Greece was recently opened to tourists from around the world, although all passengers are required to fill out a passenger search form prior to their arrival. Given that I’m currently on a trip to Greece, I wanted to share how it works – how complicated is it to fill out the form and what’s the experience like when you land in Greece? Who can visit Greece?Greece has been more or less open to visitors from all over the world since mid-May. To enter, visitors must have either a negative coronavirus test, vaccination, or recovery from coronavirus:
Of course, be sure to visit the official website of the Greek government as the entry restrictions could change again. How does Greece’s passenger search form work?All passengers traveling to Greece must complete a passenger search form prior to departure. This form must be submitted no later than 23:59 (local time in Greece) the day before arrival. The good news is that this form is pretty simple as it took about 10 minutes to fill out the entire form. I would argue that the process is a lot easier than the UK Passenger Search form. One great thing is that if you are traveling as a group, one person can fill out the form and then add more people to the form. Now let’s go through the actual passenger search form process. First, you want to register an account by entering your email address and then choosing a password. Then you will be asked to agree to a few things including the fact that you have read the Greek coronavirus logs, that you are being honest, and that you only submit one form per family per household. You will then want to make it clear that you are going to Greece (unless you are a Greek citizen or permanent resident, in which case you will also need to fill out the form when you leave the country). You will then be asked to provide details on how to get to Greece. If you are flying, you will need to provide your flight details, including all connections within Greece. You will then be asked if you have proof of vaccination, negative coronavirus test, or proof of recovery from coronavirus to enter the country. Since I chose the vaccination option, I was asked which country I was vaccinated in and which vaccine I received. I was then asked for a variety of personal information, including name, gender, age, and passport information. Next, I was asked for my address in Greece – you should list all the places you will be staying for the first 14 days of your stay. You will also need to provide emergency contact information. Finally, you have the option to add travel companions to your passenger search form. First you have the option to add family members and then you have the option to add non-family travel companions. I’m really glad Greece has this option as you only need to fill out one form per group. And that’s it – at that point you will be taken to a page where you can view your submitted passenger search form. You will immediately receive an email confirming that you have submitted this. On the day of your arrival in Greece at midnight (or maybe a few minutes later) you will be emailed a QR code that will allow you to enter Greece. This email had the following subject line:
By the way, it is probably time they updated the email. Although most of Greece’s lockdown restrictions have been lifted, the email stated:
What happens when you land in Greece?What is the arrival experience like when you arrive in Greece? I was prepared for utter chaos, not for any reason, but because I was planning the worst and hoping for the best. Fortunately, this fear was unfounded. We landed at Athens International Airport (ATH) and upon arrival followed the signs for immigration. I think the country used firefighters to help with the entry process. All passengers had to queue for firefighters to scan QR codes and check vaccination cards (we showed our CDC cards and that was the trick). That was it – the whole process took less than a minute. QR code & immigration controls upon landing in Athens From there we just got into the standard immigration queues which took maybe 15 minutes to get through. The immigration officers didn’t ask for our vaccination cards or QR codes. It was a painless arrival process. I hope it stays that way, although of course I would notice that we are traveling well before the midsummer tourist season and I think this may not go as smoothly in July. Bottom lineAnyone traveling to Greece must complete a passenger search form prior to travel, which must be submitted at least the day prior to arrival. The good news is that this form is easy to fill out and you can even use one form for a whole group traveling together. The arrival process in Greece went smoothly for us – firefighters checked our QR code and CDC cards, and then we just went to the normal immigration queue. We hope this process will remain as easy as this, even as the number of tourists increases. If you have traveled to Greece since the country reopened to tourists, what was your experience like? Via https://globalconnekt.com/how-to-fill-out-the-greek-passenger-search-form/
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March 2022
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