How to Legally Hire a Third-Country Worker in Greece: The Metaklisi Guide

By Panos Dimopoulos, Founder, Mazi · Updated 28 October 2026 · 12 min read

A practical guide for HR teams and employers — the procedure, what it costs, the agency route and what happens after the approval, grounded in the codified law.

If you run a hotel, a farm, a factory or a logistics operation and you can't find the staff you need in the Greek labour market, metaklisi ("invitation") is the lawful route to bring in a worker from outside the EU. Law 5275/2026 (Government Gazette A' 17/06.02.2026), which incorporates EU Directive 2024/1233, reformed the procedure. Here is what actually matters.

Jump to: what it costs · hiring through an agency · after the approval · FAQ

What metaklisi is

Metaklisi means you, as the employer, start the process before the worker enters the country. You file an application, get approval, the worker goes to the Greek consulate in their home country, signs the employment contract there, receives a national entry visa, and only then enters Greece to begin work under an E.4 residence permit.

It doesn't apply to intra-company transfers (E.2) or special-purpose employment (E.3) — those follow a different route. Every employer route, including the EU Blue Card and switching a worker who is already in Greece, is compared on the work and residence permits page.

Who can be invited

• A third-country national over 18 years old (article 26 §6 — applies across E.1 Blue Card, E.4 metaklisi and E.5 seasonal work).
• The number of positions per sector is set annually by Cabinet Act (ΠΥΣ), based on the EU's ESCO occupation classification. If the quota for your sector is exhausted, the application can't proceed. How next year's numbers are set, and how employers can be counted, is explained in the 2027 quota article.
• The Cabinet Act can raise the quota by up to 15% for urgent needs, designate specific countries of origin, or cap numbers per country.

The process, step by step

1. Employer application. Filed electronically with the Directorate of Aliens and Migration of the Decentralized Administration where the company is based (or where the work will take place). You state: number of positions, sector/occupation per the Cabinet Act, candidate details and nationality, and the employment period.

2. Required documents (article 61 §3):

• A legal employment contract of at least 6 months, with pay at or above the statutory minimum for unskilled/manual workers (articles 141 & 141A of the Labour Code).
• Tax clearance or a tax return showing the company can cover the stated salary.
• A €200 fee per invited worker (non-refundable). The other state fees come later — see what it costs.

3. Approval. The competent authority issues an approval once the documents are complete and the sector's quota isn't exhausted. The approval, together with the signed contract, is forwarded to the Greek consulate in the worker's country.

4. Consular stage. The candidate appears in person, signs the employment contract, and receives a national entry visa. The consulate must notify the one-stop-shop service of approval or rejection within 30 calendar days; the one-stop-shop then notifies you within 15 calendar days.

5. Arrival and the E.4 permit. Once the worker enters Greece, they file electronically for the E.4 residence permit straight away. The permit is valid for 3 years, renewable in 5-year increments.

What it costs: every state fee, per worker

The €200 metaklisi fee is only the first of four state fees. The full amounts for 2026:

Year-round (dependent) work: €546 per worker

• €200 — metaklisi fee, paid by the employer with the application (art. 61 §3).
• €180 — national visa, the consular fee paid at the Greek consulate.
• €150 — residence permit fee for the E.4, paid after arrival (art. 171).
• €16 — the residence permit card itself.

Renewing the E.4 costs €150 plus €16 for the card, and the renewed permit lasts five years.

Seasonal work: €266 per worker

• €100 — application fee, paid by the employer. One payment covers seasons of up to nine months each, for up to five years.
• €75 — national visa for seasonal work.
• €75 — residence permit fee, for the whole period of the permit.
• €16 — residence permit card.

For strategic investments and public works (see below) the metaklisi fee is €400 per worker instead of €200.

Who pays what. The metaklisi or application fee is the employer's. The visa and permit fees are paid by the worker at each step, but many employers cover them — agree it in writing in the employment contract.

Costs not on any official list: certified translations and apostilles of the worker's documents, the flight to Greece, housing (a legal requirement for seasonal work), any medical tests, and the fee of whoever prepares the file.

Hiring through a temporary work agency (ΕΠΑ)

Since 2026 a temporary work agency (ΕΠΑ) can carry out the metaklisi as the direct employer and assign the worker to your business, which becomes the indirect employer. Joint Ministerial Decision 17834/2026 (8 July 2026) set the rules. The agency files the application and names your business; the two of you sign an assignment contract under article 125 of the Labour Code. State fees and the quota apply as in any metaklisi.

Which agencies can do it

• A legal entity operating lawfully as a temporary work agency and registered in ΕΡΓΑΝΗ.
• Share or company capital of at least €1,000,000.
• No criminal prosecution of its managers for trafficking of third-country nationals.
• A Ministry of Labour certificate confirming all of the above, valid for one year.

What it covers, and what your business still has to show

• Dependent work in all sectors, including highly skilled work, and seasonal work in tourism and agriculture.
• Your own ability to pay: for dependent work, gross revenue of at least €22,000 per worker for an individual employer and €60,000 per worker for a company (€60,000 per worker for highly skilled work).
• That the worker's specialty matches what your business does.
• For seasonal work, suitable housing — your obligation unless the contract assigns it to the agency.

The agency and your business are jointly liable for the worker's wages and social insurance. If the contract makes the agency responsible, your liability is suspended and the agency's guarantee letters can be called. The route suits employers who need several people for a season and want one counterparty to employ them — but your business stays in the file, and the agency's fee comes on top of the state fees.

For larger projects: strategic investments and public works

If your company is part of a designated strategic investment (Law 4864/2021) or has been awarded a public works contract or a project of particular economic, social, or national significance, the law provides a special track: invitation requests for up to 500 third-country nationals per project, reviewed with priority, outside the usual quota limits. The fee is €400 per person, and a certificate from the competent ministry is required. Temporary work agencies cannot use this track.

After the approval: where hires stall

An approval is not a worker on site. Everything that follows happens in another country, on another institution's calendar. Circular 51210/2026 recommends that the employment contract start 60 to 90 days after the application, to leave time for the visa — work back from your start date with the season planner.

• The candidate goes quiet. Months pass between the offer and the consular appointment; another offer or a family decision can end a case that is formally approved.
• Consular appointments. Demand at some consulates is high, and the candidate — not you — has to secure and attend the appointment.
• Paperwork at the counter. A passport close to expiry or a contract detail that doesn't match can send the candidate away.
• The country of origin has its own rules. Some countries run a parallel exit process — for workers from the Philippines it can include contract verification, medical checks and exit clearance.
• Arrival itself. A flight, a bed for the first night, and someone who knows the worker must file for the E.4 straight away. Housing, tax number (AFM), bank account and the rest of the first weeks are covered on the relocation and settling-in page.

Where companies usually lose time before filing

• Exhausted quota in their sector, discovered after the process has started.
• Mismatches between the employment contract and the tax documentation.
• Incomplete evidence of the company's capacity to cover the stated salary.

Getting this sequencing right — before the first application is even filed — is usually the difference between a metaklisi that closes on a reasonable timeline and one that stalls for months.

Are you the person moving to Greece rather than the employer? The route and the paperwork are different — see moving to Greece as an individual.

Metaklisi: frequently asked questions