Pre - Brexit long stay Greece

Question

My husband and I are UK citizens wishing to spend 6-12 months in Greece. We arrived on 3rd June 2019, and understand that after 90 days in the country we are required to apply for a residents permit. We don't really want to do that if it is avoidable. My question is, if we leave Greece after 85-89 days of being here, and return 7 days later does the 90 period start again? I have researched this as much as possible - but most answers on the net refer to the 90 days in 180 days schengen rule, which I don't believe applies to us until after Brexit. I would like to know if it is legal to stay here till 31 August (thats 90 days from arrival), travel to the UK for two weeks and then come back for another 90 days. Thanks in advance, Kerry

Answer 1

I do not know precisely how this works in Greece, but my parents have some similar experience in France. the penalty for failing to register should be fairly light, but the specifics are determined by national law, so they vary from one country to another.

I suspect that you can get away with doing "visa runs" (perhaps "free movement runs" is a better term, as odd as it is) if you won't have a regular home base during your time there, and you might even be able to get away with it if you do have a regular home base. But I would counsel you to consider a couple of points:

1. If you're not planning to have health insurance, what will you do if one of you falls ill or is injured?
2. You do not necessarily need to have income; you can also have savings and other assets, which may be easier to show if you are retired, which I guess you are.

If I were you, I would probably try to stay above board and make the application to the Greek authorities.