A move to Greece has one dependency that decides everything else. The relocation certificate issued by your Greek consulate is dated, that date counts as the day your habitual abode transferred, and it is valid for twelve months. Every shipping decision has to sit inside that window.
Which means the common instinct, get quotes first and sort the paperwork later, is backwards. Getting quotes first is fine. Booking first is not.
Below is the order we would work to, and roughly how far ahead each stage needs to start.
You need at least two years of habitual abode outside Greece immediately before the transfer, and habitual abode means 185 days or more in any twelve month period. Long stretches spent in Greece during that time can break it, and time at university abroad does not establish it.
This is free to check and expensive to discover late. If the answer is no, the whole move is a different financial proposition and you want to know before you book anything.
You have to declare the address you are moving to. A plan to arrive, rent somewhere temporary and look properly once you are there is a genuine complication at this stage, not a detail to sort out later.
If that is your situation, the provision worth knowing is that the exemption can still be granted to somebody already in Greece who declares an intention to transfer within twenty four months of arriving, or thirty six months for a person retiring. It is a different route through the same door.
Longest lead time of anything in a move. Four to eight weeks from the UK, and three months or more from a country the EU treats as high risk for rabies, because of the blood test. The microchip has to precede the rabies vaccination, so an error here restarts the clock. Pet requirements
Before you assume the car comes with you, check its emissions standard. Euro 1, 2 and 3 cars cannot be imported and registered in Greece at all. Getting this wrong after the shipping is paid for is the most expensive mistake on this route. Vehicle rules
Volume is the price. It is also the point to check who you are dealing with. An afternoon spent deciding what to sell, give away or leave is worth more than any negotiation over a quote afterwards, and it makes the survey figure meaningful rather than provisional.
The survey comes first because the certificate application needs a detailed list of what you intend to import, including any vehicle. A video survey takes half an hour and produces both the volume figure and the basis of that list.
Then apply to the consulate. Not before, because the issue date starts your twelve months and a certificate obtained early simply spends part of it. Check at the same time whether your supporting documents need translating into Greek.
Only then book the shipping. With a certificate date in hand the clearance timetable is known rather than assumed, and the mover can plan around it instead of around a guess.
Summer is the difficult season on this route, not winter. Adriatic ferry space fills with holiday traffic from late spring, and sailings to the smaller islands run thin from autumn.
If your date is fixed and it falls in July or August, add contingency at the booking stage. If it is flexible, moving in the shoulder months is easier and usually cheaper.
After arrival there is one more date to keep in mind. Belongings brought in under these provisions cannot be sold, leased, pledged or lent for one year from the day the customs document is accepted. If part of your plan involved selling a shipped car or furniture once you arrived, it does not work.
The sequence matters more than any single step.
Six months is comfortable, three is workable, and anything shorter means something gets compromised. Pets have the longest lead time, at four to eight weeks from the UK and three months or more from a high risk rabies country. The eligibility check should happen first because everything financial depends on it.
Get quotes early, book late. The consular certificate's issue date is treated as the date your habitual abode transferred and it is valid for twelve months, so a certificate obtained before you are ready simply burns part of that window. Survey first, then apply, then book the shipping.
No. Within the twelve month validity of the certificate your belongings can be cleared in a single consignment or in instalments. That suits people moving in phases, waiting on a property purchase, or sending the bulk first and the rest later. What you cannot do is spread it beyond the twelve months.
The shoulder months. Summer is the harder season on this route because Adriatic ferry space fills with holiday traffic from late spring, and sailings to the smaller islands thin out from autumn. Neither extreme is impossible, but a fixed July or August date needs contingency built in at the booking stage.
Passports, certificates, medication, laptops and anything you will need in the next couple of months. Also alcohol and tobacco, which fall outside the relief on both sides of this route and are better declared separately than buried in a carton. And anything of commercial type or quantity, which can jeopardise the wider claim.
Not for a year. Belongings imported under these provisions cannot be transferred, leased, pledged or lent for one year from the date the customs document is accepted. It is the deadline people are least aware of, and it matters most to anyone who was planning to ship a vehicle and sell it after arrival.
It is a complication rather than a blocker, because you have to declare the address you are moving to. The route through it is that the exemption can be granted to somebody already in Greece who declares an intention to transfer their habitual abode within twenty four months of arriving, or thirty six months if they are retiring.
Yes, at both ends. Goods need a further sailing after they reach the mainland or Piraeus, and that sailing has its own days and its own seasonal frequency. Build in more slack than a mainland move, and be prepared for the delivery date to follow the boat rather than the diary.
Starting somewhere else? collecting from Edinburgh, collecting from Cardiff, collecting from Bristol, collecting from Birmingham.
Moving from elsewhere in Europe? moving from Germany, moving from Norway, moving from Sweden, moving from Denmark.
Send your intended dates, where you are moving from and to, and anything with a long lead time such as pets or a vehicle. A vetted moving company from our network can survey the goods and plan the shipping around the twelve month window.
Get your free quoteWe are a free enquiry service and a Working Member of AGM Group. We put your enquiry to a vetted moving company from that network, which can work backwards from your dates. We are not consular agents or customs brokers, and we do not carry out removals ourselves.
Timings on this page are working guidance. Confirm your own dates with the Greek consulate handling your application.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder, International Removals Companies.