Greece Visa: Who Needs One, Fees and How to Apply

• EU, EEA, Swiss: no visa
• US, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE: 90 days in 180
• India, the Philippines, China, Egypt: Schengen visa

Greece is a Schengen country, so whether you need a Greece visa depends on the passport you travel on, not on where you live. Greece's foreign ministry publishes the full list, country by country.

Do US citizens need a visa for Greece? No, and that is also the answer for anyone asking whether Americans need a visa for Greece: a US passport is visa-free for tourism and business visits of up to 90 days in 180, and the same goes for UK, Canadian, Australian and Singapore citizens, so there is no Greece visa for Singapore passports either.

A residence permit does not change this rule in either direction: a green card, a UK residence permit or a UAE residence visa does not make an Indian or Pakistani passport visa-free for Greece. Only a residence permit from a Schengen country lets you visit without a visa.

• C: up to 90 days in 180
• D: stays over 90 days
• Digital nomad: separate visa

This page covers the short-stay Schengen visa, the one almost every holiday maker needs. The golden visa (residence by investment) and work permits are residence matters handled in Greece, not tourist visas.

• Apply where you legally live
• Most centres: GVC World
• The centre does not decide

You apply to the Greek embassy or consulate responsible for the country where you legally live. In most countries Greece has handed the collection of applications and fingerprints to an external provider, and that provider has no say in the decision.

How to apply for a Greece visa, step by step

• Apply through GVC World
• 15 cities
• 2025 refusal rate: 33.18%

How to apply for a Greece visa from India: the Embassy of Greece in New Delhi decides and Global Visa Center World (GVCW) takes the applications. GVCW lists centres in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Puducherry and Pune.

The New Delhi centre is at Shivaji Stadium Metro Station and takes applications Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 16:00.

• Fees€90 visa fee (INR 9,810 on GVCW's table) plus a €30 service fee, paid in rupees in cash or by UPI at the centre
• TimingUp to 15 working days, up to 45 calendar days if other Schengen states must be consulted
• Outside New DelhiAdd 5 days: the file travels to the New Delhi centre first
• Last momentCentres in India do not accept applications later than 15 working days before departure

In 2025 the embassy in New Delhi received 41,009 short-stay applications and refused 33.18%, against 14.48% for all Greek consulates worldwide.

• British citizens: no visa
• Residents on other passports: apply here
• 2025 refusal rate: 24.49%

British citizens do not need a Greece visa for up to 90 days in 180. If you live in the UK on a passport that needs one, for example as an Indian or Nigerian national, you apply for a Greece visa from the UK through GVCW for the Embassy of Greece in London, which says a UK residence permit does not replace the Schengen visa; that covers UK BRP holders and e-visa holders alike. Holders of UK refugee travel documents need a visa too.

The Greece visa application centre in London is at 66 Wilson Street; the Greece visa centres in Manchester and Edinburgh take applications too.

Applications are in person and by appointment only. Bring a copy of your UK e-visa and a share code: GVCW asks residence permit holders for both. The visa fee is €90, paid in pounds (£79.20 on GVCW's table on 16 October 2026), plus a €30 service fee. In 2025 the London consulate received 36,089 applications and refused 24.49%.

• Emirati passport: no visa
• UAE residents: Abu Dhabi or Dubai centre
• 2025 refusal rate: 15.63%

Emirati citizens are on Greece's visa-free list. The Greece visa requirements for UAE residents are the checklist in section 10, including proof of your UAE residence.

UAE residents who hold a passport that needs a visa apply at the Greek visa application centres in Abu Dhabi or Dubai; the Embassy of Greece in Abu Dhabi points applicants to VFS Global for locations, documents, fees and appointments, and it handles national (type D) visas itself, by appointment. In 2025 the embassy received 13,587 short-stay applications and refused 15.63%.

• Citizens: no visa
• Green card or PR on a visa passport: apply there
• US: by appointment at the consulate

US, Canadian and Australian citizens travel to Greece without a visa. If you live in one of these countries on a passport that needs a visa, for example as an Indian national with a green card, a Canadian permanent residence card or an Australian visa, you still need a Greece Schengen visa and you apply at the Greek consulate responsible for where you live.

A visa for Greece for green card holders, and a Greece visa for Canadian permanent residents, follow exactly this rule.

In the United States applications go to the Greek consulate in person and every service there is by appointment. Besides the form, passport, photo and fee, the Greek missions in the US list these supporting documents:

• A valid green card or US visaNot a B1/B2 visitor visa
• Bank and credit card statementsLast 3 months
• W-2 formsLast 2 years
• Employer letterPosition and salary; self-employed: a bank letter on the company; F1 students: I-20 and a school letter
• Return tickets and itinerary
• Hotel bookings or an invitationAn invitation must be notarised in Greece
• Travel medical insuranceAt least €30,000

• Earliest: 6 months before
• Latest: 15 days before
• Book early for summer

Under the EU visa rules you can apply up to 6 months and no later than 15 calendar days before the trip. GVCW in the UK and India confirms the 6-month window.

Two local rules are stricter: centres in India refuse files later than 15 working days before departure, and the Greek missions in the US still write that applications should not be lodged earlier than 3 months before the trip, so check with your consulate.

Where GVCW runs the centre, you complete the online form on its site, then book the appointment there and print the appointment letter. In the US, book on the consulate's appointment page.

• Adults and children 12+: €90
• Under 12: free
• Centre service fee: €30

The Greece visa price is the same at every Greek consulate: the cost of a visa for Greece is €90 plus the centre's service fee where there is one. Greece waives the fee for every child under 12, more generous than the general EU rule of €45 for ages 6 to 12. The fee is charged in local currency at the day's rate and is not refunded if the visa is refused.

• Passport: max 10 years old
• Valid 3 months after leaving
• Insurance: €30,000

These Greece tourist visa requirements are the ones every Greek consulate asks for. Your centre adds a local checklist (GVCW publishes one per country), so download that too.

• Application formCompleted and signed
• PassportIssued within the last 10 years, valid at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area, at least 2 blank pages
• PhotoRecent, ICAO standard (see section 11)
• FingerprintsTaken at the appointment unless recorded in the last 59 months
• Proof of residence where you applyResidence permit, green card, e-visa and share code in the UK
• Bank statementsRecent, showing you can pay for the trip
• Employment or study proofEmployer letter with position and salary, or a school letter
• Return ticket booking and itinerary
• Hotel bookings or an invitation
• Travel medical insuranceAt least €30,000, emergency care, hospital and repatriation, valid for the whole Schengen area and the whole stay
• Visa fee

The consulate can ask for more documents or call you for an interview while the file is being processed.

• Form: online, then print
• Photo: 3.5 x 4 cm
• White or off-white background

Where GVCW runs the centre, you fill in the Greece visa application form online on its site, print it and bring it signed; postal applications are not accepted.

The Greece visa photo requirements at GVCW are two recent photos, 3.5 x 4 cm, no older than 6 months, in colour, on a white or off-white background, facing forward with forehead and ears visible, without glasses, hats or heavy jewellery. A photo that does not meet these rules makes the application incomplete.

• As a rule: 15 calendar days
• Up to 30, exceptionally 60
• Track with application ID

Greek consulates decide, as a rule, within 15 calendar days of a complete application; the period can be extended to 30 days, and in exceptional cases to 60. In India, allow up to 15 working days, up to 45 calendar days with consultation, plus 5 days outside New Delhi.

Greece visa tracking and status check: on the GVCW site you check your Greece visa online by passport number together with the application ID from your payment receipt; it also shows when the passport is ready to collect. In the UAE, track on the VFS site where you applied. When you get the passport back, check the visa sticker for errors at once.

• 2025 refusal rate: 14.48%
• Reasons on a standard form
• Fee not refunded

A refused applicant gets a standard form with the reasons and the procedure and deadline for an appeal, which is lodged against Greece under Greek law. You can also reapply with a stronger file and a new fee. If the refusal is based on an entry in the Schengen Information System, the Greek foreign ministry explains your rights on a separate page.

The rate is visas not issued divided by all decisions, the way the European Commission calculates it.

• 90 days in any 180
• Counts all Schengen days
• No work

Visa-free visitors and Schengen visa holders can spend at most 90 days in any 180-day period in the whole Schengen area. On every day you are there, count back 180 days: the days in all Schengen countries together must not exceed 90, and the day you arrive and the day you leave both count.

A visa-free stay does not allow work. These are also the Greece entry requirements for US citizens and other visa-free travellers. Visa-free travellers need a passport that has been issued within the last 10 years and is valid 3 months after the day you plan to leave.

• EES fully running since 10 April 2026
• No more passport stamps
• ETIAS: not yet in operation

The Entry/Exit System (EES) registers non-EU travellers on short stays at the external borders of 29 European countries, Greece included. Since 10 April 2026 it runs at every external crossing and passport stamping has ended.

• With a visaOnly your facial image is stored; your fingerprints are already in the visa system
• Visa-freeFour fingerprints and a facial image
• Children under 12No fingerprints

ETIAS is a travel authorisation for visa-free travellers to 30 European countries. On 16 October 2026 the official site says it is not in operation and collects no applications, that the start date will be announced several months ahead, and that the fee will be €20.

If you need a visa, ETIAS does not apply to you. Any site charging for an ETIAS today is not the official one.

This page is not legal advice or a visa service. The Greek embassy or consulate decides every application.

All facts come from Greece's foreign ministry and its missions in the UK, the US and the UAE, the Global Visa Center World sites for the UK and India, the European Union and the European Commission, checked on 16 October 2026; rules and fees change, so check your consulate's page before your appointment.

We do not link visa agencies or insurers.