National Long-Stay (Type D) Verified 2026-04-30Long-Term National D Visa (>90 days)
Greece Long-Term National D Visa for residency, employment, study, or family reunification (>90 days). Requires apostilled PCC + 1.5-year passport validity. Submit via GVCW; subsequent residence permit applied for in Greece.
- Processing time
- About 15 days
- after you submit
No visa is ever guaranteed — the final decision always rests with the Greece visa authority. We make sure your file is presented at its strongest.
SureshotVisa can assist with the India-side documentation and apostille (PCC + educational + civil documents) but the underlying employment / study / residency approval is initiated by the Greek sponsor (employer / university / family member). Type D visa-holders must apply for a residence permit in Greece immediately after arrival — that's a separate process handled by Greek migration authorities.
Greece — Apply via GVCW (NOT VFS Global)
Greece uses Global Visa Centre World — a different operator from VFS. Embassy of Greece, New Delhi processes every application.
One Greece Schengen visa unlocks all 29 Schengen countries during validity. As a full Schengen member, the visa standards mirror EU rules — but the application route is unique to Greece in India: only GVCW handles submissions, and only the Embassy in New Delhi decides outcomes.
GVCW (not VFS)
Greece partners with Global Visa Centre World — separate from the VFS network most Indians know.
Embassy New Delhi only
All decisions made at Embassy of Greece, Consular Section, New Delhi. Non-Delhi GVCW centres add ~5 days transit.
Approved insurance only
Travel insurance MUST be from a Greek-Embassy-approved Indian insurer (rule since 01/10/2013).
Photo size note: Greece needs 3.5 × 4 cm (35×40mm) — slightly different from the typical Schengen 35×45mm. Use a Greek-spec photo to avoid rejection.
Processing
Variable
Stay Duration
>90 days. Holder must apply for a…
Starting Fee
Confirm at the Embassy
Apply At
11 VFS centres
Good to know before you apply
Rules that apply to every Greece visa type — worth a quick read so nothing trips up your file.
- 1Type D applications cannot be initiated from India alone. The Greek sponsor / employer / university / family member triggers the underlying approval.
- 2Passport must be valid for at least 1.5 years (1 year and 6 months) from date of submission.
- 3Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) MUST be apostilled by the Ministry of External Affairs, India — affixed with the MEA Apostille Sticker. Must be NOT older than 3 months at submission.
- 4ALL educational, personal, and commercial documents must be apostilled by MEA, Government of India.
- 5After arrival in Greece, holder must apply for a residence permit immediately — separate process via Greek migration.
- 6Sri Lanka and Nepal nationals must apply through GVCW Colombo or Kathmandu, not India centres.
Who Can Apply
- Indian nationals with confirmed Greek sponsor — employer, university, family member, or research institution
- Family reunification cases (spouse / child / dependent of Greek resident)
- Students enrolled in long Greek courses / programmes
- Employment visa holders with Greek labour authority approval
Not eligible under this visa:
- Anyone without a Greek sponsor or approval
- Short-term travellers (≤90 days) — apply for Type C instead
What it costs
Government & VFS fees
Paid directly to Greece / VFS — these are not our service fee, and we never mark them up.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Greece Long-Term National D visa fee | Confirm at the Embassy |
| MEA Apostille fee (per document) | ₹50 + service charge |
| GVCW service fee | Confirm at submission |
Long-Term D fees vary by sub-category and are not uniformly published. Confirm directly with the Embassy of Greece, New Delhi. Apostille fees are separate. After arrival, the Greek residence-permit fee applies separately and is paid in Greece.
Flights · Hotels · Insurance · Itinerary
What Greece actually requires — and what it does not.
Greece applies the Schengen rules, so travel insurance is not a nice-to-have — it is a legal condition of the visa.
2 of 4 are compulsory for Greece
Flight reservation
The Greece consulate wants a return itinerary with a real PNR covering your exact dates. It does not want a paid ticket, and buying one before a decision puts your money at risk for nothing.
Where people slip: Flying into one city and out of another with nothing showing how you travel between them. Officers read the whole route, and an unexplained gap reads as a plan that does not hold together.
How to hold a flight without payingHotel booking
Accommodation for EVERY night of the stay. Not most nights — every one. A gap is a documented refusal ground under the Schengen code.
Where people slip: Free-cancellation bookings are accepted, but if the entire file is free-cancellation the officer sees a trip nobody has committed to. Some of it should be real spend.
Refundable hotel booking, explainedTravel insurance
Minimum EUR 30,000 medical cover, valid in every Schengen state, including repatriation and emergency medical evacuation, for the full period of stay. Regulation (EC) 810/2009 — this is law, not preference.
Where people slip: Buying cover for the adults and forgetting the children. Every traveller needs their own EUR 30,000, infants included — a real refusal we have seen on a family of four.
What the cover must actually sayTravel itinerary
A day-by-day plan matching your flights, your hotels and the country you applied to. Greece must be your main destination or your first point of entry, or you are at the wrong consulate.
Where people slip: Spending more nights in another Schengen country than in Greece. That gets a file rejected before it is even assessed.
The letter your itinerary attaches toWe arrange all four for your Greece file.
We are a B2B travel agency as well as a visa consultancy, working with partners including Riya Travel — so the flight, the hotel and the policy all come from us, issued the same day, and you deal with one team instead of four. Every booking is a real one under your own name.
What to gather
Documents required
Having a document isn't the same as presenting it right — that's the part we handle.
Greek-Side Approval (REQUIRED FIRST)
1 item- Employer / university / family-sponsor approval from Greek authorityRequired
Triggered by the Greek-side sponsor. Without this, Type D entry visa cannot be issued. Specifics depend on sub-category (Family Reunification, Employment, Study).
Personal Documents (apostilled where applicable)
10 items- Schengen Visa Application FormRequired
Fully completed and signed by the applicant.
- Valid passportRequired
Validity exceeding by 3 months the end date of the visa. At least 2 blank pages. Issued within the previous 10 years.
- Clear photocopy of 1st (bio data) and last page of passport + all visa stampsRequired
- Previous passport (if applicable)
- 1 recent passport-size photograph (3.5 x 4 cm)Required
Color, white background, facing forward, ICAO specifications. Note: 35x40mm — slightly different from typical Schengen 35x45mm.
- Cover letter explaining details of visitRequired
- Passport with ≥1.5 year validity from submission dateRequired
Greece-specific Type D requirement (more stringent than Type C's 3-month rule).
- Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) — apostilled by MEARequired
Affixed with MEA Apostille Sticker. Issued NOT more than 3 months before submission.
- Apostilled birth certificateRequired
- Apostilled marriage certificate (if applicable)
Educational Documents (apostilled, if study visa)
2 items- Apostilled educational certificates
All certificates apostilled by MEA.
- Acceptance / admission letter from Greek institution
Sponsor / Purpose-Specific Documents
2 items- Employment contract / job offer (Employment visa)
On Greek employer letterhead.
- Family relationship proof + Greek family member's residence proof (Family Reunification)
Travel & Accommodation
3 items- Proof of means of transportRequired
Flight reservation of return / round ticket. If multi-Schengen trip: intra-Schengen flight, train, or car-rental proof.
- Proof of lodgingRequired
Hotel reservations, holiday-home rental, or campus residence. Sponsorship/accommodation form from host if staying privately. If multi-state Schengen: lodging in EACH state.
- Travel medical insurance — €30,000 minimum coverageRequired
From Greek-Embassy-approved Indian insurer (post-01/10/2013). Covers repatriation + medical attention + emergency hospital. Diplomatic passport holders exempt.
Financial Documents
6 items- Original private bank statement — last 3 monthsRequired
Duly stamped and signed by the bank.
- Indian ITR for last 2 assessment yearsRequired
Acknowledgement receipts.
- If employed — Last 3 months payslips + employment contract + employer's leave-approval letter
- If self-employed — Certificate of company registration
- If sponsored — Sponsor's national-form proof of accommodation/sponsorship + sponsor's bank/work/ITR
- If retired — Pension statements last 3 months + property/business income proof
Required · optional / if applicable
The journey.
9 steps from intake to approval. Curved spine on the right shows the natural pace — never as linear as government sites pretend.
- 01
Greek sponsor initiates the underlying permit
Your Greek employer / university / family member secures the relevant authorisation from Greek migration / labour authorities. This step happens entirely in Greece.
- 02
Receive Greek-side approval letter
Once approved, the Greek sponsor sends you the approval. This triggers the Indian-side paperwork.
- 03
Apostille all required documents (via MEA / VFS Attestation)
PCC, birth certificate, educational certificates, marriage certificate (where applicable) — all apostilled by MEA. PCC must be NOT older than 3 months at submission.
- 04
Confirm passport validity ≥1.5 years
Renew passport if needed before submission — Greece is strict on this.
- 05
Book GVCW appointment for Type D visa
Apply at GVCW (NOT VFS). Submit at GVCW Delhi when possible to avoid 5-day non-Delhi transit.
- 06
Submit at GVCW + pay fees
Attend in person with the Greek approval, all apostilled documents, passport with adequate validity, and INR fees. Diplomatic passport holders submit at the Embassy directly.
- 07
GVCW forwards to Embassy of Greece, New Delhi
GVCW Delhi forwards to Embassy. Non-Delhi GVCW centres add ~5 calendar days transit.
- 08
Wait for the decision
Type D timeline varies by sub-category. Once issued, the Type D entry visa is valid 90 days from issue — you must enter Greece within that window.
- 09
Apply for residence permit immediately on arrival in Greece
Type D holders MUST apply for a Greek residence permit at Greek migration authorities right after entry. Underlying permit (work / study / family) then takes effect.
What works
5 levers that flip a borderline case.
- Start MEA apostille paperwork the moment your Greek sponsor confirms — apostille turnarounds are 2–4 weeks.
- PCC validity is only 3 months at submission — time it carefully so it doesn't expire.
- Confirm passport ≥1.5 year validity BEFORE submission. Renew well in advance if needed.
- Family Reunification cases: get the Greek family member's residence permit copy attested in Greece if possible.
What kills cases
Top 3 refusal triggers we see.
- 1PCC expired (>3 months old) at submission
- 2Passport validity less than 1.5 years
- 3Educational documents not apostilled
Download official forms
Each link opens the official Greece page on VFS Global (we never host third-party forms): pick your visa category there and use its "Download Form" section for the current version.
VFS application centres
Quiz not yet available for this visa type
We're actively building per-visa quizzes. For now, the best way to assess your eligibility for Long-Term National D Visa (>90 days) is a 1-on-1 consultation with our team.
Every case here is different
Tell us your situation and we will tell you what can be done.
There is no honest standard answer for Greece long-term national d visa (>90 days) — the route depends on who is sponsoring you, what the employer has already started, and which region is processing it. So rather than publish generic answers that may not fit your case, we would rather read your actual situation. Send us what you have: an offer letter, an email from the employer, or just the facts as they stand. A licensed consultant will tell you straight what is possible, what is not, and what it would take.
Reviewed by Sherbir Singh Grewal, SureshotVisa — a government-licensed consultancy (Licence 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC-3/2024). Verify us.
Other Greece Visa Types
Tourist Visa (Schengen Short-Stay, Type C)
Apply for a Greece Tourist Visa (Schengen Type C) from India through GVCW (NOT VFS). Complete fees, document checklist, and processing guide for Indian travellers.
View guideBusiness Visa (Schengen Short-Stay, Type C)
Apply for a Greece Business Visa (Schengen Type C) from India through GVCW. For meetings, conferences, training, and business-related events. Apply via GVCW (not VFS).
View guideVisiting Family & Friends Visa (Schengen Short-Stay, Type C)
Greece Schengen visa for Indians visiting family or friends in Greece. Apply via GVCW (NOT VFS). Requires relationship proof and host invitation.
View guideCultural Visa (Schengen Short-Stay, Type C)
Greece Schengen visa for Indians attending cultural events — performances, exhibitions, religious events, film crews. Apply via GVCW (not VFS).
View guideSports Visa (Schengen Short-Stay, Type C)
Greece Schengen visa for Indians participating in sporting events in Greece. Apply via GVCW (not VFS). Requires event invitation + entry tickets / programmes.
View guideOfficial Delegation Visa (Schengen Short-Stay, Type C)
Greece Schengen visa for members of official delegations. Initiated via the sending authority's note verbale. Submitted directly at the Embassy, not GVCW.
View guideMedical Treatment Visa (Schengen Short-Stay, Type C)
Greece Schengen visa for Indians travelling for medical treatment. Apply via GVCW. Requires Greek institution acceptance + pre-payment proof.
View guideShort-Term Study Visa (Schengen Short-Stay, Type C)
Greece Schengen visa for Indians attending short courses, research, or internships in Greece (≤90 days). Apply via GVCW (not VFS).
View guideSource & Disclaimer
Data on this page is sourced from the official VFS Global Greece website and Embassy of Greece. Last verified 2026-04-30. Always verify with the official embassy before applying — fees and requirements change without notice.
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