# Moving to piraeus



## Kebab (Jan 18, 2015)

CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO DO AND WHAT I NEED AS I AM PLANNING TO MOVE AND RETIRE TO GREECE EARLY THIS YEAR.

WHO DO I REGISTER WITH ETC ETC.

THANKS 

MICHAEL.lane:


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

Well the answer to what you need to do is simple. You need to get a Residence Permit once you are there. But when I see questions in isolation like this on any forum, I always think of the analogy of someone asking for directions to a cliff. It's easy to give the directions but sometimes it might be more important to ask why they want to go to the cliff. 

When someone talks about moving to another country, the big unknown is whether they will 'stick' or not. Unfortunately, there is no way to know that beforehand.

I lived on Rhodes for 7 years. During my time on Rhodes, I saw many people come to the island planning to stay. I have no real statistical data to offer you but I can tell you from my personal observations, about half were gone within the first 2 years and only 1-2 were still there after 5 years. Obviously, those aren't great odds.

The single biggest obstacle to sticking I have seen is the ability to accept 'different'. Loving a place on vacation is nothing like living in that place. When you move there and start having to deal with all the day to day realities, you quickly discover the differences. Some people simply can't deal with those differences. They start talking about how it is 'better back home' or how it 'makes more sense', etc. Once the negativity starts, it's easy to see how it can progress.

Some other things also make it more or less likely you will stick. Being retired with a pension is an obvious plus and better than having to find work.

A friend of mine used to always say there were 2 reasons people came. Either they were running away from something or they were running to something. Those running away usually find that whatever it was is still with them. ie. running after a divorce vs. a happy couple looking for a better climate.

People who arrive with a limited amount of money in their pocket obviously have more pressure on them than those who arrive with enough to pay their way for a longer period. All these things contribute to your chances of 'sticking'.

I always advise people that they should rent for a year and preferably 2 before doing something like buying property. It's easy to buy, much harder to sell. Until you get through that first 'honeymoon period', it is not a good idea to buy anything. That's if you were thinking of buying of course. You haven't said what your circumstances are. The more relevant information you provide, the more relevant responses can be.

I'd be happy to provide more info if I can kebab, if you provide more info to comment on. The first question that comes to my mind for example is why Piraeus? I can't imagine many people chosing that location to retire to.


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