Disclaimer: For every sentence in this paragraph, please insert either "I think" or "as far as I know" at the end.
United States' citizens do not need to apply for a visa to enter Greece for reasons of tourism. US citizens are given a 90-day visa upon entry into Greece. Greece is part of the Schengen Agreement along with 23 other countries in Europe. The tourist visa given when first entering any one of those nations is good in all of them for the 90-day period. All of the new hires at ACS were given a specific type of Schengen visa, 'Type D.' This type of visa is for people who will be staying in a country beyond the 90 days for work or study purposes. People with this type of visa are likely applying for a residence permit.
Okay, so that's what I think I know. Here's where I get fuzzy.
We sent our visa paperwork, contracts, residency applications, etc. in the middle of July, and they were received by July 24th. At the beginning of this week, we were told that we would not have our AFM (tax IDs) for a minimum of 25 days, and the AFM is dependent on receiving our residency/work permits. That's, by my count, 4 months. Now, I know the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly--I think the Greek wheel is flat--but this is becoming problematic for everyone involved. Because...
There's more. We just found out from the school that we technically are only allowed to be in Greece (or any combination of Schengen countries) for a 90-day period in any 180-day period. Our visas expire November 18th (8 days before our first vacation!!), and the end of 180 days is some time in February. That means, from what I can tell, that we're stuck in Greece until February. This is bad news for several people:
- One teacher is going to Slovakia for Thanksgiving, consequenes be damned.
- A counselor was to attend a conference in France which begins the 18th. Tickets purchased.
- Nearly every teacher was going to travel at Xmas, either to the States or a neighboring nation.
- We bought the extremely expensive tickets to the States months ago.
What was the advice of the school's representative? "You must rearrange your plans."
The fear is what will happen when we try to reenter Greece. Apparently they're more "anal retentive" about allowing people in than other EU nations. One of my colleagues is stymied by the baseless "elitism" of Greece, and I agree completely. There's a Greek-Canadian teacher who's pregnant and told me that having a child in Greece doesn't automatically make the child Greek. In order to be Greek from birth, you have to already have a Greek relative. I know Greece isn't the only nation with this policy, but the policy seems a little incestuous to me. Or maybe that's just my "mongrel American" mentality.
I think I've come to the decision that Americans, despite how insular and egocentric we are, have a bit of a knack for change that few other nations have. I'm too angry to explore the thought right now, but I want to to see how wrong I am.
I'm nearly done with the school. Miah is done.
5 comments:
Hey! My thoughts are with you guys! I know you must be at a point where you want to say "fuck it all", but try to take heart. It might turn out to be a great adventure after all the bureaucratic BS settles. Otherwise, you can always come home, any time you want. Nothing is forcing you to stay there. Take comfort in that you do have some control in this situation. :) We miss you guys!
I'm sorry for your struggle. It is again enlightening to read your blog. I have a very American view of everything and often need to be reminded that things don't work the way they do in Missouri.
The information about visas, permits and Greek citizenship are available on my site.
Citizenship here in Greece is different than the States in that it's determined by origin. So if I have a child with another American in Greece, our child cannot have Greek citizenship. One of us needs to be of Greek origin, or the child must have a grandfather who was born in Greece. Only the mother, father and grandfather are eligible to give citizenship via ancestry or origin.
When you come to Greece to work, that special D visa must be issued through the Consulate at home as you and your colleagues had done. Upon arrival in Greece, you are required to apply for the residence/work permit within 30 days along with the visa and other documents. Once you've done that, they give you a bebaiosi (blue certificate with photo), which officially recognizes that you've applied for the permit. With this, you can apply for an AFM at the eforia (tax office) and have it on the spot. It does not take 4 months.
If you have the bebaiosi or actual permit sticker, your visa and the 90 days in 180-day period maximum stay are irrelevant because the bebaiosi supersedes that and entitles you to travel during the special Christmas period announced by the Greek government. It changes every year and of course it's not announced well in advance, but it's normally between Dec 15 and Jan 15 during which you can leave and re-enter Greece with no penalty or fear of being denied entry. I usually offer a link on my site to the announcement in Greek, tell people to print it out, and all is well.
Kat, you're a lifesaver! I've spent hours on your site in the past couple of weeks reading your information and verifying it (in case it's changed) with other experiences I find. Thanks so much for this info, particularly the 'normal' window for travel.
Now I just wait for the blue card...
This is an example of the post I'm talking about. This was the special travel period for summer. I translated the announcement and gave a link to the press release in Greek, which I encourage people to print in case border control gives you a bad time.
http://livingingreece.gr/2008/08/05/summer-travel-period-announced-for-non-eu-citizens/
The bebaiosi is a blue certificate (literally a 5x7 paper) with your photo on it. You should have been given this within 30 days of arrival in Greece. It is not a card. It's a receipt that says you applied for the permit and are awaiting the official sticker to be placed in your passport.
And here's info on travel in general for non-EU citizens in Greece.
http://livingingreece.gr/2007/10/16/im-a-non-eu-citizen-in-greece-am-i-allowed-to-travel-when-i-wish/
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