The validity of passports in Greece will increase from five years to ten years, Minister for the Protection of Citizens Takis Theodorikakos has announced.
He noted that Greece is one of the last places in terms of the validity of this important document among the member states of the European Union. Extending the validity of a passport from five to ten years is intended to lead to significant savings – both administrative and financial. The Minister stated:
“This will mean less bureaucracy for Greek citizens, especially for Greeks abroad. This will free up police time. Both the state and the citizens will win.”
Now obtaining or renewing a Greek passport costs €85, the document is valid for five years. For comparison: in Belgium a passport costs €65 and is valid for seven years, in Italy a passport costs €116 and can be used for 10 years. But even the higher cost of an Italian passport makes it cheaper than in Greece due to its ten-year validity, notes GreekReporter.
According to passport index, published by Arton Capital (an American consulting company), the Greek passport is one of the four “strongest” in the world. The Greek passport ranks fourth along with the corresponding documents from Sweden, Singapore, France, Belgium, Norway and Malta. Greece in this regard overtook Australia and the UK: Australian passports ranked sixth in the world rankings, and the United Kingdom – fifth.
Earlier, our publication said that the Greek public services website has a special form for applying for issuance or renewal Residence permit.
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