Living in Greece

I’m a non-EU citizen in Greece, am I allowed to travel whenever I wish?

October 16, 2007 at 18:48 ·

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Good evening Kat. In 1999, I traveled to Italy with my ID only. After 9/11, everything changed. Now I have my passport, whether I’m traveling in the EU or not.

What is so difficult about traveling with that paper with the photo on it, along with your passport?

Is there a logistic reason that wouldn’t work for them? Or is it just typical “Greek scratching the left ear with right hand” bureaucracy?

It does seem to be a matter of bureaucracy and national safety. We live in a country that is currently attractive to citizens from non-EU countries. Since 9/11 there has been a crackdown on all activities that have to do with immigration.

I guess one day I’ll be waking in the street and the police will arrest me, hitting me because I forgot to fill-up the AX3244234FF form. And after that they will discover that I don’t need it.

Welcome to chaos, welcome to Greece.

i am filipino nationality 4 years working in greece ,i have a permit for employment,service or project type of permit my question is can i go in other europe country for visit a family freind for at least 30 day?and my permit also will expired by january 16 2009,what shoul i do first i am planning to go on dec to january 10,thanks alot

The answers to your questions are already on site; please search/read more carefully next time or your questions won’t be published. As I say in the Related Post listed above “FAQ: Greek residence/work permits,” you should renew before you leave. You are required to start renewal at least 60 days previous, which you should know if you’ve held the permit for 4 years.

As I say in the article above, there will likely be a Christmas travel period, so as long as you renew before you leave, you should be fine. If you have further questions, call your municipality office.

I need Urgent help. I have my Adia Diamonis and it is going to be finished in mid of march. I am working as a Full time Employee in a IT company in greece as Programmer and my Tax is fully paid of 2007 and 2008. Now I want to open my own small freelance work also.

My lawyer told me that I must change my status to Work permit of Employment to work permit of Independent and work permit.

I want to ask , Is it ture?
1. He told me that changing status of permit is 300 Euro
2. Renewals fees is 300 euro.
3, I decide to pay him because in most of Dimos it is full of uneducated department.

Do u guys think I am doing correct? or I am totally wrong.

what I want to do is work for my employer also and run a small freelance work too and give one slip. should I need to change my work permit / adia diamonis status to Work permit + Independent worker?

Waiting for your reply.

Note from Kat: First of all, I do not see the urgency of your request. You still have several months before renewal, are not in any immediate danger and have not been fined or deported.

Please also note that I have never used a lawyer to do any of my papers in Greece for 11 years and am not a lawyer myself, which proves it is possible for anyone to do it no matter what the challenges.

hi,i live in greece ,have a working permit that expires next year.but because i’m a fyr macedonia citizen they won’t stick the working permit inside my passport.i wanna travel in italy with my boyfriend this march.i wanted to know if they are gonna make me a problem if i try to travel.answer as soon as possible,as i need it to travel.

Kat Reply:
January 22nd, 2009 at 23:51

Hi Cristina. Yes, it’s true that Greece does not recognize the name ‘Macedonia’ for your country, and as a result does not recognize your passport as being valid. Therefore, even though you have a valid work/residence permit, it is very possible that Greek authorities will not allow you back into Greece if you leave, unless the name dispute is resolved before March. Whether you want to take this risk is up to you.

* Hat tip to MBE for sharing his stats and information.

Hello Kat,

I just felt obliged to congratulate you on your excellent reporting – not to mention for providing the ultimate resource for expat issues in Greece.

I bumped into your December article in UK media that was simply a revelation for me; even though I’ve been living in France for five years and consider myself a sceptical observer I hadn’t been able to distance myself enough from my origins so as to see into the malaise of the Greek society as you clearly did.

My girlfriend is Senegalese and we want to move to Greece; She has a long-term residence/work permit which is transferable among EU countries (which I know, thanks to your site!) so it should be easier for her to move than it was for you.

I’d like to tell you that I’ve enjoyed a lot reading your posts: your objectivity is of scientific standards – a valuable and rare attribute; your articles and comment replies are rigorous, admirable..!

I hope you keep writing

cheers

Kat Reply:
January 29th, 2009 at 23:50

Ela Panagioti. I’m sorry I didn’t answer right away; sometimes I don’t know what to say, and sometimes life moves too fast. Apo tin kardia mou, thank you for your kind words and encouragement. It is my pleasure to write, serve and invest in people like you. Hope to see you again!

Thanks for the information regarding travel with only a bebaiosi. Has the government announced the pre-approved travel period for Easter 2009?

And does the Easter travel exception still apply if the first point-of-entry back into the EU is through a country other than Greece? For example, travel to a Non-Schengen country (Wales), and a return flight back to Greece via Amsterdam. Will the customs officials in Amsterdam recognize the bebaiosi and the accompanying press release, both of which are printed in the Greek language?

Or will they simply issue a transit visa and leave it for the Greek authorities to deal with upon return back into Greece?

Thanks again for all of your help.

Kat Reply:
April 12th, 2009 at 23:23

That’s a good question, and I did not post anything last month. For those who missed it, the Easter period is from March 14 to May 3, 2009, see the Press Release in Greek only. The Easter period is not widely publicized because it’s assumed everyone wants to stay here for Greek Pascha. People should keep in mind that a passport or other valid travel document and the original bebaiosi (blue certificate with photo) are necessary. Those with a special certificate of legal residence that bans the holder from leaving are not eligible.

Another good question. You’re right. Greek authorities, for some reason, will not let go of the age-old practice of issuing a bebaiosi in only Greek. Therefore, officials from other countries cannot read them. When you get to passport control of any point of entry and officials see your visa has expired, give them the bebaiosi and press release. They’ll see it’s in Greek, shake their head or roll their eyes and make a comment/complaint that it’s not in English, then let you go (sometimes they’ll ask you what it says or why Greece doesn’t do this or that, but most EU countries are familiar with Greece’s ancient practices). They figure it’s not their problem, and Greece will deal with you. I’ve never been refused passage. Carrying the press release is primarily recommended to deal with uninformed Greek authorities, who should know better.

Thank you for being someone who took the time to read through the information I provide, then asks a legitimate question that helps everyone and is grateful for the assistance. Really it’s a pleasure, and have a nice trip!

Does anybody know what is the difference between the sticker residence permit and the card residence permit? I received the card permit valid for 5 years (I am a non-EU married to an EU Citizen) but I was expecting a sticker to be placed in my passport.

Kat Reply:
August 5th, 2009 at 20:58

They’re both permits and accomplish the same thing. Why would you want a sticker when the card is better? The card is evidence that the permit process is evolving — it used to be a paper, then it was a poor quality card in Greek only, and now there are bilingual stickers and cards with improved security.

Hi ,
I am a Indian Passport holder and came to Greece on Visitor visa which is valid for 3 months. After i came here my company applied for my Residence Permit which is yet to come ( almost 1 month since we applied for it ) .. Now the Visitor visa is expired and i am having Blue paper and i want to visit other EU countries (Swiss and Italy for tourism ) . what should i do if i dont get Residence Permit by then ?

Kat Reply:
August 31st, 2009 at 23:44

Please read the above post. I also suggest reading the post “FAQ: Greek work/residence permits.” Waiting one month for a permit is NOT a long time; I and several of my friends have waited up to a year.

You and your company have given Greek authorities two reasons to delay and/or not issue your permit:
1) to enter Greece for the purpose of work and immigration, you should have been issued a Schengen type ‘D’ visa through the proper channels, not a visitor visa;
2) the law says that applicants must apply for permits within 30 days of arrival in Greece.

Also note that Switzerland is not an EU country. It is, however, in Schengen.

im a filipino working here in greece in almost 2 yrs. i have a working permit of employment and services or project. my problem is that my company is not giving me a write salary on me, my salary is not in minimum wages here in greece. what can i do on this? even my personal passport is on them.. i say to the company that this is my personal property. they just tell they will sent me back to my country if i insist getting it on it, even do that my permit is not expire until 2011 will expire, can i possible to find new employer?

can somebody answer me..i am non-eu citizen, i have greek residence permit sticker in my passport, it’s expiry date is 30.06.2010, only in greek language, so can i travel to poland up to 90 days with my greek permit sticker?

where can i find same information on an official site?

thank you.

Kat Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 06:35

Answer is in the first paragraph of the article above.

You can find the same information in Greek on the Ministry of Citizen Protection’s official website, which is also listed in the above article.

Note: Because you asked two redundant questions, future ones were deleted per my policy.

Hi Kat,
I am non EU citizen and when i came to Greece i sought asylum and was given a pink card that is renewable every six months. I was born in Gambia in the western part of Africa, but Mali is my country. My father is from Gambia, and my mother is from Mali. Since i was born in Gambia, i was issued with Gambian birth certificate and passport. I have gone to Mali just twice with my mother since I was young. My mother died about 8 years ago. On my pink card they wrote Gambia as the place i was born and Mali as my national country.

I have Gambian passport and birth certificate but i have nothing from Mali that shows that i am from there. However on my AFM they wrote Mali as my country and this is a problem for me because i am using a Gambian passport.

So what should i do now? Can they change the country on my AFM and make it Gambia for me since i have all my documents from Gambia. I cant go to Mali again because i don’t have any family there. All my sisters are in Gambia, though my father too is dead.

Please help me so that i can change the country on my AFM and the Work permit. Thank you.

Kat Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 22:23

Hi Peter,

I’m not sure how to answer this question because I don’t understand why they listed Mali as your country for your AFM and work permit, especially since your passport is from Gambia and this is the only passport you’ve ever had and have no documents from Mali. The only thing you can do is ask the eforia and the dimos office to make the change and see what they demand from you.

hello, Kat!

Need ur advice, can u pls help me.

I’m citizen of Kazakhstan, I have 1-year national visa and applied for a residence permit (they gave me blue paper, but it seems it means that i just applied and waiting for residence permit). I want to go to Italy. Could i go there without italian visa with greek national visa? or with this paper that states that i’ve already applied for residence permit?

Any suggestions? I’ve tried to communicate with italian embassy and no results.

thanks very much

Kat Reply:
November 20th, 2010 at 01:31

A national visa for Greece is only good for Greece, as I explained in Visas for Greece in “How Americans and other non-EU citizens can get a permit to live/work in Greece.” Therefore, you cannot travel to Italy or anywhere else with this visa.

The bebaiosi (blue certificate with photo) is not a Greek residence permit. With this paper, you are allowed to travel to your homeland of Kazakhstan and nowhere else.

To travel to Italy, you need to apply for a Italian visa. The Italian embassy is only an authority on issues pertaining to Italy, so asking them to answer questions about a Greek bebaiosi and Greek residence permit is not their job.

Dear Kat,

Thank you for all the information you have put into this site. They have helped me a lot in dealing with the Greek bureaucracy!!! And I hope you can give me your insight to my situation.

I am Non-EU spouse to a Greek national and am holding the bebaiosi (still waiting for the immigration department to issue the permanent permit). I am planning for a holiday to Turkey in January, which my Singapore passport doesn’t require me to take out a visa for the visit.

You mentioned previously that people with bebaiosi are allowed to travel to their home country only. My questions are:
1. Since I don’t need a visa to travel to Turkey, will I have problems when clearing customs in Greece when I return from the trip.
2. Will the Greek customs officers stop me from entering because the flight is not from my home country? How do they make sure that I do travel to and back to my home country?

Thank you very much for your help!

Kat Reply:
December 4th, 2010 at 12:48

Your concern should not be whether you need a visa for Turkey and if you can get back into Greece after you leave. Your concern should be whether you are allowed to leave Greece to begin with.

As the article says, anyone without a permit sticker/card for Greece and holding only a bebaiosi is allowed to travel to their homeland with special permission granted by the Ministry of Citizen Protection explained in “Non-EU citizens in Greece with a bebaiosi can travel home until December 2011.” Without this special permission, non-EU citizens in Greece with only a bebaiosi are allowed to go nowhere. Therefore, it is a privilege to travel home.

The only way you can travel outside of Greece without regard for a bebaiosi or residence permit is if your original Schengen visa of 90 days granted to Singaporean passport holders is still valid after the date you come back from your Turkey trip. How do you know if it’s still valid? Count 90 days from the day you arrived in Greece. Have you used them all? If yes, you can’t leave. If no, now count 90 days from the date you arrived in Greece until the last day of your planned Turkey trip. Have any of those 90 days left? If not, you can’t leave. If you’ll be back from Turkey before the 90 days of your original Schengen visa expires, then go.

The bebaiosi is the only document allowing you to remain in Greece beyond the 90-day Schengen visa. If you do not obey the rules governing the bebaiosi, authorities have the right to deny you entry to Greece. Being married to a Greek citizen does not grant you the right to break the law.

How do they know you didn’t go to your home country? Lots of ways. When you check-in at the flight desk, they’ll look at your final destination and your passport and bebaiosi. When you go through passport control, they look at your passport and air tickets and warn you not to leave. If you go by bus or boat, they’ll look at your passport and tickets and warn you not to leave. When you arrive in Turkey — a non-EU, non-Schengen country — they’ll stamp or scan your passport. When you come back to Greece, they’ll look at stamps in your passports or scan your passport and look at the history in the computer to see where you’ve been and/or ask you for proof in the way of boarding tickets.

You’ll hear stories of people who traveled to other countries and got back into Greece with no problem because authorities were lenient, but I know people who were denied entry and had to buy a plane ticket, go back to their home country and start over again. The choice is yours.

hi,
i am a philippine passport holder who entered greece with a national visa-type d and has a pending application for a residence permit.

i am planning on travelling to france and italy but was not thinking about applying for a schengen visa based on the information i read on this link http://www1.mfa.gr/images/docs/ethnikes_theoriseis/regulation_265_2010_visa_d_en.pdf

however, after reading your articles i am now unsure. were there any changes in the laws? or did i miss anything?

your feedback will be very much appreciated.

thanks,

Kat Reply:
December 1st, 2011 at 06:05

You didn’t provide enough information for me to give a customized answer to your specific case. I can only tell you what I know and hope something applies to you.

Pertaining to the link you sent. There are two things to remember:
a) What is decided in European Parliament or stated in EU directives is what “should” happen. You’ll notice throughout the circular that it says “should” and “shall.” In reality, that’s not what necessarily happens. Greece, for example, is notoriously slow in issuing residence permits and runs several years behind mandatory EU directives.
b) Each member state (Greece included) can write and implement laws that contradict EU directives, and this is legal. I state this in “Non-EU citizens in Greece can travel home until December 2012.”
It has nothing to do with changes in the laws.

Pertaining to your visa. A national type D visa only entitles you to travel between the country that approved it — which I assume is Greece — and your home country for the specified validity period. Only a Schengen visa allows travel in the entire zone (Germany, Italy, France, etc.), and the maximum allowed for any non-EU citizen is 90 days in any 180-day period. I don’t know how long you’ve been here, but my impression is you don’t have permission to travel outside Greece and should contact the French and Italian embassy to apply for a visa.

Comment 1
Now that I have a one year mulitiple entry visa for Greece, why bother to apply for residency? It appears that I might not even be able to leave Greece and re-enter if I am still waiting for my residency permit when I am scheduled to leave in April. It is my intention to maintain residences in both countries and basically travel back and forth. Is there a reason that I just can’t keep going to the Greek Consulate in the US each year and renew my multiple entry Greek visa? Also, by reading the last post, am I to understand that even though I have a Greek visa for a year and am I US citizen that once I have been in Greece for 90 days I can’t go to another EU country because I will have already used up my 90 in 180? Thanks.

Comment 2
I think I know the answer to my post. I need to apply for a residence permit because that is the reason the consulate issued me a one year visa. I am lucky that there is an open travel period for non-eu citizens until Dec 31, 2012. It appears that if travel to another EU country once I have my applicated accepted that I will need a visa and I most probably will not be able to go out of Greece except to the US until I get a permanent sticker. Do I get it now?

Kat Reply:
December 27th, 2011 at 01:56

Whether or not you apply for a visa and residence permit for Greece depends on what you intend to accomplish.

In “How to get a visa and residence permit for Greece” — the article you read and followed to get the visa — it says under ‘Start the visa process outside Greece’ that there is no need to apply for a residence permit if you do not intend on living/staying in Greece/Schengen zone for more than 90 days in any 180-day period. Since you applied and went through the process in acquiring the special visa with intention to apply for a residence permit, it is assumed that you intended to stay in Greece/Schengen zone for more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

Because you did not say what kind of visa you were granted — national or Schengen — I assume this is a national visa good only for Greece based on what I explain in “How non-EU citizens can get a permit to live and work in Greece,” and you were granted this type because (again), through the act of your application, it is assumed that you intended to live in Greece for one year or at least stay more than 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen zone. It has multiple entries because the Greek embassy/consulate knows it takes time for permit stickers to be granted, and the visa gives you permission to move between the USA and Greece for one year, aside from the government’s open travel period until December 31, 2012.

hi, just wanna ask i come here in greece as a working visa, i take my veveosi for one year but its already expired and i dont get my residence permit yet thats why my employer told me that we cannot renew my veveosi or my permit unti my sticker came, coz as i read in ur article it must renew 2 months before the expiration of the veveosi but my employer said this is not the system anymore we need to wait first the sticker, so just want to ask if this really the system noe coz im confused,and one more thing if in case i renewed my veveosi or sticker can i go out to other eschengern country like italy or france or do i need to take a visa just to go out the country. hope for ur immediate answer. thank u

Kat Reply:
April 13th, 2012 at 21:34

Greece is a ‘results may vary’ country — there are rules and there is implementation of rules (different things).

The system didn’t change because as of a few days ago I know people who renewed their stay in Greece with the bebaiosi.

I do not see how your employer could be correct. Why?
a) Your bebaiosi is expired;
b) Unless you were waiting for a 5-year or 10-year permit, your permit sticker expires the same day as the bebaiosi;
c) Because the bebaiosi is expired, and the permit sticker (which hasn’t been issued) is likely also expired, you cannot renew anything because renewal implies that there is something valid to extend;
d) Without a unexpired bebaiosi or permit sticker, or a renewal application and new bebaiosi, you are technically in an illegal status.

You are free to verify my answer at the nearest municipality office. If I am wrong, please come back and tell me.

For your other questions, you can see “Non-EU citizens with a bebaiosi can travel home until end of 2012.”

Comment 1:
first of all thank you for all this extremely helpful info! Then i have a question for that nobody can help with. I am ukrainian, but i have my residential permit and i am married to a Greek citizen. Can i travel to Cyprus? Or i need to apply for visa in the embassy?

Comment 2:
In case anyone interested, i checked with the embassy and they replied that as a non-EU citizen but a holder of Greek residence permit you can travle to Cyprus for tourism purpose without a visa. As long as you provide the proof that you’ll be back such as return ticket, and reservation for hotel for the days of your stay.

Kat Reply:
August 21st, 2012 at 20:59

Answer 1:
You didn’t provide enough information for me to help you, and being married to a Greek is irrelevant as it only matters what passport you hold.

Ukrainian citizens typically need a visa to visit Cyprus according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs web page “List of countries whose nationals require a visa to visit Cyprus,” which I found through a simple Google search.

Cyprus is not in Schengen, but it is in the EU so your residence permit sticker/card may or may not have any bearing. I’m not an expert on Cypriot laws and immigration, plus it depends on whether you are going to the Greek or Turkish region. The quickest way to verify if holding a permit is sufficient to visit without a visa is to contact the Cypriot Embassy in Athens.

If you have a blue paper with photo, you can only travel to your homeland as explained in “Non-EU citizens in Greece with a bebaiosi may travel home through 2012” and a visa would definitely be required in that case.

Answer 2:
Thank you so much for coming back to report what happened and for sharing that information. I learned something, and it helps me to help others. Have a nice trip!

I’m a non-EU citizen who live and work in Greece with adia diamonis. My question is: Do I have permision to vizit London United Kingdom for Christmas. Thanks.

Kat Reply:
October 10th, 2012 at 00:08

You didn’t provide enough information for me to help you. Please contact the UK embassy/consulate nearest your location — which is Albania, not Greece — to inquire.

Hi,
I am an Indian possessing permanent resident permit of Greece acquired in September 2009. I came to India in December last week of 2010 and have been in India since then due to family problems.

I wish to return again in December 2012. Can you advise me if I am entering Greece within time limit to keep my resident permit alive?

Before coming to India I asked Dimos staff and they said I can stay up to a period of Two years outside Greece. Please advise.
Thanks

Kat Reply:
October 25th, 2012 at 10:25

A 10-year permanent resident permit for Greece does entitle you to be outside Greece for up to 2 years without penalty. The dimos advised you correctly, and you did the right thing to check with them before you left.

I recommend that you not wait ’til the last week of December to re-enter Greece to avoid any trouble, as authorities do count the exact number of days.

Thank you for your question. All best.

Hello! Here is the situation that I have: I am a wife of Greek citizen, I’ve got 2 children 15 and 4 years old, they are Greek citizens. My citizenship is Russian. My husband owns a travel agency. We are organizing international conferences abroad (in Shengen Schengen zone). At the moment we are working for over than a year on the conference that will take place in Luxembourg at the beginning of December, 2012. My problem is that I have made an application for renewal of resident’s permit in March and until now I have no document except of this blue certificate with photo. We went to Periferia and we was said that my folder wasn’t even recorded! So, it means that nothing was done so far. This is the application for 10-years resident’s permit.. We made all necessary actions in order to accelerate the process, but was said that in any way my adeia will not be ready earlier that before Xmas. There is no way for me to cancel my trip – this is our bread. We called also to Embassy of Luxembourg, they are not so excited and trying to avoid visa issuing for me.. What is your opinion, is there anything else we can do in order for me to travel legally? Thank you very much for your attention.

Kat Reply:
November 3rd, 2012 at 00:38

Family members of Greek/EU citizens are supposed to get their permits faster, but I have found from real-life experience of many people that this is not true. In 14 years, I’ve always waited up to a year to get my permit or after the “new” one is expired, never 60-90 days and only once did I get my permit in 6 months (miracles can happen).

The only solution is to apply for a visa at the Luxembourg embassy, which I say above and in “Non-EU citizens in Greece with a bebaiosi may travel home.” If you are eligible, can supply all supporting documentation and have good reason to temporarily travel there (which you do), they cannot legally refuse to issue you a visa.

Many in the EU are worried that non-EU citizens are going to jump countries. But if your husband is Greek, you have a business in Greece and you have family ties here, it should be obvious you are established in Greece and are coming back. Smile, be polite and hope that the embassy gets excited about helping you.

Thank you for your question. Wishing you all the best.

Your question was transferred to, “Long-term EU-wide residency/work permits for Greece.”

Comment 1:
hello can u help pleased , i am from ghana and i came to greece with iligal illegally way to seck a salum seek asylum and i get red card , and i here hear the remu that they re coming to give perpars papers on greek ,pleased if they do so did red card people will amont of them, or is it thruth that they coming to geve

Comment 2:
hi
may god bless u forever. pls have had the news abut the new perpars they coming to give it to foreners or the opens perpars.
i hope that u will ans my for me think u.

Kat Reply:
December 28th, 2012 at 21:04

Asylum seekers and refugees can get free legal help at the Greek Council for Refugees in Athens. Click http://www.gcr.gr for more info.