Before you start

A nationality check: EU, EEA and Swiss citizens register after 90 days; everyone else needs a visa and a permit
A passport with adequate validity, and for non-EU routes an apostilled criminal-record certificate officially translated into Greek
Proof of income or investment matching your route
Private health insurance valid in Greece, until you are enrolled in EFKA/EOPYY
A Greek tax number (AFM) and social security number (AMKA)

Step-by-step

1
Confirm your route, and check the investment threshold for THIS regional unit
If you are considering the property investment route, the threshold in the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki is €800,000, the same as Attica — not the €400,000 that applies to most of the country. The investment must be in a single property, and a built property or one with a building permit must have main areas of at least 120 square metres. Only conversions of commercial buildings to residential use and restorations of listed buildings remain at €250,000.
OnlineWho: You, with a Greek lawyerBefore you commit to anything
2
Non-EU: apply for the national entry visa at a Greek consulate
Lodge the type-D application in your country of residence for the route you have chosen. Consular appointment waits vary enormously by post and are frequently the longest part of the timeline.
In personWho: YouConsular appointment plus processing
3
Get your AFM in your first week
The tax number is issued by the local tax office (ΔΟΥ) or through gov.gr with AADE, and it is free. It gates the lease, the lease registration, the bank account, the phone contract and the job. An accountant can obtain it under power of attorney if you are not yet in the country.
In personWho: You, or an accountant under power of attorneyOften same day at a DOYFree if you do it yourself
4
Get your AMKA at a KEP
The social security number is issued at a KEP citizens' service centre or an e-EFKA branch, free and usually same day, with your passport, AFM and proof of address. Non-EU applicants need the residence permit first, which is why the private insurance requirement bridges your first year.
In personWho: YouSame dayFree
5
Lodge the residence permit application and keep the blue receipt
Non-EU nationals convert the entry visa into a residence permit through the Ministry of Migration and Asylum's decentralised directorate. On submission with biometrics you receive the βεβαίωση κατάθεσης — the blue receipt — which legalises your stay and permits travel while the card is produced. Do not lose it and do not leave the country without it.
In personWho: You, usually with an immigration lawyerCard typically issued in months; the receipt covers the gap
6
Register the lease with AADE — it is the document everything else wants
Your landlord must declare the lease electronically to the tax authority. That registered lease is what you present for the residence permit, the utility connections and the bank. An unregistered handshake arrangement leaves you with no protection and blocks the entire bureaucratic chain, however good the flat is.
OnlineWho: Your landlord, with your AFMAt signing

Documents you’ll need

Valid passport with copies of all pages
Biometric-specification passport photographs
Apostilled criminal-record certificate, officially translated into Greek (non-EU routes)
Proof of income, funds or the property investment matching your route
Private health insurance policy valid in Greece
AFM and AMKA
Registered lease or notarised property deed

Things most newcomers don’t know

Thessaloniki is in the €800,000 Golden Visa band, not the €400,000 one.

Law 5100/2024 names the Region of Attica, the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Thira and islands over 3,100 inhabitants in the higher band, with €400,000 covering the rest of Greece. The intuitive reasoning — second city, so second tier — is wrong, and it is wrong by €400,000. Anyone shown a Thessaloniki property as a €400,000 route is either being misled or is dealing with someone working from pre-2024 material.

Source: Law 5100/2024; Greek Golden Visa investment thresholds

The 120-square-metre floor and the single-property rule bite as hard as the price.

Under the current framework the investment must be in one property rather than a portfolio, and where the property is built or permitted its main areas must total at least 120 square metres. In a city whose central housing stock is largely mid-century apartments well under that size, this rules out a great deal of what a buyer would otherwise consider. The two exceptions — commercial-to-residential conversion and restoration of a listed building at €250,000 — carry no surface minimum, which is precisely why they are now the interesting routes here.

Source: Law 5100/2024; Ministry of Migration and Asylum

The AFM comes before the flat, not after it.

A landlord cannot register your lease with AADE without your tax number, and the registered lease is what the residence permit, the utility companies and the bank all ask for. So a newcomer who starts by flat-hunting reaches an agreement they cannot execute. Get the AFM in week one, even before you know which district you want.

Source: AADE / gov.gr

The blue receipt is your legal status, and people treat it as a placeholder.

Residence cards take months to produce and the βεβαίωση κατάθεσης issued on submission is what legalises your stay and permits travel in the meantime. It is a piece of paper that looks unimportant and is not. Photograph it, keep the original safe, carry it when you travel, and do not leave the country without it.

Source: Ministry of Migration and Asylum

Common mistakes to avoid

Budgeting €400,000 for a Thessaloniki property route when the threshold here is €800,000.
Assuming a small central apartment qualifies — built properties need at least 120 square metres of main areas.
Treating the Schengen 90-in-180 tourist allowance as a way to live here.
Flat-hunting before you have an AFM, so no lease can be registered.
Bringing a criminal-record certificate that is not apostilled and officially translated into Greek.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

Make it your personal checklist

Globe Quest turns this into a tracked, AI-personalized plan for Thessaloniki — timed to your move date, with reminders so nothing slips. Free to start.