Greece metaklisi quota for 2026 and how the positions are allocated

For 2026 the Greek government approved 94,240 metaklisi positions for third-country nationals, against 89,290 for 2025. The positions split into 44,240 for dependent employment, 48,000 for seasonal work and 2,000 for highly specialised employment, with a provision allowing an increase of up to 10 percent.

The allocation is not one national number. The joint ministerial decision distributes positions by region, by sector and by occupation, and that breakdown decides whether a specific hire is possible at all. An employer does not compete for 94,240 positions. The employer competes for the number assigned to that occupation inside the region where the workplace sits.

Where the positions go

The primary sector absorbs most of the volume. The allocation carries roughly 19,000 positions for unskilled agricultural workers in dependent employment and roughly 32,000 seasonal agricultural positions, so about 51,000 positions in total for farming and livestock. Manufacturing, transport and warehousing take 7,640 positions. Tourism and food service are covered mainly through the seasonal category, with hotel cleaning and kitchen roles.

The geographic split follows economic activity rather than population. Attica receives 9,967 positions, Central Macedonia 6,125, the South Aegean 5,630 and Crete 3,125. The South Aegean, with under a third of Central Macedonia's population, takes almost the same number, because the island hotel season absorbs seasonal staff that does not exist locally.

The increase of 4,950 positions between 2025 and 2026 works out at 5.5 percent. It is real but bounded, and it is not spread evenly: one occupation can gain positions this year while another loses them in the same region.

Bilateral agreements lock up part of the number

Part of the quota is pre-committed to named origin countries. The agreement with Bangladesh covers 9,000 positions and the agreement with Egypt covers 5,000 seasonal workers, while the Ministry of Migration and Asylum has pursued comparable arrangements with the Philippines and Armenia.

That has two consequences for planning. First, positions covered by a bilateral agreement are not available to workers of another nationality for the same occupation and region. Second, a bilateral agreement does not replace the permit. The worker still needs an employment approval, a national entry visa and a residence permit, with the same fees and the same processing times. The mechanism is set out in Greece's bilateral labour quotas.

Checking availability before a file is opened

The sequence that protects an employer is simple and rarely followed. Confirm the available position for the specific occupation in the specific region, then select the worker, and only then commission contracts, translations and medical checks. Reverse that order and the employer pays for a file the quota cannot accept.

A quota says nothing about speed. It is a ceiling on admissions, not a commitment on time: a position can be available and the file can still take the same months it would otherwise take. The two variables move separately and have to be planned separately. An employer who secured a slot in January and started the file in April gained nothing from the early confirmation, while an employer who started a file without checking availability lost both.

The specific failure mode is a ceiling exhausted mid year. The application is refused for lack of an available position, not for an incomplete file, and no additional document revives it. The employer waits for the next decision, which in practice means the next year, and the occupation planned for goes uncovered for a full season. For seasonal posts the damage is larger, because the season does not move: a file approved in August does not cover a July harvest.

The steps, fees and timelines that follow once a slot is secured are set out in the E.4 metaklisi procedure. If the post is seasonal, a different permit category applies with its own ceilings, covered in Greece's seasonal work permit.

Quota figures change with each new joint ministerial decision, and the regional breakdown changes faster than the headline total. A number that held last year is not a safe planning base this year, and the check belongs at the start of the route rather than when the file is ready. The employers page describes how Werklist tests availability by occupation and region before candidate selection begins.