Golden Visa property purchases can now be paid for via cards abroad

An amendment to a bill for spurring investments that is currently being debated in Parliament seeks to include payments conducted from January 1, 2017 via credit or debit card in the Golden Visa program for granting residence permits to foreign nationals making real estate purchases worth at least 250,000 euros.

The amendment tabled by Development and Investment Minister Adonis Georgiadis legitimizes payments that had become the subject of some controversy last year after it emerged that National Bank officials and the former vice chairman of the Jumbo homeware and toy retailer were involved in a case of property transactions with Chinese nationals through card terminals in China, which were in violation of capital controls in China.

Georgiadis defended the amendment, arguing that the revelation of that case froze the interest of Chinese investors, though Golden Visa figures show quite the opposite.

Source:dw.com