay (type C) visa is required.

In India, applications for a Greek visa are collected by Global Visa Center World: the Embassy of Greece in New Delhi lists the New Delhi Visa Application Center for Greece at Global Visa Center World, Shivaji Stadium Metro Station, Concourse Level, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Connaught Place, New Delhi 110001 (checked 12 September 2026).

Under the Visa Code (Regulation 810/2009, consolidated) an application may be lodged up to six months before travel; the decision is due within 15 calendar days and may be extended to 45.

Moving the money to Greece

LRS: USD 250,000 per person per year, 20% TCS above INR 10 lakh

Money leaves India under the Reserve Bank of India's Liberalised Remittance Scheme: a resident individual may remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year (April to March), acquisition of immovable property abroad is a permitted capital account transaction, the remittance goes through an authorised dealer bank on Form A2, and quoting PAN is mandatory (RBI FED Master Direction No. 7/2015-16, updated 6 September 2024).

Two things follow for a purchase of EUR 250,000 to EUR 800,000. First, one person's annual quota will usually not cover it, and family members may club remittances for a capital account transaction only where they are co-owners or co-partners in it — so whose names go on the title deed has to be settled before the first transfer, not after.

Second, tax is collected at source: under section 394(1), Table Sl. No. 7 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, LRS remittances exceeding INR 10 lakh in aggregate in a year carry TCS at 20% for purposes other than education or medical treatment, and the memorandum to the Finance Bill, 2026 leaves that 20% rate unchanged while cutting the education and medical rate to 2% from 1 April 2026.

TCS is a prepayment of your own income tax and comes back through your return, but it locks up cash for months — budget for it. (checked 12 September 2026)

Power of attorney and certificates

MEA apostille is enough, no Greek objection

India is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention of 5 October 1961; it acceded and the Convention entered into force for India on 14 July 2005.

The HCCH status table records objections raised by several states at the time of accession, but Greece was not among them (checked 12 September 2026), so Indian public documents are used in Greece with an apostille and no consular legalisation.

The competent authority is the Ministry of External Affairs, which charges INR 50 per document for the apostille sticker and has outsourced collection and delivery to authorised companies charging their own service fee; apostille and attestation are also done at MEA branch secretariats in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Guwahati (MEA FAQ, page last updated 3 April 2026).

Tax treaty with Greece

Treaty in force (ΑΑΔΕ, no. 20)

A double taxation avoidance agreement between Greece and India is in force. India appears at position 20 in the official list of Greek double taxation treaties published by the Greek Independent Authority for Public Revenue (ΑΑΔΕ), and the list links the ratified text (checked 12 September 2026) — it is one of the oldest Greek treaties still on it, signed in the 1960s, so read it with an adviser rather than assuming modern wording.

It carries no reduced Greek withholding rates for dividends, interest or royalties: PwC's Greek treaty table shows 'domestic' rates in all three columns for India (Greece page last reviewed 8 September 2026). Treat it as a relief mechanism to be computed by advisers on both sides, not as an exemption.

Documents — what differs for India

• The Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) is applied for through Passport Seva at a Regional Passport Office, or at an Indian mission if you are resident abroad.
• Every Indian document in the file needs an MEA apostille. MEA does not accept documents directly for collection: collection and delivery are handled by its authorised outsourcing companies, which charge a service fee on top of the INR 50 apostille fee (MEA FAQ, updated 3 April 2026).
• Ask the lawyer opening the Greek file, in writing, which pre-authentication step your particular document and issuing state require before MEA apostille — it differs by document type and by state, and getting it wrong means the document is returned.
• Apostilled documents are then translated into Greek; confirm which form of translation the Greek authority accepts before paying for it.

What we do not promise

• India is not on the EU list of high-risk third countries (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675, consolidated text of 29 January 2026), but a Greek bank will still want a complete source-of-funds file: tax returns, bank statements and the A2 documentation for each transfer.

  What we do about it: We build the source-of-funds file before the bank asks for it: tax returns, statements and the A2 paperwork for every leg, listed up front and checked with you before it goes to the bank.

• The 20% TCS on LRS remittances above INR 10 lakh is not a fee anyone can waive for you and we cannot reclaim it on your behalf; it comes back only through your own Indian tax return, months later.

  What we do about it: We put the TCS into the budget from the first conversation, as a separate line and not a surprise — so the cash you need is the cash you planned, and the refund is your accountant’s task, on a date you already know.

• Splitting the purchase across several family members' LRS quotas only works where they are co-owners of the investment — the ownership structure has to be decided before the money moves, and it changes who does and does not get a permit. Take legal advice on this first.

  What we do about it: We settle the ownership structure with your lawyer before the first transfer: who is on the title deed, whose LRS quota is used and who therefore gets a permit — written down before the money moves.

• We promise no timeline. At 31 May 2026 the Greek migration ministry reported 9,210 pending investor applications and 33,051 files pending in total with family members.

  What we do about it: Instead of a timeline you get status: we write to you where the application stands and where the queue is — a record, not a forecast.

• A property used for the residence permit may not be let short-term, for the first permit or any renewal (Art. 100 §7A of Law 5038/2023, as amended by Art. 64 of Law 5100/2024) — short-let income cannot be part of the plan.

  What we do about it: We let and manage the flat long-term after the purchase, and we put the expected rent in writing before the deal, using figures from our own Athens portfolio.