Your first weeks in Greece: the order, the fifty cents and the three things that only come later

The first weeks in Greece are a relay with a fixed order, and unlike in Spain or Denmark there is a pause in it: the registration certificate, the paper that governs your stay beyond three months, may only be applied for after those three months. What you do in the first weeks is build the chain before it — AFM, home with a declared contract, bank account — so that on day 91 you stand at the police with five documents and € 0.50 in stamp duty. Whoever reverses the order stands at every counter without the paper they ask for. This article walks through the weeks, with what can and what cannot be done yet.

What do I arrange in the first week?

Ideally nothing new, because the AFM already comes from the Netherlands: the tax number can be applied for with a video appointment, and it is the key to rental contract, bank account and utility connection. If you don't have it yet, that is the first step, as the Greek order explains.

Then the home. The contract only counts as proof of address once the landlord has declared it electronically with AADE; the police list rental contracts, title deeds, utility bills and tax documents as acceptable proof, and an undeclared contract falls outside that in practice. Put electricity and water in your own name straight away, with your AFM — every bill in your name is soon an extra proof.

And the bank: with AFM, passport and proof of address you open a Greek account; as long as it isn't there, nobody may refuse your Dutch IBAN.

What can't I do yet?

Three things, and it saves frustration to know that beforehand.

The registration certificate. Your Europe is firm: in the first three months no EU country may require a residence document from you. Greece asks for it afterwards, and the procedure says in as many words that after the three months have passed you report in person to the police of your place of residence. Going earlier is pointless.

The AMKA with an S1. If you come with a Dutch pension and an S1 form from the CAK, you don't need the ordinary AMKA from the KEP but an EU-AMKA, and e-EFKA arranges that. Until it is there, you cannot register with EOPYY. Whoever works gets the ordinary AMKA and is registered with e-EFKA by the employer — the healthcare article explains both routes.

The Greek number plate. The car has its own clock of twelve months on the transfer-of-residence certificate; that is not a first-weeks job, but it is the only hard deadline of the arrival.

What do I take to the police, and what does it cost?

Document	Where it comes from
Copy of passport or identity card	—
Three colour photos of 4 × 4 cm	photographer or the MyPhoto service of gov.gr
Proof of home address	declared rental contract, title deed or utility bill
Proof of sufficient resources (non-active persons)	pension statement, bank statements
Proof of full health insurance cover (non-active persons)	S1 from the CAK, or a Greek or other comprehensive policy
Stamp duty of the Hellenic Police	€ 0.50, as e-paravolo or on paper

Whoever works drops the last two and shows an employment contract or self-employed activity. For "sufficient resources" there is no fixed amount: the police weigh your personal situation and use the Greek minimum pension as a benchmark, and the European directive forbids a fixed threshold. For pensioners the insurance requirement counts as met when the country paying the pension covers the healthcare — exactly what the S1 does.

The certificate is issued on submission, is valid indefinitely and thus costs fifty cents. Your Europe adds what happens if you don't do it: a fine is possible, expulsion is not.

Which key do I use everywhere afterwards?

Your TaxisNet codes. With the AFM and the access code from the tax appointment you activate TaxisNet, and those same codes are your identity on gov.gr and at e-EFKA: you pull up a registration certificate from e-EFKA with them in a minute, your child's enrolment at kindergarten runs on them, and so does the child benefit. Whoever doesn't have the codes does everything at the counter.

The silent pitfall is the rental contract. Everything in this chain — the certificate, the bank, the school — asks for proof of address, and a contract the landlord has not declared is none. Ask for the proof of declaration when signing, not three months later at the police.

How much time does this take?

Less than in almost any other country on this site, and cheaper: the registration certificate is the cheapest residence paper of all destinations, the AFM and the AMKA are free. The time is in the queue and in the order. Whoever brings the AFM from the Netherlands and signs a declared rental contract on day one has an account and an address in the first month, and the certificate and the AMKA in the fourth. What follows after that — the car, the driving licence, the tax return — belongs to the first year, not to the first weeks.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Greece or go straight to step 4.1 in the open plan.