Residency

[tomcourtney]

Just read on another forum that an application for residency can only be made after supplying evidence you have been in Crete for 3 months.
Brexit states you have to be a resident on 01/01/21 to maintain pension increases etc.
We were planning to come out mid to late October therefore if this is a condition Ie 3 months before application, we may have a problem.

[tomcourtney]

Been a property owner for 15 yrs, would that help?
Anyone have a contact for legal advice on this subject?

[Kilkis]

Unfortunately different police stations seem to interpret the rules in different ways. The person whose post you read may have met an awkward police station. As far as I know, if you intend to stay more than 3 months then you have to register within the 3 month period. If you stay beyond 3 months without registering then technically you have broken the law, although nobody ever cared and there were no actual penalties.

I would ask the Consulate in Heraklion or the Embassy in Athens for advice or The Aire Centre.

Warwick

[Tim]

Hi tom

Your post implies that you don't have a beige Residency Permit. If not (and I'm no expert on this) I think you need to act very swiftly indeed. If you don't hold a Residency Permit by the end of the year you won't (as I understand it) be able to apply for the biometric ID card which you need in order to be a full time resident.

The Residency Permit doesn't appear to have much to do with residency (many holiday home owners obtain one in order to buy a car) and as far as I know, proof of living here for three months isn't asked for. However, if you're not due out here until mid-October I'm not sure I'd want to take that chance. The process for obtaining the beige permit seems to vary from prefecture to prefecture and even between individual police stations, so I would think it was worth your while getting out here asap to get the ball rolling.

What is required is the usual: Passport, E111, Property title deeds, Passport photos and depending on the individual police station, anything else you can think of (P60, Marriage Certificate etc etc).

If you don't have this Permit, I really wouldn't hang about.

Tim

[tomcourtney]

Not hanging about, playing safe.
We leave the uk on Wednesday in a mini I bought yesterday, cheap as chips and may be worth importing, or could be sold / scrapped on arrival
(Wife loved the boot space)
Anyvan picking our stuff up today (Tuesday) and we set off Wednesday am
Arriving on Crete Saturday

Wish us luck, we might need it

[Keltz]

You will be doing extremely well getting to a mainland Greek port from the UK in 3 days by car to catch overnight ferry to Crete. Do publish your route.

[Kilkis]

I agree that it's a push, Keltz, but in my experience it can be done. Set off early on day 1, get a ferry/train to Calais then drive through France to just outside Geneva. Get an evening meal and stay in one of the cheap French hotel chains overnight. On day 2 drive from Geneva to Bari/Brindisi getting to Bari/Brindisi in time for the overnight ferry to Patras. On day 3 arrive in Patras in the afternoon and drive straight to Piraeus in time for the overnight ferry to Heraklion/Chania. Almost all the driving is on French Autoroutes and Italian Autostrades. When overtaking in Italy watch out for the idiots in high power cars doing 200 kph in the outside lane. They don't slow down.

I've done day 1 and 2 myself both ways with me as the only driver and it is pretty tiring. If both people can drive it would be a lot easier. I would recommend eating very little while driving but drink plenty of water and have a coffee every time you stop for fuel. I ate lunch on one trip and fell asleep briefly while driving on the Autoroute. Scary. I was going to northern Greece so I got off the ferry in Igoumenitsa early on day 3 and was in Kilkis, north of Thessaloniki by midday on day 3. I am pretty sure the overnight ferry to Patras arrives in time to allow you to get to Piraeus before the Crete sailing. Obviously coming to Crete they wouldn't arrive until the morning of day 4.

It's easy to find the route. Just click on "get directions" in Google Earth and put Calais as the start and Brindisi as the finish.

Warwick

[shine on]

I did it a few years back and it took 72 hours from door to door. It was quite tiring and I only had a few stops to kip in the car. If I done it again I would plan to stop in Italy for a mini holiday, oh and I would book a cabin on the ferry rather than lay on the floor, I was on a budget. I woke at one point to find a dirty bare foot in my face, I thought I had found a good spot on the ferry to get some peace, on awakening, the room was full of bodies everywhere and a family had a one of those little calor gas camp stoves burning in the corridor, cooking god knows what. I will not describe the showers.

Good to hear you have the car situation sorted Tom.

[tomcourtney]

Early tunnel Wednesday then 900 mile drive to Ancona to arrive 12.30 Thursday.
Did It comfortably 15 yrs ago but I’m older now
Booking this morning and may allow an extra day and get the Friday ferry to Patras.

Will agree the car is sorted if it gets us there
Will try to import it but if too expensive I’ll scrap it.

[Keltz]

Good luck!

[Kilkis]

If you are the only driver I would be careful doing UK to Ancona in one go. Every summer a friend of mine used to drive Hemel Hempstead to Pescara, which is only 130 km further south than Ancona, in one go, spend 6 weeks in an apartment he owned there and then drive back. This worked well for many years until one year he developed deep vein thrombosis from sitting in one position for so long and spent the whole six weeks in an Italian hospital and many months having treatment in the UK when he was fit enough to come back. I've pushed it when I was younger but I wouldn't do it now. The French hotel chains are very cheap, basic but clean. I would take a break half way. If will cost you a lot more for a hotel room in Italy if you do it all the way and then stay overnight

Warwick

[solitude1]

Good luck Tom it will all be worth it when you arrive here.

[Maud]

It is possible to do it Tom, but do be careful. We drive that journey (with a return) at least once a year. If you haven’t driven on an Italian motorway before be prepared for an new experience! We try to do as much as possible on a Sunday when the lorries are off the roads. (Especially the St Gotthard Tunnel....if you are travelling that way). That ‘luxury’ is not going to be available to you. Patras to Piraeus is the easy bit.

Be aware that today Italy has announced it will be testing people traveling from parts of France in to Italy.

[tomcourtney]

We’ll go into Italy from France via Switzerland, planning a stopover in Dijon or Lyon. Will check the situation there. Hope I can find a website with that sort of info.

[tomcourtney]

Wednesday, left London 14.30, Tunnel 16.50 then down past Dijon, threw a left to Geneva heading south.
First stop (apart from fuel) in Aoste, 07.30, on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc tunnel.
Everything to Excess

Thursday, after breakfast in the spectacular surroundings of the Aoste valley And a 2 hr cat nap we carried on past Bologna and went to Rimini for an overnight before the ferry at 17.30 Friday.

Little tired but the initial marathon drive through blinding overnight rain in the boring part of the trip through France was worth it. A second wind allowed us a great night in Rimini which is about 2 hrs from Ancona. A leisurely drive and lunch on today will set us up for our first ‘authentic’ Greek meal on the Minoan ferry.

The cheap (02 plate £700) Mini I bought has performed superbly and I’m thinking may be worth importing?