Moving to Greece from the US: The Income Bar, the 7% Tax and the Insurance Rule for 2026

The four numbers

€3,500 a month. About $3,940. The net income Greece asks for in 2026 before it lets you live there without working. A spouse adds 20%, a child 15%.

7%. The flat tax Greece offers people who move their tax residence there with a pension from abroad. It covers all foreign income, for 15 years.

€1,000. About $1,125. The government fee for the residence permit, paid again at every renewal.

$1.1253 to the euro. The European Central Bank’s rate on 16 October 2026, used for every conversion on this page.

High bar. Low tax.

Greece retirement visa requirements

Greece doesn’t call it a retirement visa. The law calls it a permit for third-country citizens with sufficient resources, type I.8, and everyone else calls it the FIP, for financially independent person. Here’s how it compares with the digital nomad route as of October 2026:

The money test comes from Joint Ministerial Decision 225679/2024, published in September 2024. Before it, the bar was €2,000, and some regional immigration offices still list that old figure. Go by the decision.

You can prove the income three ways: a pension from abroad, a bank account, or other money of legal origin. A pension is checked month by month. Savings are checked year by year, which for one person means €42,000 a year, about $47,300.

It’s two steps. First, a national D visa from the Greek consulate whose district covers where you legally live. The Embassy of Greece in the US says you apply in person and are interviewed about why you’re moving. Then you fly. Once you land, you apply for the permit at the Aliens and Immigration office of your region.

While you hold the D visa, you can also spend up to 90 days in any 180 in other Schengen countries.

Cost of living in Greece for Americans

Rent is where Greece makes the high bar easier to swallow. Numbeo’s October 2026 figures for a single person:

Outside the center, a one-bedroom averaged €585 ($659) in Athens and €439 ($494) in Thessaloniki.

Look at the gap. The visa asks for $3,939 a month, and Numbeo’s single-person total in central Athens is about $1,680. Greece sets the bar more than twice as high as a modest life costs.

Those totals don’t include private health insurance, which the permit requires.

Healthcare in Greece: private cover first

Medicare won’t follow you. In its 2026 booklet for people living abroad, Medicare says it generally doesn’t cover care outside the US.

The FIP permit asks for a private insurance policy, at the first application and at every renewal, according to Joint Ministerial Decision 95391/2024. A separate 2024 decision sets what the policy has to cover:

• Hospital care: at least €10,000 ($11,253) a year
• Medical expenses from illness or accident: at least €1,500 ($1,688) a year
• Permanent disability from an accident: at least €15,000 ($16,880)

Your share can’t be more than 20% on any of them. Easy so far. A policy bought in the US works if it states that it covers you for as long as you live in Greece.

Then comes the line that matters most. The insurance decision says policies that include exclusions or special added agreements won’t be accepted. If an insurer offers you cover with your heart condition carved out, that policy can fail the test.

Taxes for Americans in Greece

You become a Greek tax resident once you spend more than 183 days in Greece, per the tax authority, AADE. Residents are taxed on income from everywhere.

Article 5B changes the math. According to AADE’s page on tax incentives for new residents, people with a pension from abroad who move their tax residence to Greece can pay a flat 7% on all their foreign income. The conditions:

• You weren’t a Greek tax resident in 5 of the 6 years before the move
• You move from a country that has a tax cooperation agreement with Greece
• You apply by 31 March of the tax year
• It lasts 15 tax years

Greece and the US do have an income tax treaty. It dates from 1950, so it’s older than most of the rules people ask about. Ask a Greek accountant how your Social Security, IRA withdrawals and dividends fit under 5B before you count on 7%.

And the IRS still wants a return from you every year. Greece doesn’t change that.

Is Greece safe for Americans?

The State Department rates Greece Level 1, exercise normal precautions. That’s the lowest level, and the advisory was last reissued on 23 October 2025 without a change.

Social Security can be paid straight into a Greek bank: Greece is on the SSA’s international direct deposit list.

The catch

The bar is high and it already moved once. €3,500 a month is more than double what Numbeo says one person spends in central Athens. In 2024 Greece raised it from €2,000.

The insurance rule has teeth. No exclusions, no special riders. At 70 with a medical history, that’s a hard policy to buy.

€1,000 every time. The permit fee comes back with every renewal, on top of the €180 visa.

No work at all. Not for you, not for your spouse. If either of you wants a local job, this is the wrong permit.

Who Greece works for

• Retirees with $4,000 a month or more in pension and investment income, or the savings to show €42,000 a year.
• People who can buy full insurance with no exclusions at their age.
• Remote workers earning €3,500 a month net from outside Greece.

Who it doesn’t

• Anyone living on Social Security alone, unless the check by itself tops $3,939 a month.
• People with a condition insurers exclude. The permit can’t use that policy.
• Couples where one partner plans to work in Greece.

Before you decide

1. Add up your net monthly income in euros, then add 20% for a spouse.
2. Get an insurance quote in writing and check it for exclusions.
3. Ask a Greek accountant whether your income qualifies for the 7% regime, and mark 31 March on the calendar.
4. Find the Greek consulate for your state and book the interview early.

For a comparison of where $2,000 a month works across 14 countries, see How to Retire Abroad on $2,000 a Month.