For decades, Greece occupied a complicated position in the minds of international investors: a country of undeniable appeal, but one whose regulatory complexity and administrative friction often discouraged serious capital. That picture has changed substantially, and Georgaki and Partners Law Firm has been at the centre of that transformation.

Founded on the insight that cross-border investors require a single, highly specialised counterparty to navigate complex regulatory landscapes, the firm was built with a clear institutional mission: to act as the primary gateway for international capital entering Greece, managing every phase of the investment lifecycle under a single operational roof. Today, that vision has been realised in one of the region’s most respected international law practices, operating from strategically positioned offices in Athens and Thessaloniki.

The numbers speak clearly. The firm has successfully completed over 13,000 foreign direct investments, secured more than 6,000 residency permits, and holds an unbroken 100% approval rate across all processed Golden Visa applications. Behind those figures is a highly specialised, multilingual team proficient in seven languages, advising an elite global clientele spanning five continents.

Greece as a destination for global wealth

The conditions that make Greece attractive to international capital are both structural and immediate. Geographically, Greece sits at the intersection of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, and its ongoing economic recovery has been accompanied by significant improvements to its investment environment. In 2025, Fitch revised its assessment of Greek sovereign debt, a development that carries real implications for investors assessing country risk and long-term positioning.

At the apex of Greece’s appeal is its Non-Domiciled (Non-Dom) tax regime, one of the most competitive fiscal frameworks available to high-net-worth individuals anywhere in Europe. Under this structure, qualifying foreign residents pay a flat annual tax of €100,000 EUR on all worldwide foreign-sourced income, regardless of the actual amount earned, for a period of 15 years. Coverage can be extended to family members for an additional €20,000 EUR per person per year. Crucially, participants are exempt from the standard 180-day annual physical presence mandate to qualify as Greek tax residents. This makes the framework exceptionally flexible for internationally mobile individuals, requiring only the formal transfer of their tax residency to Greece.

Alongside the Non-Dom regime, Greece offers a 7% flat tax on foreign pension income for eligible retirees, and a 50% income tax exemption for professionals and entrepreneurs relocating to the country. For the right profile of investor, the fiscal case for Greece is now genuinely difficult to ignore.

An integrated practice for international investors

What distinguishes Georgaki and Partners from narrower legal service providers is the breadth and depth of its integrated offering. The firm’s practice is architected to provide comprehensive support across every dimension of the investment journey, from initial structuring through to long-term wealth preservation.

Corporate structuring sits at the foundation. The firm advises international clients on establishing and structuring legal entities in Greece across the full spectrum of complexity, from straightforward company formations to sophisticated multi-layered corporate arrangements. Governance, banking, tax compliance, and ongoing regulatory obligations are all managed within a single client relationship.

Banking and finance capabilities extend from assisting clients in opening Greek bank accounts through to complex regulatory compliance advisory, domestic financing structures, and enforcement risk management. The firm has advised some of the world’s largest international investors in Greece on their financing requirements, bringing both technical expertise and practical institutional knowledge to bear.

Tax planning for a global client base

Tax planning is among the firm’s most critical service areas, and for good reason. International clients frequently bring assets, income streams, and corporate structures spanning multiple jurisdictions, and the interaction between those arrangements and Greek tax law demands careful, strategic counsel. Georgaki and Partners provides advice on tax residency, international tax obligations, and the full range of Greece’s available incentive regimes, with particular depth in the Non-Dom framework.

In practice, what often begins as a Golden Visa application develops into a comprehensive long-term wealth planning strategy. The firm’s expertise in structuring residency and investment arrangements to leverage Greece’s fiscal advantages has made this evolution a common feature of its client work.

The Golden Visa and investment migration

Golden Visa and investment migration is the practice area for which Georgaki and Partners is best known internationally. The firm has operated in this space since the programme’s early years and has built an unmatched depth of knowledge across its procedures, requirements, and legislative evolution.

The Greek Golden Visa grants a five-year renewable residence permit, extendable indefinitely provided the qualifying investment is maintained. It covers the investor’s spouse, children, and the parents of both spouses under a single application, provides Schengen Area travel rights, and carries no minimum stay requirement in Greece. Investment routes currently available include real estate purchases, with thresholds of €800,000 EUR in high-demand zones including Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and the 32 most populated islands with population above 3,100 residents and €400,000 EUR across all other regions of Greece.

Commercial-to-residential property conversions qualify at €250,000 EUR across all regions. Term deposits of at least €500,000 EUR in a Greek financial institution, mutual funds, or qualifying financial products, and investment in Greek companies that create or maintain employment are also available pathways. Beyond flexible residency, the Golden Visa can also serve as a pathway to Greek citizenship. This provides internationally mobile investors and their families the opportunity to fully integrate and secure a European passport, provided they maintain their investment and meet the standard naturalisation requirements.

The firm also advises on residency as a Financially Independent Person and on Digital Nomad visas, managing the full process from eligibility assessment through to the consular stage, including liaison with Greek Consular Authorities worldwide and coordination of mandatory Type D Visa appointments. Legislation in this area continues to evolve: the February 2026 amendment under Law 5275/2026, which modifies Law 5038/2023, introduced a requirement for a National Type D Visa to be obtained at the consular level before a local residency application can be submitted in Greece. Staying ahead of such developments is a core part of what the firm provides.

FDI compliance and the regulatory landscape

Greece’s investment environment shifted considerably in 2025 with the enactment of Law 5202/2025, which introduced a mandatory Foreign Direct Investment screening regime that became fully operational in November 2025. Under it, foreign investors must obtain pre-clearance before completing acquisitions in sensitive sectors including energy, transport, healthcare, and digital infrastructure, with additional scrutiny applying to defence and cybersecurity. There is no minimum transaction value threshold, meaning any investment in a covered sector requires notification regardless of size, with review timelines potentially exceeding five months in complex cases.

Georgaki and Partners advises clients on whether their investment triggers a notification obligation, manages the filing process end-to-end, and coordinates with parallel EU regulatory requirements where applicable.

Serving families and family offices

For international families, the firm navigates the complex cross-border estate planning, inheritance laws, and succession procedures that arise when assets are distributed globally. In parallel, for family offices, which operate as dedicated private structures managing a single family’s total wealth, the firm provides bespoke legal advisory and regulatory support.

For families relocating to Greece, whether through the Golden Visa, a Non-Dom tax transition, or a personal lifestyle decision, the legal dimension extends well beyond the initial permit. Marriage and cohabitation agreements, parental rights, custody arrangements, and long-term succession planning are all areas in which the firm regularly advises. In practice, Georgaki and Partners frequently functions as a single legal point of contact for an entire family’s affairs in Greece.

Dispute resolution and international standing

The firm maintains a recognised practice in litigation and alternative dispute resolution, handling multi-jurisdictional disputes with a command of the regulatory, economic, political, and cultural context in which legal conflicts typically arise. It is an active proponent of arbitration and mediation, which offer faster, more confidential, and less adversarial outcomes than traditional court proceedings.

That expertise is reflected in the firm’s standing on the international stage. Georgaki and Partners is a regular participant at MIPIM, the leading global real estate and investment exhibition in Cannes, where it represents the Greek market to an international audience. It is an official partner of the Investment Migration Index and contributes to the International Comparative Legal Guide, positioning it as a credible voice in international investment law.

Nineteen years in, Georgaki and Partners is no longer simply a law firm. It is a bridge between international capital and Greek opportunity, between complexity and clarity, between a world of mobile wealth and a country that is, once again, very much open for business.

About the Author: Christina Georgaki is the Founder and Managing Partner of Georgaki and Partners Law Firm, an international legal practice operating from Athens and Thessaloniki. The firm specialises in Foreign Direct Investment, investment migration, tax planning, and wealth structuring for high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Christina is a contributor to the International Comparative Legal Guide and the Legal 500’s Legal Landscapes series, and a regular commentator on Greek investment law and EU policy.