The short answer: Moving to Greece as an American retiree runs on paperwork and sequence, not luck. Before you go: sort the house (lean toward keeping or renting it out), travel light and rent furnished, and — most important — get your key documents apostilled and officially translated early. On arrival: obtain your two magic numbers, the AFM (tax number) and AMKA (social-security number), open a Greek bank account while keeping your U.S. one, get a SIM, and start in a short-term rental before signing a lease. Done in order, a bewildering first month becomes a series of manageable errands.
Thousands of Americans do exactly this every year, and there’s a logical order to it that turns chaos into a checklist. This guide walks the move from the reckoning in your American garage to your first Greek autumn, in the sequence that actually works. (Figures use €1 = $1.14, the late-June 2026 rate.)
This summarizes the “Making the Move” chapters of No-Nonsense Guide to Retiring in Greece by Leo Sotropa — downsizing, documents, pets, and the arrival checklist, in one place.
Before you go: the house and the stuff
Everything starts with the house, because it’s your largest asset and your heaviest anchor. The guidance that runs through the whole subject applies most forcefully here: on the Greek side, rent, don’t buy, at least at first; on the American side, think hard before you sell your safety net. Greece’s residency income bar is high, the bureaucracy is slow, and the first year is when you’re most likely to discover the place isn’t for you. Keeping your American house — holding it, renting it out, or simply not rushing to sell — preserves a door home that costs almost nothing to keep open and a fortune to rebuild once closed. If you rent it out, the income can even strengthen your visa paperwork.
If you do sell, the freed equity matters twice: it can become the documented savings that carries your visa application, since most Social Security retirees won’t clear the income bar on benefits alone. As for the rest — sell the American car rather than shipping it, and sort the household into four piles: take (ruthlessly small), give, sell (converting clutter into your savings cushion), and donate or discard. You will not miss ninety percent of it.
Suitcases or a shipping container?
For most budget retirees the answer is clearer than the moving industry suggests. Many Greek rentals come furnished or partly furnished, frequently including the fridge, stove, washer, and air conditioning. If you’re renting furnished, the case for a sea container collapses — you’d be paying to ship a sofa across an ocean to a flat that already has one. So bring clothing, essential documents, medications, and the small irreplaceable things, and buy the rest in Greece, where ordinary household goods are reasonably priced. Arriving light also keeps your exit light in exactly the first year you’re least certain the move will stick. A container makes sense only for a narrower group committing hard to an unfurnished place with furniture worth more than the freight — and if that’s you, get all shipping and customs figures from a professional, in writing, before you commit.
The documents that win or lose your residency
If there’s one section to read twice, it’s this. Losing a couch is an inconvenience; arriving without the right paperwork can stall your entire residency. Greece requires that key American-issued documents be apostilled — a state-level authentication that makes a document internationally recognized — and then officially translated into Greek before they’ll be accepted. The documents that typically need this treatment: your birth certificate, marriage certificate (if applying as a couple), criminal background check, proof of income or savings (pension and Social Security award letters plus a year of bank statements), and proof of private health insurance. If you’ll later elect the 7% flat tax, that calls for an apostilled, notarized pension statement too.
Start this early, while you still have easy access to American offices and your home-state authorities. Once you’re living in Greece, obtaining a fresh apostilled birth certificate from three thousand miles away is a miserable errand. Also assemble a personal-document kit — passport with ample validity, copies stored separately and digitally, medical and prescription records using generic (not brand) drug names, and financial details — and enroll in the State Department’s STEP program.
Bringing the dog or cat
If a pet is coming, the order of operations is strict, because doing the steps out of sequence can cost you the trip. Coming from the U.S. (which the EU treats as a listed country): first, an ISO-standard 15-digit microchip; only after the chip does the rabies vaccination count, and it must be at least 21 days old and under a year old on arrival; then, within 10 days of travel, a USDA-accredited vet issues the EU health certificate (the Annex IV form), endorsed by the USDA. Done in that order, there’s no quarantine and you may bring up to five pets non-commercially. Done out of order — commonly, vaccinating before chipping — the clock resets. Confirm current rules before you book.
On arrival: the two numbers that unlock everything
Almost everything official in Greece runs through two numbers, and getting them is job one. The AFM is the tax number — required before you can open a Greek bank account and for nearly every transaction, from signing a lease to setting up utilities. The AMKA is the social-security number that ties you into the health and social systems. Getting them means a visit to the relevant tax office and social-security office with your passport and documents, and it’s exactly the errand where a Greek-speaking helper — your lawyer, a hired facilitator, or a patient bilingual friend — saves hours. Don’t be surprised if it takes more than one visit. That’s normal, not a sign anything went wrong.
Banking: keep a foot in each world
With your AFM in hand, open a Greek bank account for rent, utilities, and daily life — expect the banks’ tightened rules for foreigners, so bring your passport, AFM, proof of a Greek address, and proof of income. But do not move your whole financial life to Greece. Keep your American account and your Social Security direct deposit there in dollars, because Social Security is calculated in dollars and landing it in a euro account exposes every payment to the exchange rate and possible fees. Treat your American account as the reservoir and your Greek account as the tap — move money over in deliberate batches through a low-fee service like Wise or Revolut, controlling the conversion yourself.
Phone, home, and a car (or not)
Pick up a prepaid local SIM on arrival so you’re reachable from day one, then sort a longer-term plan once you have an address. Home internet is genuinely good and cheap — 50–100 Mbps for €25–40/month — though on smaller islands, confirm the actual speed at your specific address. Set up utilities in your name (your AFM again), and budget for seasonal peaks, since an apartment humming along modestly in spring can climb sharply in a heating winter or cooling summer.
On housing, resist the urge to lock in a long-term home before you’ve lived in the place for real. Land in a short-term furnished rental for your first weeks or months, learn the neighborhood’s noise and light and winter quiet, then sign a long-term lease — typically one to three years, with a one-to-two-month deposit on top of the first month, often with appliances installed. Get it in writing, register it, and have a Greek-speaking lawyer glance at it. As for a car: in Athens or Thessaloniki, go carless on the metro, buses, and a ~€30 monthly pass; elsewhere, buy a modest used car locally once settled rather than shipping one, remembering fuel runs about $7.50 a gallon. The unifying advice is to wait and let the real pattern of your days decide.
Want the full arrival checklist, the pet timeline, and the downsizing system worked all the way through? It’s in No-Nonsense Guide to Retiring in Greece.
FAQ
What’s the first thing to do after moving to Greece?
Get your AFM (tax number) and AMKA (social-security number). Almost nothing official — bank account, lease, utilities, healthcare — happens without them, so treat obtaining both as job one, ideally with a Greek-speaking helper.
Should I ship my furniture to Greece?
Usually no. Most budget retirees rent furnished, so a sea container means paying to ship a sofa to a flat that already has one. Travel with suitcases and buy the rest locally, unless you’re committing long term to an unfurnished place with furniture worth more than the freight.
Can I keep my U.S. bank account after moving to Greece?
Yes, and you should. Keep your Social Security flowing into a U.S. account in dollars as your anchor, open a Greek account for local spending, and transfer euros over in batches through a low-fee service.
Keep reading: The Greece retirement visa guide · Living in Greece on a fixed income · The complete guide to retiring in Greece
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