Greece digital nomad visa (2026)

Who can apply

Only non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens.

• Non-EU national working remotely for an employer or clients outside Greece
• Stable income of at least €3,500 per month during the stay
• Health insurance covering Greece
• No right to work for Greek employers

Income requirement

You need to show at least €3,500 per month (about US$3,915 a month at rates from 11 Nov 2026). Steady monthly income of €3,500 for the main applicant; secondary sources say it is net and rises 20% for a spouse and 15% per child, but this was not confirmed officially.

Documents you need

• National visa application form, passport and photos
• Employment contract or proof of self-employment with foreign clients
• Proof of income (bank statements, payslips)
• Health insurance and criminal record certificate

How to apply, step by step

1. Book an appointment with the Greek consulate or its visa centre
2. Submit the D visa application with supporting documents
3. Enter Greece on the visa
4. Apply for the residence permit before the visa expires if you want to stay longer

Where and how to apply

The visa (category Z.1 under Article 68 of the Migration Code, Law 5038/2023) is issued by the Greek consulate whose district covers the place where you legally live; a consulate may also accept someone legally present but not resident in its area if they give good reasons. The law lets you send the file in person, by email or by registered letter, and obliges the consulate to answer within 10 days and to complete the process in a single visit. The Foreign Ministry's general rules for D visas add that you must appear at least once, give ten fingerprints and a photo, and may be interviewed by the consul; some missions use an external service provider (the London embassy uses GVC World) where the interview can be held by video link. The decision on the visa belongs to the consulate. To stay beyond the visa, you apply in Greece to the Directorate for Aliens and Migration of the Decentralised Administration for your place of residence, and the Secretary of that Administration decides. The 2023 Code also let people who entered visa-free or on a Schengen visa apply for the residence permit directly in Greece; secondary sources say a 2026 law removed that option, which could not be confirmed officially.

Timeline

1. Gather police and medical certificates Before applying
   You need a criminal record certificate from your country of residence and a medical certificate on the Ministry's form (Annex II) from an accredited clinic.
2. Submit the Z.1 visa application Any time before travel
   File with the consulate (or its visa centre) for your place of residence, with the general D-visa documents, the specific digital nomad documents and the €75 visa fee.
3. Consular decision Within 10 days of submission
   The 10-day deadline for digital nomad visas is written into Article 68 and repeated in the Foreign Ministry's D-visa guidance. Consulates may ask for more documents to rule out security or public-health concerns.
4. Live in Greece on the visa Up to 12 months
   The visa itself gives the right to stay and work remotely for foreign employers or clients.
5. Apply for the residence permit Before the visa expires
   Submit to the Decentralised Administration for your address. If granted, the permit is of type I.8 and lasts two years.
6. Tax residence check After more than 183 days in any 12 months
   From that point Greece treats you as tax resident from your first day of presence, so register with the tax authority and plan your returns.

Proving your income

Article 68 sets the required means at €3,500 a month of steady income. For employees and contractors the figure is net, after the taxes due in the country where the work is performed. You can prove it either through the contract or proof of the employment relationship, or through a bank account. Employees must show a contract of indefinite duration, or a fixed-term contract that still covers the whole visa period, plus details of their role and of the employer's name, seat, field of activity and corporate purpose. Freelancers with more than one client abroad provide the client contracts on the same duration basis; people running their own company abroad provide the company's details and their role in it. Every applicant also signs a solemn declaration that they intend to work remotely from Greece and will not provide work or services to any employer based in Greece. The law does not fix how many months of bank statements to provide, and translation and legalisation rules are set by each consulate's checklist.

Bringing your family

Your spouse or registered partner (cohabitation agreement) and unmarried children under 18 can come with you. This covers children of the couple, legally adopted children, and children of either partner where that partner has legal custody. Parents and adult children are not listed. Each extra person raises the income requirement: 20% for a spouse or partner and 15% for each child, so a couple with one child needs €4,725 a month net. Family members apply for their own visas, which expire on the same day as yours, and they can later receive the two-year residence permit with you. They are not allowed to take a job or carry on any kind of economic activity in Greece while on this status.

Health insurance

For the visa, the Foreign Ministry asks for travel insurance lasting at least as long as the visa, covering medical repatriation, emergency medical care and emergency hospital treatment. For the residence permit, the general conditions of the Migration Code (Article 8) require full health insurance covering the risks that are covered for Greek nationals. The Work From Greece portal, which the Foreign Ministry links to, notes that non-EU residents are not entitled to the public system (EOPYY) and should buy private cover suited to a long stay. The Ministry's form also requires a medical certificate showing you do not have a disease that threatens public health.

Cost and processing time

The fee is €75 visa fee, plus the residence permit fee if you stay longer. Processing takes the consulate must decide within 10 days. Budget extra for translations, certified copies and health insurance.

After you arrive

• Get a Greek tax number (AFM) from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE); landlords, banks and utility companies usually ask for it.
• A Greek bank account is not required for the visa, but banks typically ask for your passport, visa or permit, tax number, proof of address and proof of income.
• If you want to stay beyond the visa, file for the two-year I.8 residence permit at the Decentralised Administration for your address before the visa expires; the original 2023 Code set the e-fee for I.8 permits at €1,000.
• Keep your lease or purchase contract: it is needed for in-country residence permit applications.
• Authorities may ask for a medical examination within three months of arrival if there are serious indications of a public-health risk.
• Watch your days: more than 183 days in any 12-month period makes you a Greek tax resident from the first day of presence.
• Do not take Greek clients or employers: your signed declaration and the permit both exclude work for Greece-based businesses.

Tax

AADE treats an individual as a Greek tax resident if their permanent or main home, habitual abode or centre of vital interests is in Greece, or if they spend more than 183 days in Greece in any 12-month period; in that case residence starts from the first day of presence. The tourism and medical-stay exception does not cover people living and working in Greece. Article 5C of the Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013) offers new residents a 50% income tax exemption, for seven tax years, on income from employment and/or business activity earned in Greece, plus exemption from deemed living-expense taxation based on homes and cars. You qualify only if you were not a Greek tax resident in five of the six years before moving, you move from an EU/EEA country or from a state with a tax administrative cooperation agreement with Greece, you declare that you will stay at least two years, and you either work for a Greek legal entity or a Greek permanent establishment of a foreign business, or start an individual business registered in Greece. A remote employee of a foreign company with no Greek establishment therefore does not meet the 5C conditions. Applications are filed on myAADE; if the job or business starts by 2 July, the application must be filed by the end of that year. No official source checked sets social security rules specific to digital nomads.

Does it lead to permanent residence?

EU long-term resident status (permit type M1) requires five years of legal and uninterrupted residence immediately before the application, income at least equal to annual earnings at the minimum wage (plus 10% for dependants), full health insurance and proof of integration into Greek society. Absences shorter than six consecutive months and totalling no more than ten months in the five years do not break the period. Periods spent under a temporary residence status are excluded, and the Migration Code describes stays on national visas as temporary residence, so the visa year may not count; years on the two-year I.8 permit are ordinary residence, but no official page confirms how they are treated in practice. Citizenship rules were not confirmed from an official source.

Why applications get refused

• Grounds under Article 7(4) of the Migration Code: being considered a threat to public order, internal security, public health or Greece's international relations.
• Entries in the criminal record; the consulate weighs how serious and frequent the offences are.
• Income below €3,500 net a month, or below the raised figure when a spouse and children apply.
• Contracts that end before the requested visa period, or missing details of the foreign employer or company.
• Passport problems: issued more than 10 years ago, valid for less than 3 months after the planned departure, or fewer than 2 blank pages.
• Missing medical certificate, or travel insurance shorter than the visa; applying for the residence permit after the visa has already expired.

Cost of living in Athens

1-bedroom rent

€500–€900 per month in the centre (average about €672); €450–€750 outside the centre (Numbeo, updated 12 November 2026)

Coworking desk

Monthly desk from about €169 to €359 before tax; day pass from about €25 (median about €49) (Workin.space listings, updated 11 November 2026)

Numbeo lists home broadband of 60 Mbps or more at roughly €22–€38 a month; rents on the islands and in summer can differ sharply from Athens.

Good to know

• Secondary sources report that since February 2026 (Law 5275/2026) applications from inside Greece are no longer accepted, so apply at a consulate before travelling
• Family members can usually accompany the main applicant

Visiting first? Entry rules for popular passports

93 passports can enter Greece visa-free for a short stay, a common way to try the country before applying. Check Greece visa requirements for your passport.

Official source

Embassy of Greece in the United Kingdom – Greece welcomes digital nomads

Not yet confirmed on an official source: renewal, documents, eligibility, goodToKnow. Check these with the consulate before you apply.