Greece vs Italy Golden Visa 2026: Cost, Tax, Speed and Citizenship Compared

Greece and Italy solve different problems. Greece is the cheaper, lower-touch property play: from €250,000 in narrow cases, €400,000 to €800,000 in practice, with zero stay required to keep the permit. Italy asks for no property at all and lets you in fast on a pledge, then leans on a flat tax regime that suits high earners who actually relocate. Pick Greece if you want a low-cost Schengen residency you can hold passively. Pick Italy if you plan to move, earn large foreign income, and want a 15-year tax cap.

What each program actually is

The Greece Golden Visa is a residence-by-investment permit. The headline route is real estate, and since the 2024 to 2025 overhaul the price depends on where you buy. The permit gives you and your family residency renewable every five years, Schengen travel, and no minimum stay requirement. You do not have to live in Greece to keep it.

The Italy Investor Visa (the country’s “golden visa,” officially the Investor Visa for Italy) is not a property scheme. You commit to one of four qualifying investments, receive a two-year visa renewable for three more, and the clock toward permanent residence and citizenship starts only if you actually move and become resident. Italy pairs this with an optional flat tax regime on foreign income that is the real draw for wealthy applicants.

These are different instruments. Greece sells a low-cost, hold-it-from-anywhere residency. Italy sells fast entry plus a tax structure for people who relocate.

Investment cost compared

Greece real estate tiers (2026):

Tier	Where it applies	Conditions
€800,000	Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, islands over 3,100 residents	Single property, minimum 120 sqm
€400,000	All other regions of Greece	Single property, minimum 120 sqm
€250,000	Anywhere, but only commercial-to-residential conversions or restoration of listed buildings	No size rule; conversion completed before applying

The €250,000 figure is real but narrow. It is not a general discount. It applies only to specific conversion or heritage-restoration projects, which carry their own construction and timing risk. Most straightforward buyers land in the €400,000 or €800,000 band.

Greece also offers non-property routes, though they are higher: €500,000 in Greek government bonds (three-year minimum maturity), €500,000 in a fixed-term Greek bank deposit, or €800,000 in shares and corporate bonds.

Italy’s four investor routes:

Route	Amount
Innovative Italian startup	€250,000
Italian limited company (shares)	€500,000
Philanthropic donation	€1,000,000
Italian government bonds	€2,000,000

The startup route at €250,000 is Italy’s cheapest entry and matches Greece’s lowest tier on paper. But the comparison is not like-for-like. Greece’s €250,000 buys you a tangible asset (property you own). Italy’s €250,000 is an equity stake in an early-stage company, a different risk profile, and it must be maintained for the life of the visa. Importantly, Italy’s investment is a pledge at application: you get the visa first and fund the investment within three months of entering Italy.

Speed and process

Italy is the faster entry. You apply for a Nulla Osta (certificate of no impediment) online, and the committee typically responds in around 30 days. Total time to visa is commonly 90 to 120 days, and you fund the investment after arrival. This makes Italy attractive when you want a foot in the door quickly without wiring money up front.

Greece is fast once you have bought. Processing of the residence permit itself usually runs two to three months after the property purchase completes. The variable is finding, vetting and closing on real estate, which can add months and involves transaction costs (transfer tax, legal fees, notary) on top of the purchase price.

Net: Italy is quicker to a visa because the money moves later. Greece is predictable once the asset is secured.

Tax: the real differentiator

This is where the programs diverge most, and it is where you should coordinate with qualified Italian or Greek tax counsel before committing. Holding either visa does not by itself make you tax resident. Tax residency is usually triggered by spending more than 183 days a year in the country.

Italy’s flat tax regime is the headline. New residents who elect in can pay a fixed annual charge that covers all foreign-source income, regardless of amount. The figure has climbed: €100,000 originally, €200,000 from August 2024, and €300,000 for anyone who moves from 1 January 2026 (set by the 2026 Budget Law published 30 December 2025). Family members can be added at €50,000 each per year (up from €25,000). The regime runs up to 15 years. People who elected in before 2026 keep their old rate (including €200,000 or €100,000) for the remainder of their term. For someone with very large foreign dividends, interest or capital gains, a flat €300,000 can be a fraction of what ordinary taxation would cost. For someone with modest foreign income, it is not worth it.

Italy also has a separate 7% flat tax for foreign pensioners who move to certain small towns in the south, which is unrelated to the investor visa but worth knowing.

Greece does not require you to become tax resident at all, since there is no minimum stay. If you do move, Greece offers a non-dom regime with a fixed €100,000 per year on worldwide foreign income (plus €20,000 per added family member), and a separate 7% flat rate for foreign retirees, each running up to 15 years. Greece’s €100,000 non-dom charge is lower than Italy’s new €300,000, so a relocating high earner choosing purely on flat-tax cost may now prefer Greece.

The key honest point: if you do not intend to live in either country, neither tax regime matters and you keep paying tax where you are resident today. The flat tax is only an advantage for people who actually relocate.

Citizenship pathway

Both lead to an EU passport, but slowly and only with real presence.

• Greece: naturalization after 7 years, and crucially this requires genuine physical residence (commonly understood as 183+ days per year), plus a Greek language and integration exam. Holding the Golden Visa passively does not count toward citizenship.
• Italy: naturalization after 10 years of legal residence with real presence, plus a B1 Italian language requirement.

So if EU citizenship is the goal and you are willing to relocate, Greece is the shorter road by three years. If you want residency you can hold from abroad without ever moving, neither program will produce a passport, and Greece is the better pure-residency tool because Italy expects you to settle.

Which fits which buyer

• You want the cheapest Schengen residency to hold passively: Greece, €400,000 property (or €250,000 if you can use a qualifying conversion or restoration project).
• You are a high earner planning to actually move: compare Italy’s investor visa plus flat tax against Greece’s €100,000 non-dom. Run the numbers on your specific foreign income with a tax adviser before deciding.
• You want speed and do not want to buy property: Italy, via the €250,000 startup or €500,000 company route.
• You want EU citizenship fastest and will relocate: Greece, on the 7-year track.

Both programs remain open in 2026, which is no longer a given in Europe (several countries have closed or restricted their schemes). Neither is a citizenship shortcut. Both reward clarity about whether you are buying mobility or buying a place to live.

This article is general information, not personal legal or tax advice. Tax outcomes depend on your residency, citizenship and the structure of your income. Coordinate with qualified Greek or Italian counsel before acting.