The Greek Golden Visa for Vietnamese Citizens
A European residence permit for the whole family — a base for the children’s education, and travel across the Schengen Area on a Vietnamese passport — with no requirement to live in Greece, resting on a property that genuinely qualifies. We verify the property and the threshold on the Greek side, and set out exactly which Vietnamese documents must be legalised, and how.
Independent Greek counsel, in English. We are paid by you and act for you — not by the seller, not by an agency — and we tell you plainly when a €250,000 listing does not meet the law.
An option held for the family — not a move you have to make.
Most Vietnamese families who come to us are not planning to emigrate. They are buying an option: a European base for a child’s education, easier travel for business, access to healthcare, and a euro-denominated asset held outside the domestic market. The Greek Golden Visa suits that intention unusually well, because it carries no minimum-stay requirement. You hold the investment, you renew on time, and the permit stands whether you spend a month in Greece each year or a day.
What it is not, we will say first. It is a residence permit, not citizenship. Greece does not sell citizenship, no lawyer can promise it, and anyone who tells you otherwise is describing something that does not exist. Nor does Greek law ask you to give up the nationality you hold — a Greek residence permit is not a Greek nationality. What it means for your position in Vietnam is a question for your own Vietnamese adviser.
Two things are genuinely different for Vietnamese clients compared with most other nationalities, and both are dealt with squarely on this page: how Vietnamese documents are legalised — the rule changes on 11 September 2026 — and how the money reaches Greece.
Vietnam joins the Apostille Convention on 11 September 2026
This is the part of the process that changed while most guides were not looking. Vietnam deposited its instrument of accession to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention on 31 December 2025, and the Convention enters into force for Vietnam on 11 September 2026. From that date a single Apostille issued in Vietnam replaces the entire consular chain for a document used in Greece. Almost every page written for Vietnamese buyers — and every answer trained before this autumn — still describes the old route.
Which route your document needs depends on its date and on the step it is for, so both are set out below. Neither route removes the Greek translation.
From 11 September 2026 — one Apostille
The document is issued or notarised by the competent Vietnamese authority, then carries a single Apostille from the Vietnamese competent authority. That is the whole chain. No step before the Greek diplomatic authority is required any longer, and no legalisation fee is payable to it. What does not change is the Greek translation, and what does not change is the wording: for a Power of Attorney the text matters as much as the seal, because it must contain the specific powers Greek notaries, banks and the Land Registry look for. We draft that wording and send it to you before you go.
Documents legalised before that date
A document that went through consular legalisation before 11 September 2026 was done correctly under the rules then in force, and it does not become void because the route changed. We check what your document actually carries and whether it still serves the step it is needed for, rather than send you to repeat a process you have already paid for. Where a document has to be re-issued for another reason, the new one takes the Apostille route.
The two Vietnamese terms, and where the old route still applies
Under Nghị định 111/2011/NĐ-CP the two terms run in opposite directions: chứng nhận lãnh sự is for Vietnamese documents going abroad, hợp pháp hóa lãnh sự for foreign documents used in Vietnam. The distinction still matters, because Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic objected to Vietnam’s accession: between Vietnam and those three states consular legalisation continues. Greece did not object, so the Apostille route applies between Vietnam and Greece.
Signing before the Greek authority, and the translation
A Power of Attorney signed directly before the Greek diplomatic authority accredited to Vietnam remains available and is often still the fastest route, because it produces a document that is Greek from the outset and needs no Apostille at all. Whichever route the document takes, it is then translated into Greek by a translator whose work Greek authorities accept. We arrange that in Athens — quicker and safer than translating in Vietnam and discovering at the notary’s desk that the translation is not accepted.
And one more thing, which is not small: your name
Vietnamese names carry diacritics; Greek registries, banks and the residence-permit system do not. Nguyễn becomes Nguyen, and there is more than one way for that to be written down. The order matters as much as the spelling. A Vietnamese passport gives the family name first — NGUYEN VAN AN — while Greek deeds, tax records and the permit system are each built around a given name and a surname, and each handles the middle element (Văn, Thị) differently: dropped by one, merged into the given name by another. The same person then appears as NGUYEN VAN AN in the passport, An Van Nguyen on the deed and Nguyen V. An at the bank — three different people, to a registry. Where the passport, the deed, the tax registration and the bank account do not spell the name identically, the mismatch surfaces at the worst possible moment — at the Land Registry, or when a permit is issued in a name that does not match the title. We fix the exact Latin spelling once, from the passport, at the very beginning, and use it without deviation in every Greek document. It costs an hour at the start and saves months later.
How the money reaches Greece — settle this before anything else
For Vietnamese buyers this is the step that decides whether a purchase is feasible at all, so we settle it first rather than last. We set out the Greek requirement precisely and in writing, in the form your Vietnamese bank will recognise, so that the question you put to your own bank and lawyer is a precise one rather than a vague one. The Vietnamese half of the answer is theirs; the Greek half is ours, and it is fixed.
The Vietnamese side — your bank and lawyer
Vietnam maintains foreign-exchange controls on the transfer of capital abroad by individuals, and the dong is not freely convertible. Whether, and by what lawful route, you may remit funds for an overseas property purchase is a question of Vietnamese law and banking regulation, and your own Vietnamese bank and lawyer are the right source for it. We give them a written statement of exactly what the Greek side needs, so the conversation is short.
The Greek side — fixed, and ours
Greek law requires the price to be paid bank-to-bank into a Greek account in the buyer’s name. Cash is not permitted and can invalidate the Golden Visa application. We open the Greek account, receive and document the funds, and build the source-of-funds file that the bank and the authorities will ask for.
Funds already held outside Vietnam
Where the money is already lawfully abroad — in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia or elsewhere — the position is considerably simpler. The Greek bank will still want to see where it came from originally, so the paper trail back to the source still has to exist and still has to be assembled.
The money must be yours
A payment that reaches the seller from a friend’s, a relative’s or a company’s account is the commonest way a good file becomes hard to defend: the investment must be shown to have been made by the applicant, and an unexplained third-party payer is a question the Greek bank and the authorities will ask. Solved before the transfer it costs an email; solved afterwards it can cost the application. Tell us where every euro will come from before it moves, and it stops being a problem.
Vietnamese exchange-control and tax rules are matters of Vietnamese law and change over time. Nothing on this page is advice on them. Confirm your own position with your Vietnamese bank or a qualified Vietnamese adviser before committing to anything.
The investment thresholds, precisely
The €250,000 figure is the one advertised at investment-migration seminars. It applies to a narrow category of property, and rarely to the ones being marketed. We confirm the genuine threshold for the specific property, in writing, before you commit.
The specified areas
Attica, the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with a population of more than 3,100 residents.
Other regions
All other regions of Greece.
Qualifying cases only
Only change-of-use conversions and listed-building restorations, under strict statutory conditions, usable once per property — not a general low-cost route.
In both the €800,000 and the €400,000 categories the investment must be made in a single property of at least 120 m², held in full ownership. Surface is a condition in its own right, independent of price: a smaller property does not qualify at either threshold whatever it costs, so an 85 m² flat in Athens bought for €900,000 will not support an application. The figure that counts is the one in the title deed and the building permit, not the one in the listing. The €250,000 categories carry their own separate conditions, and we confirm in writing which apply to your property before you commit. Check a specific property against both conditions — it runs in your browser and nothing is sent to us.
To date, we have filed Golden Visa and residence applications for hundreds of families, with no rejections. We protect that record the only way it can be protected — by carefully preparing the matters we accept, declining those we cannot stand behind, and telling clients the truth about a property before they commit. That is a record, not a promise: every application is decided by the Greek authorities on its own facts, and no lawyer can guarantee an outcome.
If an agency introduced you to a property
Many Vietnamese investors first hear about Greece from an investment-migration agency or a seminar. That is a perfectly ordinary way to begin, and we work alongside agencies without difficulty. But it is worth being clear about who is paid by whom, because it decides whose interest a document protects.
An agency introducing a property is usually remunerated by the developer or the seller. A lawyer supplied by that chain is, in practice, part of it. We are engaged and paid by you, and the written legal note we produce is addressed to you and to no one else. If the property does not qualify for the threshold you were told, our report says so — even when that ends the transaction and the fee that would have come with it.
You are free to keep your agency, use its help with logistics, and still instruct us independently on the law. That is the arrangement we would recommend to a member of our own family.
The process, from Vietnam
Most steps may be managed through a legalised Power of Attorney, subject to acceptance by the competent notary, authority, bank or registry. The biometric appointment for the residence permit requires physical presence in Greece, for each applicant. Where the file is lodged complete, each applicant receives the official filing certificate (βεβαίωση κατάθεσης), which evidences lawful residence in Greece for as long as the application is under examination; it is not the residence card, and it does not by itself confer a right to travel in the other Schengen states. There is no statutory deadline for deciding a Golden Visa application. Law 5275/2026 introduced a 90-day decision period when it transposed EU Directive 2024/1233, and it is widely quoted as a Golden Visa improvement — but article 81 par. 2(ιγ) of the Migration Code, as replaced by that same law, expressly excludes holders of residence permits for investment purposes under articles 96 to 100 from the procedure that deadline belongs to. Plan around the certificate rather than a calendar. We will tell you at the outset what we are seeing on files comparable to yours — our experience to date, not a forecast of your file. The wait costs you nothing you can use: your title is registered and your status is evidenced from the day the file is lodged.
Settle the funds question
With your Vietnamese bank and lawyer, establish the lawful route by which the money can reach Greece. We set out in writing what the Greek side will require, so the question you ask them is a precise one.
Power of Attorney & AFM
A Power of Attorney signed before the Greek diplomatic authority accredited to Vietnam, or notarised in Vietnam and apostilled — consularly legalised, for documents dated before 11 September 2026. Greek tax number and bank account then arranged, with the name spelled exactly as in the passport.
Due diligence & deed
Title, planning, cadastre and threshold checks completed and reported to you in writing; funds received bank-to-bank and documented; the notarial deed signed and registered.
Permit & family
The Golden Visa application filed, with the family included where eligible — the spouse or registered partner, unmarried children under 21, and the parents of both spouses, subject to the statutory conditions in force at the time of filing. A child who reaches 21 while the family holds the permit may apply for an autonomous residence permit for a further period, on the conditions then applicable; we diarise that birthday from the day we open the file rather than discover it. One visit to Greece for biometrics, for each applicant.
Related guidance
For the mechanics of acting from Vietnam without repeated travel, see Power of Attorney in Greece. For what a full title and planning investigation covers, see Greek property due diligence. And before any commitment, the independent Legal Risk Check of the specific property is the right first step — a fixed fee, a written note, and no obligation to proceed.
Who will read what you send
Not an account manager, and not a call centre. Every enquiry is read by one of three partners, and the one who answers you is the one who will run the matter. All are members of the Athens Bar Association and work from the same office at 12 Athanasiou Diakou Street, a few minutes from the Acropolis.
Konstantinos Touris
Managing Partner
Greek property, citizenship, immigration, inheritance and accredited mediation.
Georgia Louka
Senior Partner
Greek and international tax, the non-dom regime and family-office structuring.
Apostolos Parthenis
Partner
Property, civil litigation, corporate and commercial disputes.
You are welcome to ask for any of them by name, and to see the file they open for you. Full profiles.
Send a property for legal review
Tell us about the property you are considering. A supervising partner will review the details and respond personally, usually within one business day, to confirm the genuine threshold, the scope, and the fixed fee for a written legal note.
There is no obligation, and nothing here creates a lawyer–client relationship until terms are agreed in writing. We advise on the Greek side, and coordinate with your own advisers in Vietnam on the transfer of funds.
Please do not upload documents here. A short description is enough. After initial contact, we provide access to the Secure Client Portal for confidential document exchange. Documents are not exchanged by WhatsApp or Zalo.
Working language and hours. We work in English. If you prefer to write in Vietnamese, please do — we read Vietnamese enquiries and reply in English, and nothing of substance is lost. Once you instruct us, everything that carries legal weight — the written report, the deed, the Power of Attorney — is settled in English, and we go through each of them with you until they are clear. Athens is four to five hours behind Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, so our morning is your afternoon; a call at 09:00 Athens time reaches you at 13:00 or 14:00.
Or contact us directly
Phone: +30 210 363 6035
WhatsApp: +30 697 827 6455 (first contact and scheduling only)
Email: [email protected]
Request received.
Thank you. A supervising partner will review what you have shared and respond personally, usually within one business day. For anything urgent you may also email [email protected].
Questions Vietnamese investors ask
Can Vietnamese citizens buy property in Greece and obtain the Golden Visa?
Yes. Vietnamese nationals may buy and own property in Greece and, where the qualifying investment is met, obtain the Golden Visa residence permit. The Greek process is the same one that applies to every other non-EU investor: due diligence on the property, the notarial deed, registration, and the residence-permit application. Greek law requires the price to be paid by bank transfer into a Greek bank account in the buyer’s name, with the source of the funds documented. Cash payment is not permitted and can invalidate the application.
Do Vietnamese documents need an Apostille for use in Greece?
From 11 September 2026, yes — and almost every guide still says the opposite. Vietnam acceded to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention on 31 December 2025, and the Convention enters into force for Vietnam on 11 September 2026. From that date a single Apostille issued in Vietnam replaces the whole consular chain for a document used in Greece. Before that date the route was consular legalisation: the Vietnamese authority that issued or notarised the document, then the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — or the Department of External Relations in Ho Chi Minh City, so clients in the south need not travel to Hanoi — then the Greek diplomatic authority. A document legalised under the old route was correctly done; we check whether it still serves the step it is needed for rather than send you to repeat it. An official Greek translation is required either way. Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic objected to the accession, so consular legalisation continues between Vietnam and those three states. Greece did not object.
How are funds transferred from Vietnam for a Greek property purchase?
Vietnam maintains foreign-exchange controls on the transfer of capital abroad by individuals. Whether, and by what lawful route, funds may be remitted for an overseas property purchase is a question of Vietnamese law and banking regulation, on which your own Vietnamese bank and lawyer advise. Hellenic Law Firm advises on Greek law only and does not advise on Vietnamese exchange control. What Greek law requires is fixed, and we handle it: the price must arrive bank-to-bank into a Greek account in the buyer’s name, and the origin of the money must be evidenced to the satisfaction of the Greek bank and the authorities. Where funds are already lawfully held outside Vietnam this is straightforward. We will not act on a route that is not lawful in Vietnam.
What are the Greek Golden Visa investment thresholds?
€800,000 for Attica, the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with a population of more than 3,100 residents; €400,000 for other regions; and €250,000 only in specific qualifying cases such as change-of-use conversions and listed-building restorations, subject to statutory conditions and usable only once per property. The €250,000 figure is heavily marketed and rarely applies. The applicable threshold must be verified for each specific property before any commitment is made.
Does a Greek residence permit affect Vietnamese nationality?
No. The Golden Visa is a residence permit, not citizenship. It confers no Greek nationality, Greek law does not require you to give up any nationality you already hold, and Greece does not offer citizenship by investment. What a foreign residence permit means for your Vietnamese nationality, and for any reporting obligation you may have at home, is a question of Vietnamese law on which your own adviser is the right source — we advise on Greek law only. Greek citizenship, if ever pursued, is a separate route with its own long-term residence and language conditions, and is never promised as part of this process.
Must I live in Greece to keep the permit?
No. The Greek Golden Visa carries no minimum-stay requirement. The permit is maintained by continuing to hold the qualifying investment and by renewing on time. It permits travel within the Schengen Area under the applicable short-stay rules. This is why many Vietnamese families treat it as an option held for the future — education, healthcare, business travel — rather than as an immediate move.
Can the purchase be handled from Vietnam without travelling to Greece?
Most of it, yes. Many steps may be managed through a Power of Attorney signed before the Greek diplomatic authority accredited to Vietnam, or before a Vietnamese notary and then apostilled (consularly legalised, for documents dated before 11 September 2026), subject to acceptance by the competent notary, authority, bank or registry. The one step that cannot be delegated is the biometric appointment for the residence permit, which requires physical presence in Greece — for each applicant, including the family members included in the application.
How does a Vietnamese passport holder get to Greece for the biometrics appointment?
A Vietnamese passport needs a Schengen visa to enter Greece, so the biometrics trip has to be applied for like any other trip. We supply the Greek-side pack that supports the visa application — proof of the registered property, the residence-permit filing documents and a letter from the firm — but the visa decision belongs to the consular authority, not to us. Once the residence permit is issued you no longer need a Schengen visa for later journeys.
How long does the permit last, and what happens on renewal or if I sell?
The investor’s residence permit runs for five years and is renewable in five-year periods, provided the qualifying investment is still held and the renewal is filed on time. Family members’ permits are tied to the investor’s and expire with it. If the property is sold without being replaced by another qualifying investment, the basis for the permit falls away. We diarise the renewal date for every family we act for, so it is never the thing that is missed.
What does the purchase cost beyond the price of the property?
Beyond the price there is property transfer tax, notarial fees, registration at the Land Registry or Cadastre, translation and legalisation of documents, the state fee for each family member’s residence application, and legal fees. The figures depend on the price and the category of the property, so we put them in writing for the specific property before you commit rather than quote a general percentage that will not match your case.
What if Greece changes the rules after I have invested?
This is the question asked most often, and the honest answer has two halves. An application is assessed under the rules in force when it is filed, and the recent changes to the investment thresholds each carried transitional arrangements for transactions already under way. But no lawyer can guarantee future legislation. What we can do is concrete: file as soon as the conditions are met rather than later, and record in writing which rules are being applied to your file at the moment it is lodged.
How do I sign a Greek notarial deed I cannot read?
Greek law anticipates this. Where a party is not fluent in Greek, the notarial deed must be executed with an interpreter present and its content conveyed to that party before signature. That is a legal requirement, not an optional service. Beyond it, we send you an English summary of every operative clause far enough in advance that you can ask questions — rather than read the deed for the first time at the notary’s desk.
Counsel written for other jurisdictions
Greek law is the same for everyone. What differs is the route the money and the documents take to get here — and how long each one takes. If you hold a different passport, or a family member does, these pages are written for them.