Greece plans to introduce legislation in January 2026 to refine how its Golden Visa residence permits are issued, with a focus on fixing backdated permit validity, simplifying renewals and family reunification, and easing a large administrative backlog.
Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris recently outlined the plan in Athens during an address to the Consular Corps, describing it as part of a broader overhaul of Greece’s immigration system. In the same remarks, he linked the upcoming Golden Visa changes to wider reforms that began several months earlier, including tougher measures on illegal entry.
Alongside procedural streamlining, the government’s push is also clearly shaped by the scale of pending files. According to reports, the Golden Visa backlog exceeded 49,000 pending applications at one point in July, even though processing momentum improved during 2025.
The Backdated Permit Problem: Why Investors Lose Time
Under current practice, Greece often counts the residence card’s validity from the application filing date, not from the date the card is actually issued. Because issuance can take months and in some cases more than a year, many applicants receive a card that effectively provides less than the intended five years of validity once it finally arrives.
The January 2026 bill is expected to switch that calculation so the five-year validity period starts on the issuance date, ensuring the physical residence card reflects the full term applicants are meant to receive.
This is not a small administrative tweak. For many investors, the card’s printed validity dates drive real-world planning: travel, renewals, family member documentation, and dealings with banks, schools, and public services. Fixing the backdating issue is meant to reduce friction and restore predictability for applicants navigating Greece’s system.
Backlog Pressure, Family Reunification, and Citizenship Timelines
The reform is also expected to streamline renewal and family reunification procedures, reducing steps and improving throughput, two pressure points that become more visible when queues swell.
On backlog, reporting shows processing has strengthened in 2025, with approvals increasingly outpacing new intake in some months and the overall pending caseload beginning to decline from earlier highs, evidence that the administration is actively trying to decongest the system.
Crucially, the proposal is framed as an administrative and permit-validity fix, not a change to citizenship policy. The reporting indicates that the reform would affect what is printed on the residence card, while citizenship and long-term residence timelines remain calculated under existing legal residence rules.
If implemented as described, Greece’s January 2026 bill would aim to make the Golden Visa process more coherent on the ground: fewer procedural bottlenecks, clearer permit validity, and less uncertainty for investors and families waiting in the system.
