Papers you need to work in Greece: AFM, AMKA and the rest

What a Greek employer will ask you for

Before your first shift, the business has to declare your hiring to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ, the national employment-declaration system, and it can only do that with details that you alone can supply.

• AFM (ΑΦΜ), your Greek tax number, from the tax authority, AADE.
• AMKA (ΑΜΚΑ), your Greek social security number, from a KEP citizen service centre or e-EFKA.
• A bank account in your own name, and its IBAN.
• A valid national ID card or passport.
• The right to work in Greece, which depends on your nationality.
• A health certificate, if the job involves contact with food.
• Taxisnet credentials, the national login, so you can see what was declared under your name.

Each takes some time, and that time is cheaper before you travel than in the week a beach bar opens. If this is your first summer, also read what to expect in your first season.

AFM, the Greek tax number, and Taxisnet

AFM stands for Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου, tax registry number. It is issued by AADE (ΑΑΔΕ), the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, and it stays with you for life. It is the first paper to get.

The official procedure covers any natural person, Greek or foreign, whether tax resident in Greece or abroad. The application is digital, through the "ΑΦΜ & Κλειδάριθμος" application on AADE's myAADE portal. You upload a copy of your ID card or passport (the official list also names a residence permit for foreign nationals where one applies). AADE then confirms who you are: first automatically through your mobile phone, and if that is not possible, by video call on its myAADElive service or at a local tax office (ΔΟΥ).

Together with the AFM you are issued a κλειδάριθμος, a key number that activates your Taxisnet credentials. Those credentials open far more than tax services: they are the login for many Greek public services, including myErgani, where you can see for yourself whether the business really declared you.

AMKA, the social security number

AMKA stands for Αριθμός Μητρώου Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης. The Greek state describes it as a single registry number for work and social security: it is the number your insured working days are recorded against. It is issued once and does not change.

You apply in person, or through someone you have authorised, at a KEP (ΚΕΠ, the citizen service centres found in most towns) or at e-EFKA, the national social security fund. What you bring depends on your passport. For citizens of an EU member state, the official procedure lists a valid national ID card or passport plus proof of your AFM. For citizens of non-EU countries, it lists a valid residence permit that gives access to the labour market, plus proof of your AFM. Either way the AFM comes first.

Under the current rules, people who live in Greece lawfully and have access to the labour market are entitled to an AMKA whatever their nationality, and the number can be recorded as active or inactive. Ask the KEP or e-EFKA which applies to you.

A bank account and its IBAN

Private-sector wages in Greece are not handed over in cash. As the Labour Inspectorate puts it, pay goes exclusively into the bank accounts of the employees it is owed to. So you need an account in your own name and its IBAN, written out correctly.

If you already have an IBAN from another EU country, ask the business before you arrive whether its payroll can pay into it, or whether it prefers a Greek account. Banks set their own document lists for a new account, so ask the branch what it needs.

ID and your right to work in Greece

Your passport or national ID card is what every other paper rests on: it is how you get an AFM and an AMKA, and how you open an account. Make sure it is valid and that your name is spelled the same way on every document. A name written two ways is a common reason a registration stalls.

If you are a citizen of an EU country, the EU's own Your Europe portal says you generally do not need a work permit to work anywhere in the EU. It also says that for a longer stay you may be required to register your residence. In Greece that paper is the registration certificate (βεβαίωση εγγραφής), issued by the Hellenic Police: you apply in person at the police department that handles foreign nationals where you live, with your ID or passport and proof that you are employed. Your Europe and the police department will tell you when it applies to you.

If you are a citizen of a non-EU country, the route depends on your nationality, and you cannot begin it alone after you land. The employer in Greece files a request with the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, and once it is approved, you go to the Greek consulate responsible for your country for a national entry visa. For everything else, read migration.gov.gr and ask the Greek consulate in your country.

The health certificate for food and drink jobs

If your job involves contact with food, direct or indirect, you will be asked for a health certificate. Its full Greek name is πιστοποιητικό υγείας εργαζομένων σε επιχειρήσεις υγειονομικού ενδιαφέροντος. Colleagues may still call it by its older name, βιβλιάριο υγείας. In practice it covers kitchens, service and bars, not only whoever cooks.

It is issued by a doctor in Greece, public or private, after an examination. The certificate is yours: you hold it, and you carry it to your next job for as long as it remains valid.

Ask the business in your first conversation whether your role needs it and whether it can point you to a local doctor. Allow a few days for it after you arrive.

The order to do it in

1. A valid passport or ID card, and for non-EU citizens the visa or permit route, which starts with the employer.
2. AFM and its key number from AADE, then activate your Taxisnet credentials straight away.
3. AMKA from a KEP or e-EFKA, with your AFM in hand.
4. A bank account in your own name, with the IBAN noted down.
5. The health certificate, if the job involves contact with food.
6. For EU citizens staying longer, the registration certificate from the police.

Keep photos of everything on your phone. Send them only to the business that is hiring you, and only once you have agreed terms. After you start, sign in to myErgani and confirm that your hiring was declared. How to do that, and what else should be in writing, is covered in the guide to the seasonal work contract.

With the papers in place, all that is left is the job. Browse seasonal job listings at hotels, restaurants and beach bars across Greece, and if you have more questions, read the FAQ.