Retire in Greece: the financially independent person visa income requirement and a lifetime annuity

Written by Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent · CA 4273294
Updated October 2026

The Greece retirement visa requirement in 2026

If you want to retire in Greece on income rather than a property purchase, this is the route. The financially independent person permit (often called the FIP visa) is for non-EU citizens who will live in Greece on their own means without working there. The legal basis is Article 163(8) of Law 5038/2023, and the amount comes from joint ministerial decision 225679, published in September 2024: at least €3,500 a month, net, increased by 20% for a spouse and 15% for each child (published in Government Gazette B 5223, September 17, 2024).

Applicants also need health insurance and, in practice, a lease or purchase of a home in Greece; confirm the full document list with the Greek consulate that serves your US state.

Single or married: how much income you need to retire in Greece

USD figures assume €1 = $1.17, a planning rate; the ECB reference rate was $1.1225 on 2 October 2026, so these dollar figures include about 4% of headroom.

When only one spouse has income. The decision raises the applicant’s figure by 20% for a spouse rather than asking each spouse to qualify separately, so the usual plan is for the spouse with the pension or income to apply as the main applicant, showing €4,200 a month, with the other spouse included as a family member. Ask the consulate whether income in the other spouse’s name can be added. If the main applicant falls short, buy the lifetime annuity in that spouse’s name, priced on his or her own age and sex, while you are both still US residents.

A US tax note (general information, confirm with a tax adviser): paying for a spouse’s annuity is a gift. Gifts between two US-citizen spouses are unlimited. To a spouse who is not a US citizen, the 2026 annual exclusion is $194,000; above that you file Form 709, and generally no tax is due.

What counts: monthly income or yearly savings

The decision lists three ways to prove the resources: a pension from abroad, a bank account, or evidence of your own lawfully sourced means. It then says how each is measured:

• Monthly basis when the income is periodic, “such as from a pension, salary or dividends from abroad.”
• Yearly basis for other sources, such as bank deposits.

So Greece does accept savings. Law firms commonly cite about €126,000 (three years of the bar) for a deposit-based application; that figure is not in the decision itself, so confirm it with the consulate. If you have that much in cash and are comfortable keeping it parked, the deposit route works.

The SPIA’s job in Greece is different: it turns savings into the periodic, monthly income the decision describes first, and it keeps doing so at every renewal. A deposit must be shown again and again; a lifetime payment simply continues. The decision names foreign pensions; it does not name private annuities, so ask the consulate in writing whether a life annuity from a US insurer is accepted as periodic income. A contract that pays a fixed amount for the lifetime of the annuitant, with no cash value, is the strongest version to bring.

Which annuity counts. A life-only SPIA, a joint and survivor SPIA, or an existing deferred annuity or MYGA converted to lifetime payments reads as periodic income. A period-certain annuity, an income rider (GLWB) where an account value can still be cashed out, or an annuity still accumulating reads as savings. Greece accepts savings too, on a yearly basis, so the annuity is the cleaner proof rather than the only one.

Example: a 62-year-old American moving to Greece

Payout at age 62 from the ImmediateAnnuities.com survey of September 9, 2026, life-only, per $100,000 per month: man $603 average ($660 best quote), woman $582 average ($637 best quote). Premium = monthly bar / payout per $100,000 x $100,000, rounded. Illustrative, not a quote.

Greece’s bar is high, so Social Security matters most here. It can start at 62 and counts as a foreign pension: a single man with $2,000 a month of it needs only $2,095 more, about $347,000 at the average rate. A joint and survivor annuity for a couple pays less per dollar than single life, so get a quote, and add 10 to 25% headroom for currency moves. Compare that with keeping roughly €150,000 (three years of the couple bar) in a deposit: the SPIA spends more capital once but removes the question at every renewal.

Renewals

The permit is renewable without the right to work in Greece. Law firms describe a three-year permit; confirm the current term with the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. At each renewal you show the same resources again. A lifetime annuity paying into your account month after month is the simplest evidence to repeat.

How the annuity is taxed: Greece and the US

The 7% option for foreign pensioners

Greece has an alternative regime for people who receive a pension from abroad and move their tax residence to Greece (Article 5B of the Income Tax Code, Law 4172/2013; current rules in decision A.1192/2026). If you qualify, you pay a flat 7% each year on all of your foreign-source income, for up to 15 tax years. The conditions:

• You were not a Greek tax resident in five of the six years before the move.
• You move from a country that has an administrative tax cooperation agreement with Greece. Greece publishes no country list; confirm the US qualifies for your case with a Greek tax adviser.
• You apply to the Greek tax authority (AADE) by October 31 of the year you arrive or of the following tax year.

The qualifying pension has to be a pension in the Greek tax code’s sense: AADE’s decision accepts pensions from mandatory and occupational schemes and group pension contracts. A privately purchased annuity on its own very likely does not make you a “pensioner.” US Social Security or an employer pension is the natural qualifier, and once you are in, the 7% covers all your foreign income, the annuity included. Get a Greek adviser’s written view before you count on it.

Outside the regime, Greek progressive rates apply, and Greek guidance does not say how a purchased US life annuity is classified, so ask a Greek adviser for that in writing too.

The US side

As a US citizen you stay taxable on worldwide income wherever you live. A US single premium immediate annuity bought with after-tax savings is taxed under IRC 72: an exclusion ratio makes part of each payment a non-taxable return of your premium until the premium is recovered. If you bought it with IRA money, every payment is taxable. The foreign earned income exclusion does not cover annuities (IRC 911(b)(1)(B)(i)). Foreign tax on the payments can be credited on Form 1116, through the treaty’s relief article where there is one. Since January 1, 2026, a US citizen with a foreign residence address cannot opt out of federal withholding, even if payments go to a US account (IRC 3405(e)(13), Treas. Reg. 31.3405(e)-1). Withholding is a prepayment, not extra tax. An annuity from a US insurer is not reported on FBAR or Form 8938, and it is not a PFIC.

The treaty

The 1950 US-Greece treaty is old and short. Article XI(2) says private pensions and life annuities paid from one country to a resident of the other are exempt from tax in the paying country, so Greece has the right to tax your US annuity. But the saving clause, Article XIV(1), lets each country tax its own citizens as if the treaty did not exist, with no exceptions, so the US taxes you as usual. Article XIV(3) then has Greece allow a credit for US tax on US-source income, up to the Greek tax on that income, and AADE’s 2026 decision allows foreign tax to be deducted from the 7% where a treaty gives both countries the right to tax, without refunding any excess. The treaty has no social security article.

Net result

For a US citizen, the US tax on the annuity is usually the binding tax: Greece credits US tax against its own, up to the Greek amount, so the 7% (or the Greek progressive tax) is largely absorbed rather than stacked on top. How AADE applies the credit to your return is worth confirming with a Greek adviser. See how European countries tax a US annuity for the comparison.

Does Greece have a wealth tax?

No. PwC’s worldwide tax summaries list no net wealth tax for Greece (reviewed September 2026). Greek real estate pays the annual ENFIA property tax, which applies to property located in Greece, not to a US annuity. So the annuity in Greece is about the income test and the 7% option, not wealth tax.

Checklist

1. Buy the life-only SPIA while you still have a US address; US insurers generally will not issue to someone already living abroad.
2. Keep a US bank account for the deposits. Since January 1, 2026, a US citizen with a foreign residence address cannot opt out of federal withholding even when payments go to a US account (IRC 3405(e)(13)); withholding is a prepayment, not extra tax.
3. Start payments 3 to 12 months before applying so statements show regular income.
4. Get an insurer letter stating the monthly amount payable “for the lifetime of the annuitant,” no cash value, apostilled and translated into Greek.
5. Line up health insurance and a lease or purchase in Greece.

The trade-offs, once

A SPIA is irrevocable, level unless you add a cost-of-living rider, paid in dollars against a euro bar, and lower per dollar at younger ages. It is backed by the issuing insurer’s claims-paying ability. Size it to the gap plus headroom and keep the rest of your savings liquid.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• Moving abroad on a fixed income: hub
• How European countries tax a US annuity
• Cyprus Category F permit
• Portugal D7 visa
• Italy elective residence visa
• FBAR, FATCA and double taxation of a US annuity
• Immediate annuity calculator

Sources

• Joint ministerial decision 225679/2024 on sufficient resources (Ministry of Migration and Asylum)
• Ministry of Migration and Asylum: residence permit for financially independent persons
• Law 4172/2013, Article 5B (7% regime for foreign pensioners)
• AADE decision A.1192/2026 on the Article 5B regime (deadline, pension proof, foreign tax credit)
• US-Greece income tax treaty 1950 (IRS text), Articles XI and XIV
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Greece incentives (7% regime)
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: net wealth tax rates by country (Greece, none)
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Greece, other taxes (ENFIA)
• Watson Farley and Williams: Greek golden visa Law 5100/2024 thresholds
• IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.42 (2026: $194,000 gifts to a non-citizen spouse)
• 26 U.S.C. 3405 (withholding on pensions and annuities)
• Treas. Reg. 31.3405(e)-1 (no withholding opt-out with a foreign residence address)
• ImmediateAnnuities.com: immediate annuity rates by age (survey of September 9, 2026)