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

Mazi Team · August 19, 2026 · 7 min read

A practical guide for HR and mobility teams — no legalese, grounded in the codified law.

If you're an HR lead at a manufacturing or industrial company and you can't find the talent you need in the Greek labour market, metaklisi ("invitation") is the lawful route to bring in a worker from a third country. Law 5275/2026 (Government Gazette A' 17/06.02.2026), which incorporates EU Directive 2024/1233, reformed the procedure. Here's what actually matters — no guesswork.

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.

Who can be invited

• A third-country national over 18 years old (new threshold under 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 — this is the first thing we check before starting any filing.
• 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).

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 a strict 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. The permit is valid for 3 years, renewable in 5-year increments.

An alternative route: metaklisi through a staffing agency (ΕΠΑ)

The new law allows a licensed temporary staffing agency (ΕΠΑ) to act as the direct employer of record for the invitation — meaning the agency files the application while you remain the indirect employer. This can simplify things for companies that don't want to manage the administrative load themselves, but the agency has to meet strict conditions (minimum €1,000,000 in share capital, clean criminal record for its directors, among others) — not every staffing agency qualifies.

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 here is €400 per person, and a certificate from the competent ministry is required.

Where companies usually lose time

In our experience, the most common delays aren't legal — they're procedural:

• Exhausted quota in their sector under the annual Cabinet Act, discovered after they've already started the process.
• Mismatches between the employment contract and the tax documentation.
• Incomplete evidence of the company's financial capacity to cover the stated salary.
• Delays at the consular stage because the candidate wasn't briefed on what to bring.

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.