Greece's Golden Visa programme received 39% fewer applications in 2026, while the backlog of pending cases shrank to roughly half its prior level, IMI Daily reported this week. The figures cover the calendar year 2026 and draw on Greek residence-permit issuance data, according to IMI Daily.

The drop marks a continued cooling for one of Europe's longest-running residence-by-investment schemes. IMI Daily, a publication that tracks migration and investment flows across the Mediterranean, published the figures.

What is the Greek Golden Visa?

Introduced in 2013, the Greek Golden Visa grants third-country nationals a renewable residence permit tied to a real-estate investment in Greece. Permit holders can move freely within the Schengen Area during the visa's validity and renew the permit for as long as they maintain the qualifying asset. The scheme attracted strong demand from non-EU applicants over the past decade, particularly from China, Turkey, Russia, Lebanon and Egypt, with Greek property markets in Athens, Thessaloniki and the islands drawing most of the capital.

What do the 2026 figures show?

Two statistics stand out in the IMI Daily report:

• Applications to the Golden Visa dropped 39% in 2026.
• The backlog of pending applications fell to roughly half of its previous size.

The combined pattern points to two simultaneous trends: weaker intake from prospective investors and faster processing of older files by Greek migration services.

Who is affected by the slowdown?

The decline reshapes conditions for several groups:

• Non-EU investors now weighing residence permits in southern Europe, who face a less crowded pipeline.
• Greek real estate agents, lawyers and tax advisers who built practices around residency-linked purchases.
• Greek migration authorities, who have moved through older files even as new submissions have slowed.

Why does a shrinking backlog matter?

Investor-residence programmes across Europe have faced criticism for slow adjudication and limited due diligence. When a backlog halves while new applications also drop, it usually signals that administrators have caught up with intake rather than that demand is surging. The Greek numbers point to the former: faster decision-making on a shrinking queue.

Brussels has repeatedly pushed member states to harmonise investor-residence rules and tighten screening. National governments, including Greece, retain control of investment thresholds and eligibility conditions.

What is the broader European context?

Portugal ended its real-estate Golden Visa route in 2023, leaving Greece, Spain and Italy as the main southern European options for non-EU property-linked residence permits. Spain's programme carries higher minimum thresholds in some regions, while Italy runs a separate investor-visa track. Greece's lower entry points in regional areas have helped keep mid-market interest alive, even as overall application volumes fall.

What should applicants and observers watch?

• Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum statistics for confirmation of the trend.
• Any 2026 revisions to minimum investment thresholds, which Athens has adjusted several times since the scheme began.
• Comparable data from Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta, which operate similar programmes and compete with Greece for non-EU investor capital.
• European Commission proposals on investor-residence screening, which could reshape national rules.

The Greek Golden Visa remains open to new applicants. The Ministry of Migration and Asylum publishes official residence-permit data.