The Greek Golden Visa is still one of the most practical residency-by-investment programmes in Europe. It has been running continuously since 2013, the property route still works, and Greece has not closed it or signalled any intention to do so.
What has changed — significantly, and twice since 2023 — are the minimum investment thresholds. If you are researching the Golden Visa as a route to buying in Corfu, there is one number you need to understand before anything else: €800,000.
That is the minimum qualifying investment for a standard residential property purchase in Corfu in 2026. Not €400,000. Not €250,000. Eight hundred thousand euros, for a single residential property with a minimum interior area of 120 square metres.
I am Marcos, founder of Eterna Collection, a boutique real estate agency focused exclusively on North-East Corfu. I work with international buyers across the UK, US, and Europe, and a meaningful number of them arrive asking about the Golden Visa. This guide is what I tell them — without the marketing language, without the vague optimism, and with the specific numbers that actually matter.
Why Corfu is in the €800,000 tier
Greece divides the country into two main investment zones for Golden Visa purposes. The higher tier — €800,000 — applies to Athens and its broader metropolitan region, Thessaloniki, and all Greek islands with a registered population above 3,100 residents.
Corfu has a registered population of approximately 100,000. It was always going to fall into the high-demand category. The threshold increase from the old €250,000 baseline happened in stages — first to €500,000 for premium zones in 2023, then to the current €800,000 structure that came into full effect from September 2024 and was formalised under Law 5275/2026, published in the Government Gazette on 6 February 2026.
The €400,000 tier still exists — it applies to mainland Greece outside Athens and to smaller islands below the 3,100-resident threshold. If you are buying in Corfu specifically, that tier does not apply to you.
The practical reality: the investors and buyers who find this change most disruptive are those who had been planning around the old €250,000 or €400,000 entry point. For buyers who were already looking at serious properties in North-East Corfu — villas with pools, sea views, proper plots — the €800,000 threshold is often already within or below their natural budget. For that group, the Golden Visa is simply a benefit that comes with a purchase they were going to make anyway.
What the Greek Golden Visa actually gives you
Before going further, it is worth being precise about what you are actually getting.
A five-year renewable residence permit for Greece. Not citizenship. Not an EU passport. A permit that allows you and your qualifying family members to live in Greece and to travel freely within the Schengen Area. The permit is renewed every five years as long as the qualifying investment — ownership of the property — is maintained.
No minimum stay requirement. This is the feature that makes the Greek Golden Visa structurally different from most other European residence programmes. You do not need to spend any minimum number of days per year in Greece to keep the permit. You maintain ownership of the property and the permit remains valid. For buyers who want a Corfu property as a holiday home and a European base without committing to full-time residence, this is the defining advantage.
Schengen access. As of April 2026, when the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) came into force, Golden Visa holders are explicitly exempt from that system and from the forthcoming ETIAS travel authorisation requirement. For UK buyers post-Brexit, who now face the standard 90-days-in-180 Schengen rule, this is a meaningful practical benefit.
Family inclusion. The permit covers the primary investor plus spouse or partner, dependent children up to age 21, and the parents of both spouses. It does not automatically cover adult children over 21 or siblings.
What it does not give you. The Golden Visa does not make you a Greek tax resident. Residency and tax residency are separate questions governed by different rules. If you want to become a Greek tax resident — for example to access the 7% flat tax rate for foreign pensioners or the 100,000 EUR lump-sum tax for HNW non-doms — that requires a separate application and minimum stay requirements that are independent of the Golden Visa programme. A qualified Greek tax advisor needs to advise on this separately.
The three tiers in plain English
Under the current framework, there are three ways to qualify for a Golden Visa through property in Greece.
Tier 1 — €800,000. A standard residential property purchase in a high-demand zone. For Corfu, this is the primary route. The property must be a single asset (you cannot combine two properties to reach the threshold), and it must have at least 120 square metres of usable interior space.
Tier 2 — €400,000. Applies in other regions of Greece. Not available for standard residential purchases in Corfu.
Tier 3 — €250,000. Two specific routes remain at this threshold, nationwide. The first is the purchase of a commercial property that has been fully converted to residential use, where the change of use has been completed and certified before the Golden Visa application is submitted. The second is the purchase of a historic or listed building that requires full restoration, also completed before the application. Both routes require architect sign-off, municipal approval, and substantial documentation. They are genuinely narrow in practice, and the administrative complexity means that most buyers looking for a clean entry point conclude the saving does not justify the effort. There are some Venetian-era buildings in Corfu Town’s Old Town that potentially qualify under the restoration route — worth exploring if you have a specific interest in that type of asset, but not a simple process.
One important change from earlier rules: the option of combining several smaller properties to reach the qualifying threshold no longer works in high-demand zones. It must be a single property.
One thing that changed that most guides do not mention
Law 5275/2026 introduced a restriction that has significant implications for buyers who were planning to combine a Golden Visa with short-term rental income: Golden Visa holders are now prohibited from renting their qualifying property on short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com, or similar OTAs.
This was a meaningful part of the financial logic for some buyers — buy a €800,000+ villa, rent it out in summer for €8,000-15,000 per week, use the rental income to offset ownership costs, and hold the Golden Visa as a residency benefit. That model is no longer available for properties bought under the Golden Visa programme.
For buyers whose primary motivation is the Golden Visa, this means the financial case needs to be made on capital appreciation and lifestyle value rather than rental yield. For buyers whose primary motivation is buying a villa in Corfu and the Golden Visa is a secondary benefit, this matters less — they were not necessarily planning intensive rental activity anyway.
This is one of the most important things to understand before structuring any purchase around the Golden Visa route, and it is one of the least prominently flagged details in most online guides.
What €800,000 buys in North-East Corfu in 2026
The €800,000 threshold is the entry point to qualify, not the typical transaction size. In North-East Corfu, the properties that serious buyers are looking at in this range and above fall into a few clear categories.
At €800,000 to €1.2 million: a villa with a pool and sea views on a good plot, typically three to four bedrooms, in reasonable condition. In areas like Nissaki, Agios Stefanos, or the hills above Kassiopi, this is a realistic budget for a well-located property with genuine outdoor living space. These properties are often not on public portals — they move through local networks.
At €1.5 million to €3 million: a sea-view villa in one of the premium locations — Kassiopi, Kalami, Avlaki — with more land, better architecture, and typically a direct connection to the coastal landscape. Properties in this range in Kouloura or Agni bay are rare and move quietly.
Above €3 million: waterfront properties with private access to the sea, established gardens, guest accommodation, and full legal clarity. These are genuinely scarce assets. When they come to market, they rarely do so through public channels.
The minimum size requirement of 120 square metres is not a practical constraint in this part of Corfu. Most villas in these categories are 200 square metres and above.
How Corfu compares with other Golden Visa markets
The landscape of European residency-by-investment has changed considerably in the past two years. Portugal closed its real estate Golden Visa route entirely in October 2023. Spain announced it would phase out its programme in 2024, with closures taking effect through 2025. Malta and Cyprus offer routes but at considerably higher price points and through different structures.
Greece remains the most accessible active real-estate-backed residency programme in Europe for non-EU buyers, and the fact that it has raised thresholds rather than closed entirely signals a government that values the programme while trying to manage its effect on domestic housing markets.
For a US buyer who wants Schengen access and a European base, a UK buyer navigating post-Brexit travel restrictions, or a non-EU investor who wants stable European residency tied to a tangible asset, the Greek Golden Visa continues to offer a combination that does not exist elsewhere in Europe in the same form.
The process in brief
The broad sequence for a Corfu Golden Visa purchase: identify and agree on the property; appoint a Greek lawyer to conduct due diligence and verify the property qualifies; obtain a Greek tax number (AFM) — obtainable in 48 hours in most cases; open a Greek bank account or arrange a compliant international transfer; sign the preliminary contract; complete the purchase at the notary; submit the Golden Visa application through the Ministry of Migration with the required documentation. Processing times for the initial permit have historically ranged from three to twelve months, with significant variation. Your lawyer manages this process.
Eterna Collection’s role is property search, qualification verification, and transaction coordination. The legal application itself is handled by your independent Greek lawyer, who should be someone with specific Golden Visa experience. We can introduce you to qualified professionals if you do not already have one.
What to do next
If you are seriously considering a Golden Visa purchase in Corfu, the first step is a direct conversation — not a portal search. The properties that qualify at this level are rarely sitting on public listing sites. They require local access, existing relationships, and a broker who knows what is genuinely available and what is appropriately priced.
At Eterna Collection we work exclusively in North-East Corfu. We know which properties are on the market, which are quietly available without being publicly listed, and which locations represent the best combination of lifestyle value and capital stability.
Reach us directly here if you want a specific conversation about Golden Visa qualifying properties in this part of Corfu.
Important note: This article provides general information about the Greek Golden Visa programme as of May 2026. Immigration rules, thresholds, and procedures can change. This is not legal advice. Before making any investment decision related to the Golden Visa programme, appoint an independent Greek immigration lawyer and a qualified tax advisor.
Eterna Collection is a boutique real estate agency focused on North-East Corfu. We represent villas, land, and investment properties in Kassiopi, Kalami, Avlaki, Nissaki, Kouloura, and surrounding premium areas.