Greece visa guideThe Greece family and friends visit visa is a Schengen short-stay visa (type C) for staying with relatives or friends in Greece for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. You apply at a GVCW visa centre, such as Chandigarh, Jalandhar or New Delhi, and the Embassy of Greece's Consular Office in New Delhi decides, usually within 15 days by GVCW's guidance.
Greece's family-specific paperwork is short: a certificate proving the relationship, and proof of marriage for couples. The work is in sponsorship. If your host is paying or housing you, they complete Greece's official form, and their financial documents go into each traveller's application as a separate set.
Do Indians need a visa to visit family in Greece, and which one?
Yes. Parents flying to a son's home in Athens, or a brother going to a cousin's wedding in Thessaloniki, need a Schengen short-stay visa, type C, in GVCW's "Visiting Family or Friends" category. It covers up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen area. There is no e-visa, and the Embassy of Greece's Consular Office in New Delhi decides every application made in India.
Greece family visit visa at a glance
- CategoryUp to 90 days in any 180-day period
- Visiting Family or Friends, Schengen type C
- Host's partPlus the sponsor's financial documents in every application
- Greece's official sponsorship and accommodation form
- Relationship proofCouples: passport endorsement or MEA-apostilled marriage certificate
- Certificate proving the family relationship
- Where
- GVCW visa centres, including Chandigarh and Jalandhar
- FeeFree for spouses and children of EU citizens travelling with them
- €90, free under 12
Embassy of Greece New Delhi checklist and GVCW Greece India, checked 14 Oct 2026
This is a visit. A wife, husband or child who wants to live with the family in Greece goes through family reunification, a long-stay route that starts in Greece itself. It is explained at the end of this page.
Where do applicants from Punjab apply?
At any Visa Application Centre for Greece run by Global Visa Center World (GVCW). Greece does not use VFS, and it has no state-wise jurisdiction: one Consular Office in New Delhi decides everything, so a family in Moga or Ludhiana can use GVCW Chandigarh (Elante Offices) or GVCW Jalandhar (Aman Plaza). Files lodged outside New Delhi take 5 extra days, GVCW says, because they go to its Delhi centre first.
Things that matter for older parents and families:
- Each person attends. GVCW says appearing in person is mandatory for every applicant, regardless of age. Children under 12 skip the fingerprints but still come.
- Biometrics at home. GVCW's mobile biometrics service can collect fingerprints at your location anywhere in India, for applicants aged 12 and above. It started from ₹7,000 per application when we checked on 14 October 2026, depending on group size and location.
- Saturdays. Prime Time lets you submit on a Saturday at an extra charge, useful when the person who drives the parents works on weekdays.
- Fees in rupees. Cash or UPI, except at the New Delhi centre, which GVCW says is taking cash only for now.
- Someone else collecting. If a son or daughter in India will collect the parents' passports, the signed authorisation letters must go in with the applications.
Check how slots are opening on our Greece appointment availability page.
Which documents depend on your situation?
Greece's purpose-specific list for visiting relatives is one line: a certificate proving the existence of the family relationship. The weight sits on sponsorship and on your own finances.
If your host is paying or housing you, the checklist asks for proof of sponsorship and/or private accommodation on Greece's official form. Then comes a sentence that is easy to miss: the sponsor must attach all financial documents as a separate set of supporting documents to each individual application. Two parents travelling together are two applications, so the son's bank statements, payslips and tax papers go into both packs, complete, twice. The checklist does not list the host's residence papers separately, but it makes sense to show that the person signing the form lives in Greece lawfully: add a copy of the host's passport and Greek residence permit.
Your own side depends on who you are:
Retired parent
- What the Embassy's checklist asks for
- Pension statements for the last three months, and proof of regular income from property or a business
Employed
- What the Embassy's checklist asks for
- Payslips for the last three months, the employment contract, and the employer's approval of leave
Business owner or self-employed
- What the Embassy's checklist asks for
- The company's certificate of registration
Married couple travelling together
- What the Embassy's checklist asks for
- Spouse's name endorsed in both passports; otherwise the original marriage certificate apostilled by the MEA; failing both, an affidavit
Engaged couple
- What the Embassy's checklist asks for
- An affidavit as proof of the relationship, per the 2026 checklist notice
Grandchild with one parent
- What the Embassy's checklist asks for
- Notarised consent of the other parent, needed even if that parent holds a valid visa
Grandchild alone, a parent absent on the application day, or parents travelling on separate dates
- What the Embassy's checklist asks for
- Notarised consent of both parents
Grandchild who is a student
- What the Embassy's checklist asks for
- A valid school ID card as well
Everyone gives an original bank statement with movements over the last three months, stamped and signed by the bank, and attested Indian income tax return acknowledgements for the last two assessment years. GVCW asks for a separate application pack for each person, in A4, with its own copy of the accommodation proof. As a yardstick, Greece fixes means of subsistence at €50 per person per day, with a minimum of €300 for stays of up to 5 days, according to Portugal's official visa portal; the host's sponsorship is how most parents meet it.
How much is the Greece family visit visa fee?
€90 per adult, which GVCW's table showed as ₹9,810 on 14 October 2026, and nothing for children under 12. Spouses and children of an EU citizen travelling with that citizen also pay no visa fee, if the file proves it with ticket bookings, a copy of the EU citizen's passport and the marriage or unabridged birth certificate. Every application also carries GVCW's €30 service fee, paid in rupees, and the visa fee is not refunded after a refusal. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page.
How long does it take, and when should you apply?
GVCW's guidance is up to 15 days, rising to as much as 45 working days when other Schengen countries are consulted, plus 5 days for centres outside New Delhi. The EU Visa Code's figures are 15 calendar days, extendable to 45 calendar days. Plan around GVCW's longer numbers.
- Earliest: six months before travel.
- Latest: 15 working days before departure, GVCW's rule. The EU's 15 calendar days is looser, so do not rely on it.
- Family events: a wedding, a birth or a festival has a fixed date. Count back from it, leaving room for the sponsor's papers to arrive from Greece.
Leave time for the host's side. The sponsorship form and a full set of financial papers for each applicant must reach India before you book.
Why do Greece family visit visas get refused for Indian applicants?
The refusal comes on the EU's standard form, with the reasons and the appeal route. On family files, these faults are the usual causes.
One sponsor set shared between two parents
The checklist wants the sponsor's financial documents as a separate set in each application. A couple who put one set in the father's pack leave the mother's file with no proof of funds.
The relationship is asserted, not proved
A cover letter that says "visiting my son" without a certificate proving the relationship leaves the purpose unproved. Names must also match across the passports, the certificate and the host's papers.
Parents' own money left blank
Even when the host pays, the parents' own three-month statement, pension statements and attested ITRs are on the checklist. Leaving them out makes the file look as if the parents have nothing to return to.
Doubts about the return
When every child lives abroad, the officer asks why the parents will come back. Answer with property papers, pension records, a business, or relatives they look after in India.
A long stay that looks like a move
Asking for the full 90 days with no return booking and no reason to come back reads as a move. GVCW warns that misuse and overstay can lead to expulsion and a ban on new visas for a period, so request the time you need and show the return booking.
After a refusal you can appeal under Greek law, following the procedure and deadline in the refusal letter, or re-apply once the reasons are fixed. Our Schengen refusal reasons page explains each ground.
Tips for a stronger file
- Duplicate the sponsor's papers early. Ask the host for two or more complete sets from the start, one per traveller.
- Insurance. Indian policies only from insurers on the approved list, with at least €30,000 for all Schengen states for the whole stay.
- A cover letter from the parents. Who invited them, how they are related, where they will stay, who pays, and the date they fly home.
- Flights. A return or round-trip reservation is enough at the application stage. Keep it changeable until the visa is stamped.
- Original plus copy. The Embassy's note says originals must be accompanied by a copy.
- At the border. Carry copies of the invitation, sponsorship form and bookings. A visa alone does not guarantee entry, and officers can ask about purpose, money and length of stay. Greece also records each entry and exit in the EU's Entry/Exit System, which is replacing passport stamps.
Visit visa or family reunification: which route fits?
A visit visa ends with the trip home. If a spouse or child is moving to Greece to live with a family member there, that is family reunification on a long-stay (type D) visa, and it works very differently from a visit.
Under Greek law as GVCW summarises it, the third-country national living legally in Greece can bring a spouse over 18 and their unmarried children under 18. The process has two stages:
- Verification of the relationship. The competent Prefecture in Greece sends the Embassy a request to verify the family relationship. Only after that arrives can the family in India apply for verification through GVCW. Verification takes approximately one month, followed by an interview at the Embassy.
- The visa itself. After the Embassy reports back, the Prefecture issues its decision on the reunion visa, which in most cases reaches the Embassy about three months after it is issued. The family then applies for the D visa.
Family reunification applications from India go only through GVCW New Delhi, with a passport valid for at least 1.5 years from submission and a police clearance certificate no more than three months old, apostilled by the MEA. If that is your situation, the visit visa is the wrong tool. For more on Greece, see the Greece country page or the Greece tourist visa guide.
Official sources
- Visa info: Visiting Family or Friends, GVCW Visa Application Centres for Greece in India
- Visa Code, consolidated text (EUR-Lex)
- Applying for a Schengen visa, European Commission
- What is the EES?, Travel to Europe
- Means of subsistence by member state, Portugal visa portal (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
