Greece · administrative route
Emigrating to Greece
Greece asks no permit, but it does ask an order — and the first thing people get wrong is walking to the municipality. The registration certificate comes from the police here. Alongside, the sum that makes this country special: 7% on all your foreign income for fifteen years, provided you sign before 31 March and your pension isn't from the ABP. This page shows how it really works.
€ 199 one-off · 32 steps · no subscription
- Kind of journey
- EU — register, no visa
- The chain
- AFM → home → police certificate → AMKA
- Note
- Below Euro 4 your car isn't allowed into the country
Last updated: August 2026
The journey
Five phases, from the island choice to the assessment
A route of orders and of one big sum. The tax number you now arrange from the Netherlands with a video appointment, the rental contract that only counts once the landlord declares it, the certificate the police issue for fifty cents — and the 7% scheme that runs fifteen years but knows one application date per year.
- 1
Orientation
The police are the gate, and the choice mainland or island
Greece has no permit but an order, and a counter that differs from the rest of Southern Europe: the registration certificate comes from the Ελληνική Αστυνομία, not from the town hall. In this phase you learn that chain, and make the choice that feels exactly the other way round on holiday — the mainland with its hospitals and motorways, or an island with a winter in which half closes and the hospital is a boat trip away. Plus the honest conversation about the alphabet, the wage level and the distance.
- 2
Closing the Netherlands
Seven percent — unless your pension comes from the ABP
The familiar list — healthcare, benefits, deregistration, documents — with the biggest tax sum on the site around it. The treaty assigns AOW and company pension to the state of residence, and article 5B lets you pay 7% on that for fifteen years, applied for before 31 March and paid in one go at the end of July. But article 20 keeps pensions from government service in the Netherlands: an ABP pension falls outside the scheme. Work out before departure which part of your income does cross over. And in this phase, get the relocation certificate for the car at the Greek consulate — that's only possible from the Netherlands.
- 3
The move
The furthest drive in the EU, and a hard requirement for your car
A good 2,700 kilometres to Athens, or the night ferry from Ancona, Bari or Brindisi to Patras. Administratively the move is nothing; the distance is the cost. The car deserves a decision of its own and starts with a check that appears nowhere else on this site: cars with Euro 1, 2 or 3 aren't allowed into Greece. If it meets the standard, the registration tax is waived — provided you already owned it six months before the date on your relocation certificate.
- 4
Registration in Greece
Fifty cents at the police, and the EU AMKA that isn't at the KEP
The AFM you arrange in advance with a video appointment via myAADElive — the biggest time saving of this journey. Then the home, where the rental contract only becomes evidence once the landlord has declared it electronically with AADE. After three months the certificate at the police: five documents, three passport photos, € 0.50 stamp duty, and then valid indefinitely. And the AMKA — where pensioners with an S1 should precisely not go to the KEP but to e-EFKA, for an EU AMKA.
- 5
Arrival
Twelve months for the car, and the summer in which nothing can be done
The car has to go through customs and the ΚΤΕΟ within the validity of its relocation certificate. Alongside, the brackets of 9 to 44 percent for whoever doesn't fall under the 7% scheme, the ENFIA on your home, healthcare via EOPYY with a co-payment per prescription, and the Greek that starts with the alphabet. Plus the small print nobody tells you: the utility connections in your own name, the heating that's really needed on the mainland, and the months of July and August in which no counter runs at full strength.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Greece journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 4.3 of your plan
The registration certificate: to the police, after three months
- Lead time
- the appointment is the wait; the issuing itself takes a few hours
- Costs
- € 0.50 in stamp duty
This is the paper that arranges your stay beyond three months, and it comes from the police: the Immigration Department in Attica and Thessaloniki, and elsewhere the police station that handles aliens' affairs. There's now an electronic application via the police portal.
They accept five documents: a copy of your passport or ID, three colour photos of 4×4 cm, proof of your residential address (the registered rental contract), proof of sufficient means of subsistence, and proof of full health cover. For pensioners the S1 from step 2.1 fills in that last requirement.
Two things that come as a relief: it costs € 0.50 in stamp duty, and the certificate is valid indefinitely after that — you don't have to renew it. And one you need to know: the duty arises after the three-month period has elapsed. Knocking earlier is pointless.
This is step 4.3 of 32. The other 31 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
What it costs
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 2.100 – € 7.600
Where does that difference come from?
- De eerste maanden€ 1.800 – € 6.500
Open the breakdown below: there you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 5 – € 150
- De verhuizing
- € 350 – € 900
- De eerste maanden
- € 1.800 – € 6.500
View the itemsPer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Registratiecertificaat, AFM en AMKA€ 5 – € 25
- Akten en eventuele vertalingen(estimate)€ 0 – € 150
De verhuizing
- Reis(estimate)€ 350 – € 900
De verste rit binnen de EU: ruim 2.700 kilometer naar Athene, drie tot vier rijdagen door zes landen, met tol in Oostenrijk, Italië en Griekenland zelf. De veelgebruikte route knipt dat doormidden — rijden tot Ancona, Bari of Brindisi en dan de nachtboot naar Patras of Igoumenitsa, met een hut en de auto aan boord. Reken op twee tot drie overnachtingen, en in juli en augustus op hoogseizoentarieven voor de overtocht.
De eerste maanden
- De eerste maanden(estimate)€ 1.800 – € 6.500
Reken op een borg van één tot twee maanden, de eerste maand vooruit en makelaarscourtage van doorgaans één maandhuur plus btw. De huren lopen ver uiteen: Athene vraagt inmiddels bijna Nederlandse prijzen in de gewilde wijken, de provinciesteden en het binnenland een fractie daarvan, en op de toeristische eilanden verdwijnt in de zomer de halve voorraad naar de verhuur per week. Tel de dubbele lasten van de zoekweken mee, de aansluitingen op je eigen naam, en op het vasteland een winter met verwarming in slecht geïsoleerde huizen.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 8 to 10% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 20.000 to € 25.000.
De overdrachtsbelasting is met 3,09% laag naar Europese maatstaven, maar de rest telt op: notaris 1 tot 1,5% (wettelijk tarief), registratie 0,5%, een eigen advocaat ongeveer 1% en de makelaar meestal 2%. Bij nieuwbouw geldt in beginsel 24% btw, maar die is opgeschort tot en met 31 december 2026. De belasting wordt berekend over de koopsom of de officiële "objectieve waarde" — de hoogste van de twee.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 23 August 2026.
Your complete, personal cost picture — with your route, your documents and your deadlines — you get in Vertrekklaar.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Who may tax your pension once you live in Greece, is there a favourable regime, and how do you become insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you see which rules apply to you — with the source.
See the financial conditionsThe departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Greece: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that only a short update when something in Greece really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Read on
The knowledge base on Greece
Per phase, the articles that are already there. They're written from the same journey and go deeper than what fits above.
Registration in Greece
- 4 min
AFM, AMKA and the βεβαίωση: the Greek order that ends at the police
Greece doesn't ask for a residence permit, but it does ask for a registration certificate — and unlike in Spain or Italy, that comes from the police, not the municipality. The chain before it is strict in order: AFM, a home with a registered contract, certificate, AMKA. Whoever reverses it stands at the counter every time without the paper they ask for.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 3 min
Living and renting in Greece: the contract only counts once the landlord declares it
A Greek rental contract is only a usable piece of evidence once the landlord has declared it electronically with AADE — and without that proof you get no registration certificate from the police. Besides that: what rents do between Athens and the interior, what changes on an island, and what ENFIA costs if you buy.
Updated 23 August 2026
Arrival
- 3 min
Buying a house in Greece: first the tax, then the notary — and only done at the land registry
In Greece you pay the transfer tax of 3% before the notary may execute the deed, and you are only truly the owner once the deed is registered with the Ktimatologio — which via the digital counter akinita.gov.gr can now be done in one working day. For whoever is really going to live there, there is an exemption up to € 200,000 to € 250,000, with a two-year settlement requirement. After that come the E9 return and the annual ENFIA.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 3 min
Working in Greece: fourteen months' pay, and a deemed income if you go self-employed
Greek employment contracts have a thirteenth and fourteenth month, so compare annual amounts and not monthly amounts. If you go self-employed, the tax authority assumes you earn at least the minimum wage — even if you don't. And the brackets climb from 9% to 44% faster than you think.
Updated 27 August 2026
- 4 min
Healthcare in Greece: EOPYY, the co-payment and the distance that is invisible on holiday
With an S1 from the CAK you join EOPYY, the Greek health fund — but via e-EFKA and with an EU-AMKA, not with the ordinary AMKA from the KEP. After that you pay a contribution per prescription, and something counts that you never notice as a tourist: how far away the nearest hospital is.
Updated 28 August 2026
Leaving the Netherlands — for every destination
- 2 min
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 27 August 2026
- 2 min
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
- 2 min
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 2 min
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 2 min
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 9 min
Partner comes along without a job of their own: deregistering, healthcare, AOW and the house
Your partner has a job, a visa or a right of residence there; you come along without a job of your own. Administratively you're then no passenger: the deregistration, the end of your health insurance and your AOW accrual apply to you separately. What you get back if you arrange it well, what it costs if you let it slide — and why "just staying registered" isn't an option.
Updated 7 September 2026
- 2 min
Stopping allowances on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Housing allowance, healthcare allowance, childcare allowance and child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run gets a reclaim months later — this is what you arrange per allowance.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 3 min
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 6 min
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
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