Application for residence and work permit for the purpose of conducting a research program
According to Presidential Decree 128/2008 for the acquisition of a residence and work permit for the purpose of conducting a research programme in Greece, third country nationals are required to submit the following documents:
A. GENERAL
- A third country national who enters Greek territory must have a passport or other valid travel document. These documents should bear a VISA for research purposes (according to Presidential Decree 128/2008) obtained by the Greek Consulate of the place of residence.
- After entering the Greek territory, the researcher should obtain a residence and work permit that will allow him/her to work at the selected research host organisation in a specific research programme.
- The residence permit, which gives access to employment, is granted by the Decision of the Secretary General of the Region. All the documents mentioned below are forwarded to the Region through the Aliens’ and Immigration Service of the Municipal or communal authority of his/her domicile or residence.
The above permit is valid for one year and can be renewed on an annual basis for the same purpose till the completion of the research programme.
B. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
The supporting documents for the issue of the residence permit, according to article 43 of the above law and the 24103/2005 decision of the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization, are the following:
- 3 coloured photographs
- Exact photocopy (all pages) of valid passport or other travel document.
- Fees (150 euro)
- A copy of the cooperation agreement between the host organisation and the third country national in which the following are defined:
- - The terms of cooperation
- - The exact date of the completion of the research project
- - The undertaking of both residence and living expenses of the third country national in Greece to be covered by the host organization
- A certificate from the host organisation stating that the programme is carried out under its supervision and that the third country national participates in this programme
- A health certificate issued by a Greek public hospital or public health centre
- A certificate verifying the application to the Social Insurance Authority for insurance for medical care and medication
- A certificate proving the application for the issue of a registered tax number from the Tax office of the area of residence of the third country national
Please note, that in order to acquire a certificate from the Social Insurance Authority, a registered tax number is first required from the Tax office which in turn requires the submission of all the supporting documents to the Aliens’ and Immigration Service of Municipal or communal authority of his/her domicile or residence.
Therefore, the following procedure must be followed.
When all aforementioned documents are gathered (from B1 to B6), the third country national submits them together with his/her application for a residence permit to the competent Aliens’ and Immigration Service of the Municipal or communal authority of his/her domicile or residence from where the researcher will obtain a certificate of submission of missing documents. In this case, the third country national has the obligation to supply the rest of the documents within a month.
In this way, the third country national will obtain a certificate type B (pink coloured) which will give him/her the right to apply for the acquisition of the rest of the documents to the Tax Office, the Social Insurance Authority and the Greek Manpower Employment Organization.
In the meantime, the employment contract between the host organisation and the third country national will be signed and the Greek Manpower Employment Organization will be notified.
As soon as the above documents are issued (certificate from the Social Insurance Authority and certificate for the issue of a registered tax number), the third country national should submit them to the Aliens’ and Immigration Service in order to obtain the type A certificate (blue coloured) which means the file is complete. Once the third country national receives the Type A certificate, he/she is considered to be legally living in the country.
The Aliens’ and Immigration Service forwards the relevant file to the Region within 15 days (art.11).The decision is issued by the Region within 2 months from the date of the submission of all the supporting documents (art. 12).