Greece seasonal work and the E.6 residence permit for tourism and agriculture
The E.6 seasonal permit under Law 5038/2023 allows nine months in any twelve, costs 91 euros in fees and is recorded at 50 to 80 days of processing.
The E.6 seasonal residence permit under Law 5038/2023 lets a third-country national live and work in Greece for up to nine months in any twelve month period. For the remaining three months the holder must leave the country. The National Register of Administrative Procedures records fees of 91 euros and a processing time of 50 to 80 days.
Seasonal work is its own permit category, not a short version of the ordinary one. It carries its own quota ceiling, its own document list and its own clock. An employer who treats the seasonal file as a lighter metaklisi usually discovers the difference once the season has already opened.
What the permit covers, and for how long
Articles 63 to 66 of Law 5038/2023 set out two consecutive stages. The first is the seasonal employment approval, which the employer requests before the worker travels and which carries a 100 euro fee per third-country national according to the migration portal. The second is the E.6 residence permit, which the worker requests after entry and which costs a 75 euro fee plus 16 euros for printing the electronic document, 91 euros in total. The national entry visa for seasonal work is charged separately, at a consular fee of 75 euros.
The nine month ceiling runs per twelve month period, not per calendar year. That matters for island tourism: a worker who started in April exhausts the window in December and cannot return the following March, because the three months outside the country have not elapsed. An employer whose season depends on the same staff returning needs a calendar per worker, not per business.
| Stage | Who files | Cost | Indicative time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonal employment approval | The employer, electronically | 100 euros per worker | Before entry |
| National entry visa | The worker, at the consulate | 75 euro consular fee | At the appointment |
| E.6 residence permit | The worker, after entry | 75 euros plus 16 euros printing | 50 to 80 days |
The documents that decide the file
The National Register of Administrative Procedures lists eight documents for the first grant of an E.6 permit in tourism. Three of them account for most refusals.
The employment contract must state the type of work, the place, the duration, the hours and the pay, and the pay may not fall below the statutory minimum wage. From 1 April 2026 the Ministry of Labour and Social Security set the minimum wage at 920 euros per month for salaried staff and the minimum daily wage at 41.09 euros for manual workers. A contract drafted against the previous 880 euros and submitted after 1 April is incomplete.
The accommodation declaration has to evidence ownership or possession and certify that the property meets health and safety specifications. The detail of that duty, including the limits on rent, sits in worker accommodation and the employer's obligations in Greece.
Sickness insurance must cover the full range of risks covered for Greek nationals. A thirty day travel policy does not satisfy that requirement for a six month season.
The file also carries a declaration in which the employer assumes the cost of the worker's return where applicable, plus proof of the company's commercial registry entry. After arrival the labour side is added: the hiring notification in the ERGANI information system before the first shift, and registration with EFKA. The migration file and the labour file are checked by different authorities but describe the same worker, and any difference in occupation or place of work between them becomes a finding.
The season is the real constraint
Seasons do not move. The olive harvest, the grape harvest and hotel openings sit on fixed dates, while the file runs on a variable clock. With 50 to 80 days for the residence permit and consular time before it, an employer starting in March for a season that opens in May is already late.
The failure mode that costs the whole placement is late approval. When the papers arrive in August for a July harvest there is no work left to cover, and the spend on translations, medical checks and consular fees is written off. The safe practice is to file the seasonal employment approval at least four months before the first shift, and to confirm availability first against the year's quota.
The Greek regime rests on a common European framework that fixes the floor and ceiling on duration and the guarantees on accommodation. That relationship is set out in the EU seasonal workers directive. The employers page shows how Werklist builds a season calendar backwards, from the first shift to the file.
Keep reading
All posts →What a UK sponsor licence costs an employer in 2026
The Home Office charges £1,682 for a medium or large Worker sponsor licence, £525 per Certificate of Sponsorship and £1,320 a year in skills charge.
UK skilled worker salary thresholds and going rates 2026
The Home Office sets an hourly floor of GBP 17.13 under Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations and GBP 12.82 under Table 2, each alongside the going rate.