Tips

Legalizing your stay

While in America

• If you are applying for a special visa, make your application for whatever background check (sherrif, FBI, etc) the consulate requires early. FBI checks, for example, can take up to four weeks and as of this writing could not be expedited.

While in Greece

• If you think you know something about the law that the people behind the desks do not, you may very well be correct. Don't be afraid to stick to your guns, particularly if you are following a path already trod by others.

Residence Permit (Άδεια Διαμονής)

• If you live in Thessaloniki proper, the address of the office (Τμήμα Αλλοδαπών) where you apply for a residence permit is Οδυσσέως 19. Go to Πλατεία Δημοκρατίας, then head north-west on Λαγγαδά. When you see a Champion grocery store on your left, go behind it and look for number 19, on your left. The stairway is hidden down a passageway, toward the back left. The office is up on the second or third floor.

• There seems to be a convenient recent change in the requirements for proving that you have the financial means to support your stay here: it used to be required to prove that you had 6000 euro in a Greek bank. Now one needs merely to declare, with an υπέυθυνη δήλωση--available at a street-side kiosk, that you will have the ability to put 500euros in the bank each month.

Shopping

• In Thessaloniki, most stores close for the day by 2:30 (sometimes 2:00) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; and by 3:30 on Saturdays. Stores are generally not open at all on Sundays. Monday through Friday, don't expect anything to be open between 2:30 and 5:30, except for large chain stores. (Supermarkets, for example, typically keep longer hours—though they too are closed on Sundays—and do not close at midday.)

Contributers: add another category of tips here!

• ...and make each individual tip a bullet-point (click on the bulleted-list icon located just above the "Format" menu). For main categories ("Legalizing your stay," "Shopping," etc), choose "Heading 1" from the "Format" menu. Choose "Heading 2" for subcategories (such as "While in America" and "While in Greece," above).