Law 4686/2020 “Improvement of migration legislation, amendment of law provisions 4636/2019 (A” 169), 4375/2016 (A” 51), 4251/2014 (Α” 80) and other provisions” was published in the Official Government Gazette

According to the new law, which amends, inter alia, the provisions of Law 4251/2014 “Code of Immigration and Social Integration and other provisions”, the residence permits’ delivery is accepted through authorized persons in case of citizens of third countries who have applied for a residence permit as investors, in accordance with paragraphs A, B and C of article 16 or a permanent residence permit of the investor in accordance with paragraph B of article 20, upon submission of a certified copy of the passport.

Subsequently, in accordance with the amendments to the law, by decision of the Secretary General of the Decentralized Administration, a residence permit is granted to third-country nationals, provided that the interested parties have sufficient resources, at a fixed annual income level to cover living expenses. The residence permit is valid for two (2) years and may be renewed every two years. This residence permit does not provide access to the labor market.

The mentioned third-country nationals may also be accompanied by their family members, who are granted, upon their request, an individual residence permit that expires at the same time as the residence permit of the sponsor. The prerequisite of adequate living resources should be met either in the person of each family member or in total for all its members.

Periods of absence from the country shall not hinder the renewal of the residence permit, provided that they do not exceed six months per year, otherwise the provisions of paragraph 6 of Article 21 are applied.

The minimum price of a real estate at the time of its acquisition, as well as the total contractual lease of hotel or tourist accommodation units of this article, as evidenced by the notarial transfer deeds and, if they are subject to resolutive condition of payment of the purchase price according to the corresponding legally registered notarial deeds of repayment and cancellation of resolutive condition, or the lease agreements respectively, is set at two hundred and fifty thousand (250.000,00) euros and should have been paid in full prior to the submission of the request for granting of the permanent residence permit for the investor.

Furthermore, the new law introduces in case of a third-country nationals who apply for a permanent residence permit for the investor, the obligation to submit a certificate issued by the notary who drafted the notarial transfer deeds or the lease agreements by which the details of the contracting parties are certified, as well as details of a property, way of payment of the agreed price or rent and all the more specific details of the payment, in accordance with the provisions hereof, existence of any resolutive condition, and whether the specific property has been used by the seller to obtain a permanent residence permit of the investor. By joint decision of the Ministers of Finance, Justice and Immigration and Asylum, the type and content of this certificate are determined, as well as any other relevant issue.

The new law introduces a significant change in the amount of investment and in particular, by joint decision of the Ministers of Finance, Development and Investment and Immigration and Asylum, the amount of the mentioned property may be adjusted, as well as lists of areas of the country may be compiled, with a minimum duration of at least five years, for which a variation in the amount of the investment in the above paragraph may be applied, taking into account the details, such as development targeting, tourism development, geographical location, as well as commercial and fair market values of the properties located in such areas, and every other detail for the application of these provisions to be adjusted.

Furthermore, children of an investor’s permanent residence permit’s holders who reach the age of 21 are granted an independent residence permit for three (3) years, with the sole obligation to submit the previous residence permit for family reunification.

According to the transitional provisions of the Law, residence permits issued to financially independent persons until its entry into force, which are valid or their renewal is pending, are renewed without meeting the condition of residence in the country for a period of time of minimum of 6 months per year. Third-country nationals who have applied for a permanent residence permit of the investor which is pending at the services of the stop shops of the country’s Decentralized Administrations are exempted from the obligation to submit the notary certificate until the entry into force of the Law.