Rental income from a Dubai apartment, dividends from a portfolio built over fifteen years in the Gulf, a pension that starts paying next year. If that describes your income, and Greece describes your plan, the Financially Independent Person permit is the route the Greek Migration Code wrote for you. It also carries one rule that catches people out, so read to the end before you print bank statements.
At a glance
- Greece’s Financially Independent Person permit (type I.8) is granted for three years and can be renewed for an equal period.
- The minimum income is €3,500 a month, increased by 20% for a spouse and 15% for each child.
- Proof can be a foreign pension, a bank account or other lawful means of your own; periodic income is assessed monthly, deposits annually.
- The permit gives no right to employment or any independent economic activity in Greece, for you or your family.
- UAE residents lodge the D visa application through VFS Global in Abu Dhabi or Dubai.
What the Financially Independent Person permit actually is
Greece’s Migration Code, Law 5038/2023, sets out the category in Article 163, paragraph 8, as residence permit type I.8. It is granted by decision of the Secretary of the Decentralized Administration to people who hold sufficient resources at the level of a stable annual income to cover their living expenses.
The permit is valid for three years and can be renewed for an equal period. The test is about stable income, not about buying anything: there is no property or investment requirement.
The route starts outside Greece. As at September 2026 the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes the long-term national visa, the D visa, as an authorisation for entry and stay exceeding 90 and up to 365 days, issued by the Greek consular post in your place of legal residence. You enter on the D visa, then apply for the residence permit inside Greece. We walk through the steps on our Greece Financially Independent Person visa page.
The income test: €3,500 a month and how it is counted
The figure that decides most cases comes from Joint Ministerial Decision 225679/2024, published in the Government Gazette on 17 September 2024. For applicants entering on a national visa to obtain this permit, it sets sufficient resources at a minimum of €3,500 per month.
If family members come with you, the same decision raises that amount by 20% for a spouse and by 15% for each child. It also says what counts as proof and how it is assessed.
| Requirement | What the official source states |
|---|---|
| Legal basis | Law 5038/2023, Article 163 §8, residence permit type I.8 |
| Minimum income | €3,500 per month (Joint Ministerial Decision 225679/2024) |
| Family uplift | Plus 20% for a spouse and 15% for each child |
| Accepted proof | A foreign pension, a bank account, or other evidence of adequate own means of proven lawful origin |
| How it is assessed | Monthly where income is periodic (pension, salary, dividends from abroad); annually for other sources such as bank deposits |
| Permit validity | Three years, renewable for an equal period |
| Work rights | None: no dependent employment or independent economic activity in Greece for the holder or family |
The analogy we use in our Dubai office: the authority wants to see a river, not just a lake. A pension or dividend stream is a river with a measured flow, checked month by month. A lump of savings is a lake, and the decision lets them measure the lake by the year instead. Both can pass, and both must show lawful origin.
The rule that trips people up: no work in Greece
Article 163 paragraph 8(c) says the permit does not provide the right to dependent employment or independent economic activity of any form in Greece. That covers the main applicant, the spouse or partner, and family members.
We see the temptation every week. Someone who has left a Dubai job plans to take on Greek clients from a village on Crete. A spouse wants to open a small studio. Neither is allowed. The income decision repeats the point: the funds must cover living expenses without dependent employment or independent economic activity in Greece.
One narrow exception applies at renewal. A third-country national already legally resident in Greece who receives a pension from a Greek public social security fund, regardless of amount, can renew as a financially independent person without meeting the sufficient-resources test. Few UAE residents fit it, but mention any Greek employment history when we assess you.
Bringing your family
Article 163 paragraph 8(b) lets family members accompany you. Each receives, on application, an individual residence permit that expires at the same time as yours. The sufficient-resources condition can be met either by each family member individually or cumulatively across the whole family.
That suits a household where one spouse holds the pension and the other the rental property. The arithmetic does not change: 20% for a spouse and 15% for each child, added to the €3,500 base.
Where the permit leads: long-term residence after five years
The question we hear most in our Abu Dhabi office: if I cannot work, does this permit lead anywhere? The Ministry of Migration and Asylum answered it in a circular. Holding a permit that does not give labour-market access is not an obstacle to long-term resident status, and any lawful and regularly taxed income, not only employment income, can count toward the income test.
The current rules sit in Articles 144 and 145 of the Migration Code. To qualify you need:
- Five years of lawful and continuous residence in Greece immediately before the application.
- Income sufficient for you and your family, not drawn from Greek social assistance, and not lower than the annual earnings of a person paid the national minimum wage, increased by 10% for all dependent family members.
- Full sickness insurance covering the same range of benefits available to insured Greek nationals in the corresponding category, and covering your family members.
- An integration condition, met in one of four ways: sufficient knowledge of the Greek language plus elements of Greek history and culture; a permanent residence card as a family member of a Greek citizen; twelve years of lawful residence in Greece; or a Special Identity Card of a person of Greek descent.
Two details for frequent travellers. Absences of less than six consecutive months, and not exceeding ten months in total within the five years, still count toward the qualifying period. And once you file a complete application, the competent authority must issue its decision within six months.
Note that this income bar is pegged to the national minimum wage, not to the €3,500 figure that opened the door.
Income route or investment route?
Enterprise Greece, the state investment promotion agency, describes the residence-by-investment programme as offering property purchase, greenfield and brownfield projects, and investment in bonds and securities. The investment route has no passive-income test, while the Financially Independent Person permit has no investment requirement at all.
Many UAE residents also weigh Greece against its neighbours, so compare Portugal and Spain’s non-lucrative visa, or browse every country we serve.
From the UAE: what this means for you
The practical path for a Dubai or Abu Dhabi resident, as the official pages describe it:
- Lodge through VFS Global. The Embassy of Greece in Abu Dhabi has outsourced the collection of visa applications and biometric data to VFS Global. You lodge at the VFS centre in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, and VFS charges its own service fee in addition to the consular visa fee.
- Apply for the D visa. The Ministry defines it as entry and stay exceeding 90 and up to 365 days, issued by the consular post in your place of legal residence.
- Meet the general D visa conditions. The Embassy’s page requires travel insurance with a duration at least equal to the visa issued, covering repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical care and emergency hospital care. It also lists a criminal record certificate and a medical certificate confirming the absence of a disease that poses a public-health risk.
- Prepare income evidence in the form the decision names. A foreign pension, a bank account, or other evidence of your own means with proof of lawful origin. UAE bank statements and pension letters are the everyday forms of that.
- Carry the proof to the airport. The Ministry states that possession of a visa does not automatically confer the right to enter. Border authorities can check the purpose of the journey and whether entry conditions are met, and you must be able to show the necessary financial resources for your stay on entry.
On timelines: no official source we reviewed states a processing time for the initial visa and permit, so we will not quote one. The only official deadline we found is the six-month decision limit at the later long-term residence stage.
Frequently asked questions
Can my spouse or I do any paid work while on the permit?
The law gives no right to dependent employment or independent economic activity of any form in Greece, for the main applicant, spouse or partner, and family members. Raise any plan to earn while in Greece with us before you apply, not after you arrive.
Does the €3,500 have to be a monthly pension?
No. The decision accepts a foreign pension, a bank account, or other evidence of adequate own means of proven lawful origin. Periodic income such as a pension, salary or dividends from abroad is assessed monthly; other sources, such as bank deposits, annually.
How long does the permit last, and can it lead to long-term residence?
Three years, renewable for an equal period. After five years of lawful and continuous residence you can apply for long-term resident status if you meet the income, insurance and integration tests.
What to do next
Start with a free eligibility assessment. We will look at your income sources and the evidence you can produce from the UAE, then tell you plainly whether this permit fits. Call us on 04 357 7796, or book a 20-minute review through our contact page. Our process is set out on the how we work page. We do not promise outcomes: the decision belongs to the Greek authorities, and our job is to make sure your file gives them what the law asks for.
Sources
- Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ) Α’ 81/01.04.2023 — Law 5038/2023 “Migration Code”, Articles 144, 145 and 163 — accessed 13 Sep 2026
- Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ) Β’ 5223/17.09.2024 — Joint Ministerial Decision 225679/2024, Article 1 — accessed 13 Sep 2026
- Ministry of Migration and Asylum — circular no. 662375 (07.11.2022) on long-term resident status — accessed 13 Sep 2026
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece — Embassy of Greece in Abu Dhabi, Visas — accessed 13 Sep 2026
- Enterprise Greece — Online Event for the Greek Golden Visa — accessed 13 Sep 2026
Not sure which route fits you? Book a free eligibility assessment with our Dubai or Abu Dhabi team. No obligation.
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