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Home / Compare programmes / Italy Investor Visa vs Greece Golden Visa

Head to head · 2026 Q3 Edition

Italy Investor Visa vs Greece Golden Visa (2026)

Italy Investor Visa and Greece Golden Visa, compared metric by metric on the Mirabello verified programme dataset, with the source and verification date on every row.

2026 Q3 Edition · updated 2026-07-10 Figures verified against official sources · provenance-tracked · information, not advice Data via our MCP

For families focused on the residence-to-citizenship route, Greece Golden Visa currently has the stronger position on this metric (verified 2026-03-20). For applicants prioritising published processing speed, Italy Investor Visa scores higher on published processing timelines. Both remain operational programmes with distinct published trade-offs, compared row by row below.

Rules-based comparison of published criteria, general information only, not legal, tax, immigration or investment advice; there is no universal winner.

Discuss these two with Vito Magagnino

Key outcomes

What are the decisive differences?

In practice, Greece Golden Visa tends to be examined first by families focused on the residence-to-citizenship route, while Italy Investor Visa draws applicants prioritising published processing speed. The rows below show where each leads on the published data.

 🇮🇹Italy Investor Visa🇬🇷Greece Golden Visa
Minimum qualifying route€250,000
src: investorvisa.mise.gov.it · verified 2026-06-04
€250,000
src: et.gr · verified 2026-06-28
Typical processingApproximately 3-6 months end to end; nulla osta decision by law within 30 days of a complete application
src: investorvisa.mise.gov.it · verified 2026-06-04
3-9 months
src: migration.gov.gr · verified 2026-07-05
Outcome documentResidence permitResidence permit
Visa-free mobility185 visa-freeLeads on this metric
value on the programme page
184 visa-free
src: migration.gov.gr · verified 2026-06-28
Family inclusionspouse; dependent children; dependent parents
value on the programme page
spouse; unmarried children up to 21 (renewable to 24 if students); parents of both spouses (no upper age limit, no dependency proof)
value on the programme page
Mirabello Index signal75 / 100 · rank 26 of 6976.3 / 100 · rank 21 of 69Leads on this metric

Family cost comparison

What does each cost for your family?

Set your family below and both columns recompute the government-side figure from the published fee schedules: the qualifying investment plus every mandatory official fee, itemised line by line. Rules-based and illustrative; a specialist confirms the exact total for your file.

Government-side costs only, recomputed from the published fee schedules embedded below; illustrative, not a quote and not advice. Excludes Mirabello professional fees and transaction costs.

🇮🇹 Italy Investor Visa

Published minimum: €250,000 (Innovative startup investment (tiered))

src: investorvisa.mise.gov.it · verified 2026-06-04

Family terms (published): spouse; dependent children; dependent parents. verified 2026-06-10

A verified per-fee schedule for this programme is not yet in the Mirabello fee master, so no family total is computed here. Detailed family calculation available on the programme page.

🇬🇷 Greece Golden Visa

Fee schedule: migration.gov.gr · verified 2026-07-09

Worked example, family of four (main applicant, spouse, two children under 16)

Italy Investor Visa

Published minimum €250,000; the itemised family schedule is on the programme page.

Greece Golden Visa (default route)

Line itemAmount
Real Estate, Zone A (high-demand: Attica, Thessaloniki Municipality, Mykonos, Santorini, islands over 3,100 residents), minimum investmentEUR 800,000
Residence-permit fee (per application)EUR 2,000
Residence-permit card, Main applicantEUR 16
Adult family-member fee, SpouseEUR 150
Residence-permit card, SpouseEUR 16
Residence-permit card, Child (age 10)EUR 16
Residence-permit card, Child (age 10)EUR 16
Government-side total (verified lines)EUR 802,214

Every comparable metric

How do Italy Investor Visa and Greece Golden Visa compare, row by row?

Each row carries its own source and verification date, so any figure can be checked against the official source it came from. Ties carry no marker; a marker reads "leads on this metric", nothing more, because a metric lead is not a recommendation.

Metric🇮🇹Italy Investor Visa🇬🇷Greece Golden Visa
Programme type #Residency by investmentResidency by investment
Outcome document #Residence permitResidence permit
Minimum investment #€250,000
Innovative startup investment (tiered)
src: investorvisa.mise.gov.it · verified 2026-06-04
€250,000
Real-estate investment (tiered 250k-800k)
src: et.gr · verified 2026-06-28
Investment routes #4 published routes
src: investorvisa.mise.gov.it · verified 2026-06-04
4 published routes
src: et.gr · verified 2026-06-28
Typical processing time #Approximately 3-6 months end to end; nulla osta decision by law within 30 days of a complete application
src: investorvisa.mise.gov.it · verified 2026-06-04
3-9 months
src: migration.gov.gr · verified 2026-07-05
Visa-free mobility #185 visa-freeLeads on this metric
value on the programme page
184 visa-free
src: migration.gov.gr · verified 2026-06-28
Minimum stay requirement #None
src: investorvisa.mise.gov.it · verified 2026-06-04
None
src: migration.gov.gr · verified 2026-06-28
Family inclusion #spouse; dependent children; dependent parents
value on the programme page
spouse; unmarried children up to 21 (renewable to 24 if students); parents of both spouses (no upper age limit, no dependency proof)
value on the programme page
Path to citizenship #Italian citizenship by naturalisation after ~10 years of legal residence (subject to language B1 and other requirements).
src: investorvisa.mise.gov.it · verified 2026-06-04
7 years of actual residence in Greece (must spend majority of time in Greece, pass language exam, demonstrate integration)
src: migration.gov.gr · verified 2026-03-20
Government fees #Published schedule on the programme page
src: investorvisa.mise.gov.it · verified 2026-06-04
Fully itemised in the calculator above
src: migration.gov.gr · verified 2026-06-28
Mirabello Index composite #75 / 100 · rank 26 of 69
from the published Index, 2026 Q3 Edition
76.3 / 100 · rank 21 of 69Leads on this metric
from the published Index, 2026 Q3 Edition

Read the full Italy Investor Visa guide  ·  Read the full Greece Golden Visa guide

Process, side by side

What does the application process look like?

🇮🇹 Italy Investor Visa

  1. Phase 1, Apply online via investorvisa.mise.gov.it for the nulla osta (certificate of no impediment) from the Investor Visa for Italy Committee; decision targeted within 30 days. Nulla osta valid for 6 months.
  2. Phase 2, Within the nulla osta validity, apply for the investor entry visa at the Italian consulate (typically issued within ~30 days); enter Italy.
  3. Phase 3, Within 8 working days of entry, apply for the two-year investor residence permit at the local Questura; complete the investment/donation within 3 months of entry.
  4. Renewal, Residence permit renewable for three-year periods provided the investment is maintained (no minimum-stay condition).

🇬🇷 Greece Golden Visa

  1. Property search and selection (2-8 weeks)
  2. Legal due diligence and purchase agreement (2-4 weeks)
  3. Property acquisition and notarisation (1-2 weeks)
  4. Apply for Greek tax number (AFM) and open bank account
  5. Submit Golden Visa application to migration authority with all documentation
  6. Biometrics appointment at local immigration office
  7. Application review and background checks (8-16 weeks)
  8. Residence permit card issuance
  9. Permit renewal every 5 years (property must be retained)

Stages and durations are indicative, from published guidance and Mirabello casework; individual files vary.

Risk and change

Has anything changed recently?

2026-07-01Greece Golden Visa · Permit validity and residence cards (Law 5275/2026, in force 6 February 2026)

Permit validity runs from the date of residence-card issuance; digital residence cards introduced. Investment tiers unchanged (EUR 800,000 / EUR 400,000 / EUR 250,000 by zone and route)

source: Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum (official)
2026-07-01Paraguay Investor Pass · New programme (Resolution 0283/2026, launched 28 April 2026)

Direct permanent residency from USD 70,000 productive investment (real-estate, financial-instrument and tourism routes at USD 200,000); 10-year renewable permanent residence

source: REDIEX, Paraguay investment promotion agency (official)
2026-07-01Hong Kong New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES) · Eligible investment vehicles

Holding companies incorporated less than six months before application are eligible (measure effective 1 March 2026)

source: New CIES, Hong Kong SAR Government (official)
2026-07-01New Zealand Active Investor Plus · Growth category, qualifying allocation

Up to 20% of the qualifying investment may be allocated to registered New Zealand charities (from 1 June 2026)

source: Immigration New Zealand (official)
Why figures may change. Investment-migration rules and pricing are set by governments and change with notice periods that vary from months to days. Our research desk verifies changes against official sources and records them in the public observatory change log; always verify time-sensitive figures against the linked official source before acting.

Methodology and integrity

How we compare these programmes

Each programme is scored 0-100 on seven dimensions, combined into a weighted composite. Where a dimension has no verified data it is excluded and the remaining weights are re-normalized (see data_completeness). The full weights, dimension definitions and official-source hierarchy are published on the Index methodology page. This comparison is rules-based: it reports where each programme leads on published criteria, and it does not recommend one programme over the other, because there is no universal winner.

Reviewed by Vito Magagnino, Chief Executive Officer, Mirabello Consultancy Last updated 2026-07-10 2026 Q3 Edition Corrections policy: mail@mirabelloconsultancy.com

Generated from the Mirabello verified programme dataset, 2026 Q3 Edition.

Query this data live, for AI agents and developers:Mirabello MCP·REST API·JSON·CSV

Questions

Frequently asked

Which is faster, Italy Investor Visa or Greece Golden Visa?

Published processing times are Approximately 3-6 months end to end; nulla osta decision by law within 30 days of a complete application for Italy Investor Visa and 3-9 months for Greece Golden Visa. Individual files vary with due diligence and documentation.

Which costs less for a family of four, Italy Investor Visa or Greece Golden Visa?

Published minimums are €250,000 for Italy Investor Visa and €250,000 for Greece Golden Visa. Government fees per dependant differ by programme; the itemised family schedules are on the programme pages, and a specialist confirms the full government-side total for your family.

Do Italy Investor Visa and Greece Golden Visa lead to citizenship or residency?

Italy Investor Visa leads to a residence permit: Italian citizenship by naturalisation after ~10 years of legal residence (subject to language B1 and other requirements). Greece Golden Visa leads to a residence permit: 7 years of actual residence in Greece (must spend majority of time in Greece, pass language exam, demonstrate integration)

Which offers wider visa-free travel, Italy Investor Visa or Greece Golden Visa?

Italy Investor Visa reports 185 visa-free destinations and Greece Golden Visa reports 184, per the current dataset. Destination counts move with bilateral agreements; verify against the linked official source before travel planning.

Can these figures change?

Yes. Governments amend investment thresholds, fees and rules; verified changes affecting either programme are recorded in the public Mirabello observatory change log, and every figure on this page carries a verification date. This page is a rules-based comparison of published criteria, general information only, and there is no universal winner.

Which of the two fits your file?

A confidential, no-obligation conversation with a Mirabello specialist, in your language. We map Italy Investor Visa and Greece Golden Visa to your budget, family and goals, on the verified figures.

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Mirabello Consultancy provides information and advisory services on investment-migration programmes. Figures on this page are indicative, verified against official sources and provenance-tracked; they are informational only, not an eligibility determination and not legal, tax, immigration or investment advice. Programme terms change; confirm the detail with a specialist and seek independent advice where appropriate.

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