Struggles of Moving to Greece | What to Consider Before You Relocate

[@jkbutnotreally]

You folks are heroes. I'm Greek and even though I'm an expat now living elsewhere, I still get PTSD whenever I have to deal with Greek authorities for whatever minute reason. Being Greek and living and working in Greece, dealing with the public sector had been an incredibly frustrating and stressful experience, where laws and regulations changed each time I spoke to a public official, seemingly at their whim. I cannot even imagine what it must be for you, and frankly if you had asked me prior to your endeavor, I would have said it's a fool's errand. I'm much happier (10x) dealing with authorities in other European countries I've lived and still live in, than when I have to deal with my own country. I shiver at the thought. Good luck. Oh, and cool videos :D

[@becoming_greek]

I think that’s a very common sentiment amongst Greeks. I totally get it but we kind of look at it as, it’s the process we pay to be able to live in Greece

[@Enapoulaki]

I feel that a lot of this is great info but also common sense, it’s never easy to pick up and relocate, there will always be hard struggles in life and especially being brave moving from one country to the next. Keep at it, keep us posted! Try a local teacher 3x a week at least! Watch shows with the subtitles in either language you got this! The dogs all over is really hard to see I agree.

[@becoming_greek]

Totally, sadly I think some of the common sense people don’t consider and even then letting people know how we are coping with it. We do have tutors but sadly haven’t had the time to commit 3x a week but trying to keep pushing harder. Σιγά σιγά. Definitely like watching what we can in Greek, like Maestro in Blue

[@md-oh9kc]

Thx for sharing. ExPat life in any country has many common struggles/stressors. It is good to learn specific issues to allow one to approach the ExPat lifestyle with “Eyes Wide Open.” Keep on keeping on! 😊

[@becoming_greek]

Exactly. I think we do a good job of showing the beauty of Greece but I want to be sure we don’t come across as telling people that your problems go away in Greece, some might but you’ll acquire different ones

[@achillespaparsenos5649]

I was just talking with my Greek teacher about how frustrating it’s been that I still can’t follow a Greek conversation even after studying Greek for over two years. Living in Greece and being immersed like you guys are, you will learn quickly if you want. That’s exciting. I could feel the effect when I was there speaking Greek for just two weeks this Summer. And oh, η γραφειοκρατία!

[@becoming_greek]

Just keep at it! Learning any language is difficult and I think Greek is a bit more. I’ve (Rett) been taking Greek lessons for just over 2 years but because of my work, I’ve had to take about 6 months of that time off. I also have to go back to the states for chunks of time so I start to feel a bunch of progress before a little regression. I just tell myself it’s the price I pay to live in Greece though and I’ll get there. As the Greeks say “σιγά σιγά”

[@kevinandange]

Hello again. This video i can relate to because i lived in Volos for 4 years before i met my husband. I struggled to adapt to how different life was when you're no longer a tourist. I got sent all over town when i was getting my European ID so I know what you went through. Another great video guys. Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend. Greetings from Sydney Australia 🇦🇺 😊

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you for following! The government and beauracracy is probably the hardest adjustment for us as I’m sure you understand

[@kimnicolaou372]

I love when honest and realistic information is presented about moving to/living in Greece. Too many people think it is easy to just pick up and move to Greece. I am married to a Greek man (born in Greece) and we have a small home there that we share with his sister and her husband but we don't live in Greece. People are always surprised when I tell them it is not easy to move to Greece because of the Visa requirements, the requirement to have a certain income and private health care if you want to retire there etc. If you are planning to buy a home in Greece you must invest a certain amount of money to be able to actually live in it full time (Golden Visa). As you point out, the incredible bureaucracy involved in getting the necessary paperwork is the biggest hurdle. I admire people, like you, who are willing to put in the work to do this. I hope things move quickly for you.

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you and totally agree. It’s amazing in Greece as long as you’re able to put in the time and have patience. We try to give as much of an honest but positive approach but because we do this in our other videos we felt it would be worthwhile to spend time solely talking about some of our struggles

[@joet52632001]

Last week I applied for an AFM tax id and it took several days for approval with the help of an accountant in Kalamata. Then I spent 3 hours at the National Bank Of Greece (NBG) in Athens yesterday just to get a bank account. After they sent me to several different places with an appointment. Flipping through lots of paperwork and with my laptop in hand I was only 50/50 certain I would be setup and I speak Greek fluently! You need patience!

[@becoming_greek]

That’s wild! We paid an accountant to do that for us. While she said it was easy, it doesn’t seem so easy for those of us not familiar with the process or connected to the right networks of people

[@mlagmar7105]

Very interesting, but sometimes the music was too loud to hear you.

[@becoming_greek]

I apologize. I edited this on a plane and sadly KZbin punishes us for taking down to reupload and that’s the only way to change. Maybe I’ll just upload a version with no music

[@MrKozanitis]

What did I say about the Greek bureaucracy?! Spot on. Work: Remote or not it’s a labyrinth of laws, rules and regulations, often contradictory; so hire a lawyer…but vet him/her VERY carefully! The money spent will pay off in (relative) peace of mind! And as for strays (BTW, I, too, am violently allergic!) I’m all for helping them…but I am totally against those people who don’t come back to clean up after their offerings to the strays! And the majority of them don’t ensuring a totally messed up environment!

[@becoming_greek]

Yeah, it’d be nice for clarity but I hear ya.. bureaucracy stinks

[@gigiray7413]

Great info!

[@becoming_greek]

Glad you think so!

[@karihanna82]

Thank you so much. It is great content! Can you please make a video about finding rent in big and middle big cities?

[@becoming_greek]

Thank you for following. We discuss this a bit in our 6 months living in Greece video, Digital Nomad Lifestyle | Why we moved to a village in Crete and 1 year living in Greece video. I wouldn’t want to discuss something we don’t have first hand experience with so, for instance we couldn’t talk about finding rent in Athens or Thesseloniki but we did experience this in Chania.

[@izarat]

Do you think it's easier to get an US citizenship?

[@becoming_greek]

US citizenship isn’t easy but I do think while it lacks clarity it is a bit more clear. I do think it is difficult obtaining citizenship anywhere but it’s just things to be aware of

[@brianbosarge9348]

As a digital nomad, I am curious about the internet speeds in Greece. Can you both do your jobs with the internet speeds in the country?

[@becoming_greek]

It depends on where you go. They do have access to starlink so that is almost always the fastest option. On Crete another good option is a 5g sim, it’s not fast but doable for most things. Athens and Thessaloniki will have decent speeds. Small islands Starlink is the only viable option

[@brianbosarge9348]

@ thanks for the reply. Love your videos

[@becoming_greek]

For sure. Thank you for following and good luck!

[@guristu]

It's not just Greece. It's pretty much all over EU.

[@becoming_greek]

Which part? Passports?

[@urbanphotolab.project2223]

Handy video but it was difficult to follow as the background music was too hard … and dramatic sometimes 🇬🇷😉

[@becoming_greek]

Im sorry, I edited that one on a plane and of course KZbin won’t allow us to update 😭

[@TsetsiStoyanova]

Same impressions, music is loud and distracting and unnecessary

[@despinadespina4552]

You MUST know, GREEKS, as well, are FED UP, with this, papper work. IT is too much, IT GIVES you A headache.

[@becoming_greek]

Oh we know. Greeks think their government is against them. Greece is amazing, the government stinks. Most governments are not perceived well by most of their citizens but in Greece probably even more so because the illogical nature of the operations of the government, the inefficiency to get things done and ridiculous $ asks… but yeah, we haven’t dealt with it in the same way of the locals but we’ve had a taste of it. I see it as the price we pay to live in the beautiful country.

[@TheHappyHoopDancer]

Oh the real Greece

[@becoming_greek]

One side of it for sure

[@selena2250]

Unfortunately, it was very difficult to hear you over the loud music 🤷

[@becoming_greek]

Im sorry, I edited that one on a plane and of course KZbin won’t allow us to update 😭

[@sallywood99]

I was nodding away with what you were both saying. Katina could you let us know which animal shelter you used for the free spray, we have two outdoor feline friends that seem to call our place home, like you we can't have them inside. Hope to meet up soon. 😊

[@becoming_greek]

I’m sure you have some stories of the struggles you’ve been through too. Here is a link to the Facebook page, they announce when they do free spay and then you make an appointment - facebook.com/share/aBaoTHsC1pMJAuDS/?mibextid=LQQJ4d . Hope to see you guys soon! I’m traveling for work but will be back in a couple of weeks

[@bwana-ma-coo-bah425]

Nobody pays taxes in Greece. If you want something done in Greece. An envelope with cash is the only way.

[@becoming_greek]

A lot definitely goes unreported in Greece

[@bwana-ma-coo-bah425]

@@becoming_greek they call it democracy😉