I’m not exactly sure what the equivalent of a “tax number” is in the US – it doesn’t seem as serious as a SSN, but you still need it for just about everything. Getting a phone plan, getting an apartment, and probably most importantly: applying for residency. So it’s been step number 1 ever since I’ve arrived in Greece.
One of my friends connected me with the lawyer she used, and through WhatsApp, he’s communicated the steps and procedures – though his English is a little hard to understand at times, and I’ve had to have a Greek speaking friend jump in to figure out exactly what he means at certain points.
First I had to fill out an application online, which I sent him screen shots of so he could complete it for me and submit it. I’m not exactly sure why I couldn’t submit it myself, but there must have been additional information he needed to add. Probably the hardest part of that was finding the USA listed in the dropdown menus, because I wasn’t familiar with what that looked like Greek (everything else was translated in English). In case you’re wondering, it’s “Ηνωμένες πολιτείες Αμερικής”, or the abbreviation of that. I had only learned “Αμερικής” when I was learning to say where I was from, so I had no idea that I should be looking under “H”. It took me a long time the second time I had to find it as well, but that’s because I had no idea where “H” (which is one of several letters that makes the “ee” sound) fell in the order of the alphabet. I’m familiar with how to read the Greek alphabet, but I haven’t gotten the order of the letters quite yet!
Anyway. Once that was done I had to wait for the completed document to be sent back to me, and then had to find my way to a “Kep” (the equivalent of a notary, from my experience) to get it signed and stamped. Then I sent a picture of it to my lawyer, and after a couple of weeks of waiting, finally got a video call appointment with an official of some kind (I have no idea of the particulars of any part of this process – I was just following instructions the whole time) who had me show my passport to the camera, as well as the signed document I mentioned before, had me state several details aloud (the call was recorded), and when all that formality was accomplished, read off to me my tax number. After the call, my lawyer submitted the appropriate application, I got the official document with my tax number, and he said I was clear to pursue housing. Just today, a week later, he’s contacted me and said his office has all the “codes” necessary (whatever that means) so once again I’m clear to sign a housing contract, and I think that’s it? I really have no idea what any of this is, so a google search might serve you better. But basically, it’s not a hard process, it just might take awhile – in my case, a month.
My next step is to find an apartment – I’ve been looking, and nearly had an appointment for today before it got canceled – and then I can apply for residency. I also now have a Greek phone plan, so I’m two steps down, with two more to go, before I can really consider myself “settled.”