Residence Permits
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- This topic has 24 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 10th January 2015 at 1:35 pm by
JohnD.

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umaremasu in Crete
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Having arrived in Crete only just over two weeks ago, we did rather well getting residents permit, apart from initially being directed to Rethymnon rather than our local town’s police station.
We were given the police station phone number and the contact name for the guy who processes them there, he was able to tell us what time to go down when he was there.
Passport, 3 passport photos, bankbook showing we had €2500 in the bank to support us (not that that would last very long) health card (he was happy with the EHIC as we haven’t sorted S1 and IKA out yet), and just in case, we took along AFM numbers which he didn’t want.
Card (yellow now, with no expiry date) ready next day, and we collected car 2 days later after insurance sorted.Next hurdle is IKA!!
The tourist police don’t issue residents permits or the never used to. It’s what they call the ‘Aliens Department’ in the main police station. They especially don’t do it in Rethymno as apparently the tourist police don’t even exist any-more, part of all the cuts.
The ins and outs of living here seem to have become more complicated with the amount of foreigners now arriving. If the laws haven’t changed, you don’t need a residence permit to stay for under three months, after that time any-thing you will try and do regarding phones, cars, houses etc etc will need one and the Greeks are within their rights to issue them as they themselves have to register and have an identity card issued via the police.
The person who should be able to give you all the info that you need regarding whether you need to transfer money etc is an accountant as this now depends on things like, do you have a swimming pool, is one of you, if you are a couple, earning or receiving any monies within the UK etc. The only reason that I know about this is that my neighbour has just been through all the ins and outs of this due to the new or newish laws.
AMCA numbers have nothing to do with residents permits as far as I know. They have been installed in readiness for when all the insurances, IKA, TAXI etc merge.
latsida
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if you have recently been issued with an IKA Health book you probably already have an AMKA number .
http://www.amka.gr/aparaitita_en.htmlEdited:activated link, no more have to copy/paste
admin
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Update on Residency
Four years on, just checking if anything has changed or is different, as this is a useful thread for any newcomer who wishes to stay on Crete or in other parts of Greece
Having just retired and intending to spend more time here in Crete, I decided to buy a car. So first things first – the residents certificate. This actually proved to be very easy to obtain from Vamos police station. I was advised to phone first to find out what day to attend as the officer responsible works both in Vamos and Chania (for those that want the Vamos number it is 28250 22218 for other police stations around Chania goto http://www.gtp.gr/TDirectoryDetails.asp?ID=4584 scroll to the bottom of the page and select a link to the nearest station). I went on a Monday in December 2014 and was asked for 2 passport photos, proof of health coverage (I had both the EHIC and a private insurance policy taken out before I had retired. The police officer indicated that the EHIC would have been sufficient) and a copy of my passport. I then had to fill in a form which detailed when and where I had entered Greece, where I was staying, whether I would be employed in Greece parents names and a contact number. I was then asked to come back the next day to pick up the certificate after phoning to make sure it was ready. Seemed all very easy and fuss free and I am now driving around in my new (secondhand) car.
However having read this and other forums regarding what was required, I did take a whole lot of other stuff with me ‘just in case’. This was a bank passbook, electric bill, afm number and extra copies of photos and copies of my passport – none of which was needed.
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