You don't have access to the job market in Greece just as a Golden Visa holder but you could be able to set up your own business anytime you feel like it with or without citizenship.
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When can I set up my own business in Greece as a Golden Visa holder?
I understand that I don’t have access to the job market in Greece just as a Golden Visa holder. Will I be able to set up a business after I apply for citizenship? Is there any way to achieve this earlier?
Answers
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You can establish a company and be a shareholder with the Golden Visa. You don't need to get citizenship for this.
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In no case does the resident permit for property owners provides access to any type of employment, but if you are interested to exercise business activity through the shareholder role in a company or as a board member, there is no restriction. Of course, if you are interested to be involved in your business activity as a legal representative this is not allowed. After the acquisition of citizenship by naturalization, there is no obstacle to this direction. According to the decision of the Minister of Interior, investors can apply for Greek citizenship after seven years of legal stay in the country. In this case, the applicants must fulfill all the preconditions of the Greek Citizenship Code applied for the acquisition of Greek citizenship by naturalization.
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Depending on the type of business you are interested in, you may proceed to set up either before applying for citizenship or afterward.
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Applying for citizenship in Greece requires seven consecutive years of living in the country and there is no need to wait that long in order to establish a company in Greece. You can definitely proceed with establishing your company with your Golden Visa residence permit. However, note that you can only supervise operations of the company as a shareholder and you need to have other employees hired to run the daily operations of the company.