Greece Golden Visa for citizens of Israel

The one trip: do you need a visa?

No Schengen visa needed (Annex II)

Israeli citizens do not need a Schengen visa to travel to Greece: Israel is listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 (consolidated text of 30 December 2025, checked 12 September 2026), which means visa-free entry for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Biometrics for the investor residence permit are given in person in Greece, and a valid passport is enough for that trip.

ETIAS, the travel authorisation for visa-free travellers, was not in operation as of 12 September 2026 and was not accepting applications; the European Commission says it will announce the start date in advance, and the fee has been set at EUR 20, taking effect once the system goes live. Check the system's status before you travel — it changes on someone else's schedule, not ours.

Moving the money to Greece

No exchange control; reporting, not prohibition

Israel has no exchange control on sending money abroad: the transfer is an ordinary bank transfer and there is no cap on the amount.

What you will actually meet is reporting, not prohibition. The Israeli bank will check the source of funds under anti-money-laundering rules, and after the purchase you acquire a filing duty in Israel.

Under the Income Tax Regulations (Exemption from Filing a Return), 5748-1988, regulation 3(a)(6)(b) and 3(a)(7), an individual loses the exemption from filing an annual return if he, his spouse or his child under 18 held, on any day in the tax year, foreign assets worth NIS 1,500,000 or more, or held a combined balance of NIS 1,500,000 or more in accounts at foreign banking corporations (consolidated text as at 16 February 2026).

The threshold is index-linked, so check the current figure before you file — a Greek property of EUR 400,000 or more is above it either way, and an annual return becomes due.

Power of attorney and certificates

Apostille is enough, no Greek objection

Israel is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention of 1961, which entered into force for Israel on 14 August 1978; the HCCH status table records no objection by Greece to Israel's participation (checked 12 September 2026). Consular legalisation is therefore not required — an apostille is enough.

Inside Israel two different bodies issue it, and they should not be confused: public documents issued by state authorities are certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while notarised documents, including notarial translations and powers of attorney, are certified by the secretariat of the court (gov.il, judicial authority section, updated 24 March 2024).

Check which of the two applies to each document before you file.

Tax treaty with Greece

Treaty in force (ΑΑΔΕ, no. 24)

A double taxation treaty between Greece and Israel is in force: Israel appears at position 24 in the official list of treaties published by the Greek Independent Authority for Public Revenue (ΑΑΔΕ), and the list links the ratified text (checked 12 September 2026). A treaty does not remove the tax: rental income from Greek property is taxed in Greece, and the credit on the Israeli side is computed under Israeli rules. The calculation for your own situation belongs to a tax adviser, not to us.

Documents — what differs for Israel

• The police certificate (te'udat yosher, formally 'criminal information certificate') is issued by the Israel Police under the Criminal Information and Rehabilitation of Offenders Law, 5779-2019. The key point: by law a copy is not handed to the applicant or their representative — the certificate is sent to the recipient (a foreign mission in Israel, or an Israeli mission abroad); for Hague Convention states a digital certificate with a digital apostille can be sent to the recipient online (gov.il, updated 19 June 2025).
• The apostille on that certificate carries a separate Ministry of Foreign Affairs fee, and the receipt number must be quoted when the application is lodged with the police — without it the application is not completed.
• The certificate is issued in Hebrew and English; where the register does hold entries, the detail is printed in Hebrew only. Translation into Greek is ordered separately.
• A power of attorney for the Greek lawyer is notarised, and the apostille on it is issued by the court secretariat, not by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

What we do not promise

• Israel is not on the EU list of high-risk third countries (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675, consolidated text of 29 January 2026) — but that does not remove the Greek bank's source-of-funds checks when opening the account and settling the purchase.

  What we do about it: We build the source-of-funds file before the bank asks for it: we list the documents and close the gaps with you, so the file goes in complete.

• 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; Israeli nationals held 567 valid investor permits as of October 2025.

  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.

• The police certificate is never handed to you — plan the document's route to the Greek recipient in advance, or it will not arrive in time for filing.

  What we do about it: We plan the certificate’s route in advance: we name the Greek recipient and count the filing date back from its validity, not the other way round.