Greece Tourist Visa

Do Indians need a visa for Greece, and which one?

Yes. Greece is in the Schengen area, so a holiday in Athens, Santorini or Crete needs a Schengen short-stay visa, type C, in the tourism category. It is not an e-visa: you hand in a paper file at a visa centre and give your fingerprints there. The visa covers up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and those days are shared with every other Schengen country, so a week in Greece and four days in Italy come out of the same allowance.

Every application made in India is assessed by the Embassy of Greece's Consular Office in New Delhi. The Embassy decides how long the visa runs and whether it allows one entry or several.

Greece does not use VFS. Its visa centres in India are run by Global Visa Center World (GVCW), the only external service provider the Embassy has authorised. A stay longer than 90 days, for work, study or family reunification, needs a Greek national (type D) visa instead.

Where do applicants from Punjab apply?

At a GVCW Visa Application Centre for Greece. There is no state-wise jurisdiction to work out, because the Embassy in New Delhi decides every file from India. You can use any of GVCW's 15 centres. The ones closest to Punjab are:

• Chandigarh: Elante Offices, Gate No. 3, Unit B209, Industrial and Business Park Phase I.
• Jalandhar: Aman Plaza, 3rd Floor, Lajpat Nagar, Mahavir Marg.
• New Delhi: Shivaji Stadium Metro Station, mezzanine level, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Connaught Place.
• Gurgaon and Jaipur also have centres.

Where you lodge changes the timing, not the decision-maker. GVCW says a file lodged anywhere other than New Delhi needs 5 extra days, because it is first sent to the New Delhi centre and then to the Embassy. If your dates are tight and Delhi is reachable, the New Delhi centre saves that leg. The Embassy's Consular Office can also take applications directly under the Visa Code.

How the centres work:

• Appointments and walk-ins. You book online, and GVCW also takes walk-ins at the centre manager's discretion. Walk-ins are suspended on 15, 16 and 19 October 2026 and resume on 21 October.
• Saturdays. An optional Prime Time service lets you submit on a Saturday, between 10:00 and 15:00, for an extra charge.
• Everyone attends. GVCW says appearing in person is mandatory for every applicant, whatever the age. Children under 12 are exempt from fingerprints but still come.
• Mehndi. If your fingertips have mehndi, tell the centre when you book so it can check whether a scan will work. Cut or damaged fingertips mean waiting until they heal.
• Paying. Fees are paid in rupees, in cash or by UPI. A GVCW notice of 20 May 2026 says the New Delhi centre is taking cash only for now because of technical issues.

To see how dates are opening up, check our Greece appointment tracker.

Which documents depend on your situation?

The common checklist is printed further down. The Embassy of Greece's checklist for India then changes with who you are:

Everyone shows money the same way: an original bank statement with movements over the last three months, stamped and signed by the bank, and Indian income tax return acknowledgements for the last two assessment years, attested. The statement must be the original, and the ITR acknowledgements must be attested, so plain printouts fall short on both.

A few Greece rules that catch applicants out:

• One pack per person. GVCW asks for a separate application pack for every applicant. Even when parents travel with children, each pack needs its own hotel confirmation.
• A4 only. GVCW accepts documents only in A4 format.
• Two photos, in colour, 3.5 x 4 cm, on a white or off-white background, not more than 6 months old. A head covering worn for religious reasons is allowed if your face is fully visible.
• Passport copies. A clear copy of the first and last pages, copies of all visas and stamps, and your previous passport if you have one.
• A package tour? Add the travel agency's certificate confirming the booking, or another document showing your travel plans.

How much is the Greece visa fee for Indians?

The visa fee is €90 for adults, which GVCW's fee table showed as ₹9,810 on 14 October 2026; children under 12 pay no visa fee at all, which is more generous than the usual Schengen rule. GVCW adds a service fee of €30 per application, charged in rupees at that day's European Central Bank rate. The visa fee is not refunded if the visa is refused. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page, and our visa fee calculator works out the official total for a group.

How long does it take, and when should you apply?

GVCW's visa pages say applications may take up to 15 days, and up to 45 working days when other Schengen countries have to be consulted. Add 5 days if you lodge outside New Delhi. The EU Visa Code counts the standard period as 15 calendar days, extendable to 45 calendar days, and GVCW's FAQ page still quotes older limits of 30 or 60 days. With three different counts in official places, plan for the longest.

The window:

• Earliest: six months before the trip. GVCW urges travellers to apply early, because last-minute appointments are hard to find.
• Latest: GVCW says no later than 15 working days before departure. The EU guidance says 15 calendar days. Follow the stricter one, working days.

A honeymoon tied to a wedding date leaves no room for delay, so apply as soon as you are inside the six-month window. Do not pay for non-refundable flights or ferries before the visa is in your hand.

Why do Greece visas get refused for Indian applicants?

Greece uses the EU's standard refusal form, which must state the reasons and how to appeal. These are the faults behind most refused holiday files.

Each reason on the form, in plain words, is on our Schengen refusal reasons page.

If you are refused, GVCW says you can appeal under Greek law, following the procedure and deadline printed on the refusal letter, or re-apply after fixing the reasons. When you collect a refused passport in person, you read the refusal letter, sign it and hand it back; GVCW sends the original to the Embassy and gives you a copy.

Tips for a stronger file

• Bank statement. Original, stamped and signed, with three months of normal movement. Greece's reference amount for means of subsistence is €50 per person per day, and at least €300 for a stay of up to 5 days. Highlight salary credits and explain any large deposit.
• ITR acknowledgements. Two assessment years, attested. Get the attestation done before your appointment.
• Cover letter. Who is travelling, the dates, each island or city with its hotel, how you move between them, who pays, and when you return to work.
• Flights. A return or round-trip flight reservation is enough. If you will cross into another Schengen state, add the intra-Schengen flight, train or car-hire booking.
• Insurance. Indian policies only from insurers on the approved list, at least €30,000, valid in all Schengen states for the whole trip. More in our Schengen travel insurance explainer.
• Passport collection. If someone else will collect your passport, the signed authorisation letter must go in with the application, not later.
• At the border. Carry copies of your bookings and documents. GVCW warns that a visa does not by itself entitle you to enter, and border officers may ask about money, length of stay and purpose.

Honeymoon in Greece: what do couples need?

Greece checks the marriage on the passports first. If each spouse's name is endorsed in the other's passport, nothing more is needed for the relationship. If it is not, the checklist asks for the original marriage certificate with an MEA apostille, and only where neither exists does it accept an affidavit. If your passports were issued before the wedding, start the apostille early.

Couples who are engaged, not yet married, now give an affidavit as proof of their relationship under the Embassy's 2026 checklist notice. Each partner still files a separate pack. If one partner pays for both, treat it as sponsorship: the checklist then asks for Greece's official sponsorship form and the sponsor's financial documents as a separate set in each application.

Can I visit Turkey from the Greek islands on a Schengen visa?

Only if your Schengen visa allows more than one entry. A single-entry visa lets you enter the Schengen area once: leave Greece for a day trip and you cannot come back on it. If your plan includes a hop out of Schengen and back, say so in the cover letter and itinerary and ask for a multiple-entry visa; whether you get one is the Embassy's decision. Turkey has its own visa rules, which you meet separately.

Frequent travellers can do better over time. Under an EU decision of April 2024, Indians who have obtained and lawfully used two Schengen visas within the previous three years can be issued a two-year multiple-entry visa, normally followed by a five-year one if the passport has enough validity. Greece also records your entries and exits in the EU's Entry/Exit System, which is replacing passport stamps. For an overview of everything Greece, see the Greece country page.

Official sources

• Visa info: Tourism, GVCW Visa Application Centres for Greece in India
• Visa Code, consolidated text (EUR-Lex)
• Applying for a Schengen visa, European Commission
• European Union adopts more favourable Schengen visa rules for Indians, EU Delegation to India
• What is the EES?, Travel to Europe
• Means of subsistence by member state, Portugal visa portal (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)