# beginning a yoga center - visa requirements to live and work in Greece



## rachaelpires (Apr 14, 2010)

Can someone please advise the visa requirements for a New Zealand national wanting to start a yoga center business in Greece. I need to learn how I can live in Greece and operate a business -- what visas are required. Thank you.


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

Hi Rachael,

I'm not from New Zealand, I'm from the United States, but I THINK that our requirements are the same. I think the requirements are the same for all countries that are not part of the EU. 

You specifically ask about a visa, which is a sticker that is placed in your passport and allows you to enter Greece. This is called a Schengen Visa (for Greece) and is good for 90 days. I don't know if it is different when you start a business. Please note: I DID NOT START A BUSINESS!! I just know how to get a Schengen Visa as an American coming to Greece. 

This is what I did, obviously some things will be a little different from the US for you:

- I got fingerprinted by the police and had my fingerprint card sent to the FBI for them to determine if my fingerprints were on record with the FBI. When they determined that they were not, they sent back the form to me with the words "No record" stamped on it. This is definitely required for US citizens but will be different for you as you don't have the FBI! 

- I got a letter from my doctor stating that I have no communicable diseases and am in good health.

- I got health insurance that would cover me in Greece and got a letter from them detailing what they cover and that they will cover me there.

- A letter from my landlord in Greece with the address of where I would be living, stating that I would be living there with starting date. 

- A letter from my employer in Greece with the address of where I would be working, stating that I would be working there.

- Bank statements proving that I had adequate funds. I'm not sure what adequate funds are, but I didn't have a lot of money as I was only 28 and a graduate student. This will probably be VERY different if you are starting a business - they might want to see a lot of money, maybe €200,000, but I am NOT sure at all - this is just a number that I seem to recall - please check this as I really have zero experience in this.

- I filled out a Schengen Visa application form. I downloaded it from the Greek Embassy's website but they also had them on hand when I went to the Embassy.

- I had to provide several passport photos.

- I had to have a valid passport that was good for at least 6 months. I actually got a new one that is now valid until 2019 because mine expired, and I think this was a good idea since you need a few completely blank pages anyway.

- Somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 (USD).

- I went to the Greek Embassy and had an interview with the consular officer about my reasons for going to Greece, and to review all my paperwork. That's when I handed in everything, including the money, and he kept all of it so make sure you keep copies of everything. He kept my passport also.

- In my case, I needed a pre-paid mailer so that they could mail my passport back to me. This depends on the Embassy because they may want you to come in and pick it up in person.

I CANNOT SWEAR that there was nothing else - I did this last year and I may have forgotten something!!!!

A few days (I think 2 days) after my interview, I got my passport back with a Schengen Visa in it, which is always good for exactly 90 days from the date that you tell them to start it (which should be the day you land in Greece).

I also applied for one in 2006 and the process was identical then.

Once you have your visa, you are entitled to come to Greece and apply for a residence permit, which is an entirely different and separate process. If you do not have a Schengen Visa in your passport, and try to apply for a residence permit in Greece, you will be sent back to New Zealand to acquire a Schengen Visa. I have two friends who had to do this, because they thought that just having a US passport was somehow the "equivalent" of having a Schengen visa, because Americans are allowed to be in Schengen Agreement territory for 90 days without a Schengen visa. This ended up costing them a lot of money for their plane tickets.

Just a note of caution: be sure to start your residence permit application as soon as you arrive in Greece.

I know nothing about the legalities or the requirements of starting a business here and I hope you get some answers, but I hope that this post at least helps with the Schengen visa. I did mine most recently in May 2009, and the whole process went extremely smoothly, with no problems whatsoever. I think it is a very simple process as long as you have your papers in order.


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## rachaelpires (Apr 14, 2010)

Wow. Thank you so much for your comprehensive response.
I think like the US people holding a NZ passport can just arrive in Greece and be granted a 90 day visit - no Shengen visa required. BUT it sounds as though a Shengen Visa is required in your passport so that you are able to then gain a Residence Permit.
Would I be able to work legally on a Residence Permit? 
Thanks so much for your response. Very helpful to me.
Rachael




wka said:


> Hi Rachael,
> 
> I'm not from New Zealand, I'm from the United States, but I THINK that our requirements are the same. I think the requirements are the same for all countries that are not part of the EU.
> 
> ...


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

As I said, yes, you need a Schengen Visa which is a sticker placed in your passport in order to apply for a residence permit. It does not matter if you have the right to enter Schengen territory and stay 90 days without it. Now, if you are only planning on staying 90 days out of every 180 days, you can just use your passport. But anyone from a country that is not part of the European Union who wants to apply for a residence permit needs a Schengen visa in their passport.

As far as being able to work legally with a residence permit: it depends on the sort of residence permit you are granted. I have been granted three types, although there are more than three types out there. I have been granted / am applying for res. permit with no right to work, res. permit with right to work in one specialized field, and res. permit with right to work anywhere that I'm qualified to work (as in, I couldn't work as a doctor since I'm not one, but I could get any job that I could get hired for) - this last one is the one that I'm currently trying to get. It depends both on what you apply for and on what they decide to give you. 

Since you want to start a business, you apply under a special article of the law that addresses foreigners wanting to start businesses in Greece. As I've never done it, I have no idea what it's like, but I presume that the basics are similar, plus you have to have a lot of money to invest in your company. In the US I know you can pretty much start a business with no capital, but in Greece a foreigner can't do that (don't know about Greeks) - you have to have a lot of money and I seem to recall that if your business fails, you lose your permit, but I could be wrong about that.

You probably want to find someone who has started a business in Greece and ask them - but don't ask Greeks. They have a totally different set of rules and will tell you things that will be wrong and misleading.


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## rachaelpires (Apr 14, 2010)

once again, very good information. Thanks for this. I have something with which I can start on and certainly I'll find out more about the different res. permit types.

Rachael





wka said:


> As I said, yes, you need a Schengen Visa which is a sticker placed in your passport in order to apply for a residence permit. It does not matter if you have the right to enter Schengen territory and stay 90 days without it. Now, if you are only planning on staying 90 days out of every 180 days, you can just use your passport. But anyone from a country that is not part of the European Union who wants to apply for a residence permit needs a Schengen visa in their passport.
> 
> As far as being able to work legally with a residence permit: it depends on the sort of residence permit you are granted. I have been granted three types, although there are more than three types out there. I have been granted / am applying for res. permit with no right to work, res. permit with right to work in one specialized field, and res. permit with right to work anywhere that I'm qualified to work (as in, I couldn't work as a doctor since I'm not one, but I could get any job that I could get hired for) - this last one is the one that I'm currently trying to get. It depends both on what you apply for and on what they decide to give you.
> 
> ...


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

Something I would recommend to ANYONE trying to enter Greece for non-tourist purposes, become very familiar with the Greek laws (forget about EU laws) that govern you. 

Start here: http://www.ggka.gr/n3386.pdf

It's in Greek but as you will learn when you come here, EVERYTHING of a bureaucratic nature is in Greek and if you don't know Greek, you'll have to learn to have any chance of survival running a business here (okay, that may be a bit negative-sounding, and of course there are exceptions, but your life will be 1000x easier and also cheaper!).

I do believe there is an English translation somewhere online but I don't know where. I looked briefly at the law and I think you are covered under Articles 24-27, but it's good to read the whole thing because much of it pertains.

Just quickly in case you don't know Greek, it seems you would need €60 000 in a bank account; then when you get here, you have to put the €60 000 in a Greek bank. You would also need to apply under Article 24 for a visa to enter Greece for this purpose, through your local (NZ) Greek Embassy, which forwards the application to the authorities in the area where your business will be located. If you are rejected you can reapply after 1 year. Your proposal will be examined from an economic, environmental, experiential, financial, and legal perspective by a 7-member panel.

The legal term for the kind of visa you need is Άδεια εισόδου προς άσκηση ανεξάρτητης οικονομικής δραστηριότητας. Supposedly the decision to issue this visa is made within a month of the application, however this same document says that my permit would be issued or rejected within 2 months and it has been over 8 months since I applied and they are still working on it. So just be aware that things do not always happen in the time frame that they would like them to.

It goes on in Articles 25, 26, and 27 about the actual residence/work permit but the visa aspect is covered in Article 24. PLEASE DO NOT RELY ON MY POST AS LEGAL ADVICE. I have ZERO legal training and am not a trained Modern Greek > English translator, nor have I attempted to "translate" the law for you, just to comment on it. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!!!


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