Greece vs Italy: Golden Visa Programmes Compared
The lowest qualifying amount is €250,000 in Greece and €250,000 in Italy. Here is how the two programmes differ on time in the country, the path to citizenship and processing, side by side.
At a glance
| Greece | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Programme | Residence Permit for Investors | Investor Visa for Italy (visto per investitori) |
| Status | Thresholds raised and tiered by location from September 2024 | Structurally unchanged since 2017; suspended for Russian and Belarusian nationals |
| Lowest qualifying amount | €250,000 | €250,000 |
| Time you must spend there | None | No minimum stay set |
| Route to citizenship | 7 years of genuine residence, plus exam | 10 years of actual legal residence |
| Typical processing | Several months for complete new files; a backlog of about 29,000 files was reported in July 2026, down from over 52,000 in early 2025 | Nulla osta often weeks; visa and permit add months |
| Main routes |
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Which is cheaper, Greece or Italy?
The lowest qualifying amount is €250,000 in Greece and €250,000 in Italy. The cheapest route is not always the practical one: some low-entry routes are donations or contributions you never get back, while others are investments that can lose value independently of the permit. Add government fees, legal costs and, where relevant, family members before comparing totals.
How much time do you have to spend in each?
Greece: None. Italy: No minimum stay set. A permit that asks for little time in the country is convenient, but a path to citizenship usually depends on genuinely living there.
Which leads to citizenship?
Greece: 7 years of genuine residence, plus exam. Italy: 10 years of actual legal residence. Naturalisation rules are set separately from the investment programme and can change while you are part of the way through.
The biggest caveat for each
Greece: The permit requires no presence at all, but citizenship does — so an investor who never relocates gains residence rights and nothing more, however long the permit is held.
Italy: The permit is easy to hold from abroad, but only real registered residence in Italy counts toward the ten-year naturalisation requirement.
More programme comparisons
Information reflects our own independent research as understood in September 2026. These rules change often and differ by nationality. Plain Investor does not sell or advise on any programme. This is general information, not legal, immigration or tax advice; check the official government source and a licensed immigration lawyer before committing money.