Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for tuning in for a quick run-through of how to apply for your student visa to study in Greece. During this presentation, I'll be referring to several helpful resources that you can find in Canvas within the World Scholars module, as well as in the Parent and Family Hub. If you need help accessing these resources, please email otp@udel.edu. So to begin, let's look at the visa overview handout. I'm going to share my screen with you so that we can look at this together. Alright, so this document, as I mentioned, you can find it in Canvas or the Parent and Family Hub, has a lot of great general information for you. So please take some time to read through it carefully. Today we're specifically going to look at the Greek process. So if you go to the bottom of the document, you'll notice some hyperlinks here. You want to click on the Greece Visa Application Checklist. That will take you to a Google document with lots of important information and hyperlinks. Please refer to this within Google Drive as opposed to printing it out or downloading it because we'll make updates here as updates are confirmed with us, either by the Greek consulates or by our partners at the American College of Greece. You'll know this has been updated by seeing the last date, updated date, right up here at the top. It's important to know that this checklist was generated for US passport holders. And we created this checklist specifically based on the requirements for the Greek consulate located in Washington DC, As most of our World Scholars going to Greece will be applying there. However, if you're consulate of jurisdiction is not Washington DC, you're going to want to look up your consulate and confirm that this checklist matches your requirements. There might be slight changes, but in general, it would mostly be the same. It is your responsibility to apply for your student visa. We're here to support you, but ultimately, you are responsible for the process, you the student. And you're responsible for following the dates and letting us know if you need help. But again, we are here to support. The application process takes approximately eight to ten weeks to complete. And we're providing you a timeline as a guide. If you are in jeopardy of meeting any dates, please contact us immediately. We'll look through the timeline. Then we'll look through the requirements. So first, right now, you should make sure that you have read through this carefully and you know what documents you need in order to apply for your visa. As I mentioned, you can find the Greek consulate of your jurisdiction based on the state where you live. By looking on the Greek consulate's website, each state is represented by a different consulate. So make sure you're confirming that you're going to the right one. If you have questions, let me know. The next thing you're going to want to do right away is request an FBI criminal history record check, a CHRC, which is like a background check. This is number six on your visa checklist. In order to apply for this, you'll need to obtain a set of official fingerprints, which you can do through USPS. I've linked to a site where you can find a USPS local to you that provides this service. We recommend applying online for your CHRC, as it's going to be processed quicker. If you're worried about a delay in your application, you can work with an official channeler, or an organization or a representative, who can expedite the report. But this does cost an additional price. I would recommend checking out a few channelers and seeing if it's worth it for you. All the information about the CHRC process is included online. So read through that carefully and again, let me know if you have questions. Once you receive your CHRC in the mail, you're not done, you have to have this apostilled by the Department of State. We've linked here to how to request the apostille. Basically you're requesting a seal that makes this document legal for the Greek government to deal with your application. You must have the apostille at the time that you go to your visa appointment. Alright, next, we recommend that before too long, right now, you contact your doctor and you contact them in order to request either an appointment or give them a heads up that you'll be sending along some documentation that they need to review and sign. So here you'll find some links to some documents. So let me look at these with you. So this document, the first hyperlink, the required visa medical certificate, this must be completed, signed and stamped by a doctor. It can't be signed or stamped by a nurse practitioner. It must be a doctor. So they'll fill this out for you and then add their information here at the bottom. If you have any questions, let us know. We recommend while you're seeing your doctor, you might as well have the other medical forms filled out at the same time. This letter is something you're going to include in your visa application document. It says medical certificate for visa. The other documents you will not include in your visa application. But again, it's good to just knock them all at the same time. The next is your UD proof of immunizations form. That's do to UD, I believe, the 26th, which is coming up. But again, you can contact OTP for more info if you have questions on that. And then the next three documents are requirements that the American College of Greece has for students who are studying abroad with them. So the first is the athletic facilities and sports form. Even if you're not a sports person, you don't think you're going to use the athletic facilities, you still need to have this filled out. For example, if we do yoga, like a yoga session or meditation session at orientation, you'll have to have this filled out. So again, just have it filled out even regardless of if you'll use it or not. ACG also requires that students who have special health care needs fill out an individualized emergency care plan. To be honest, even if you don't have special health care needs, I would recommend looking at this document with your family and just talking about all the what-ifs. Where would you get treatment? Can you use telehealth with your current doctors, and things like that. This is going to be helpful just as a, as a talking point. And then if you do have any of these conditions that will allow ACG to have more information about you. in case of an emergency. Next is the ACG student consent form. This I don't think needs to be signed by a Dr. Let's look. Student's signature, parent signature. Okay. A doctor doesn't need to sign this form, but this does apply to you medically. Please fill this out. So all three of these documents need to be filled out and brought to Greece with you. But you also should scan and e-mail a copy of them to go-global@udel.edu and we'll also send them in advance to ACG. Just in case there's any issues, you'll have time to fix that before departure. Please note that according to Greek law, all health forms, excluding the consent form must be signed and stamped by an MD or DO. Alright, so we've talked about looking up your consulate, the background check and the medical documents. The next thing you're going to want to do is contact your Greek consulate to setup a visa application appointment. You must go in person to apply for your visa. And you can do that no sooner than 90 days before the first day of class. So that date is October 5th. You cannot go to the consulate any earlier than October 5th and you can't go any later than December 8th. Now, in order to apply for your student visa, you need to have your passport as well as a letter of acceptance from the American College of Greece. So if you are an Athens Scholar and you're renewing or applying for your passport, you should make an appointment, not for early October. At the earliest, I would say late October, maybe November even, because you'll need again to have that passport in hand. And then the American College of Greece needs your passport number in order to generate that letter. They mail it by snail mail, and then we get that to you. So it just takes a little bit of time and just to be safe, make your appointment for probably November just to be safe. Once you've scheduled your visa application appointment, please send me an email to confirm the date. That will be helpful for me and I'll also check in with you to see how it went. We're always learning from you because, again, you're going to the consulate, were not. And we do want to know how it goes and update our resources as needed. Alright, by August 7th, you need to scan and upload the photo page of your passport to your My Blue Hen Home portal. If you need to renew or apply for a passport, let me know immediately so I can get you a letter requesting that the passport agency expedite your application. Late August, September, you need to start gathering your documents and we'll look at those in just a second. The American College of Greece is going to send you an email confirming personal details that will be included in your acceptance letter. Look for that email and please be sure to respond right away so they can get those letters going. Next, we're going to be sending you your ACG acceptance letter and your travel insurance letter probably in the mid to late September. It depends on when we get your passports in and when we can send that off to ACG and get things back. Well, when those are on their way to your mailboxes. By September 30th, end of September, you should have all your documents assembled and make at least two photocopies of the entire set of documents, one set for your records, and then you're going to include a copy of all documents with your original application materials at the date of your visa application appointment. Again between October 5th and December 8th, you're going to be submitting everything to the consulate. Alright, let's transition to what documents you need. And again, this list is relevant for US passport holders who are applying for a visa to the consulate in Washington DC. If you are not going to that consulate, again, you want to review your consulate's list of requirements and compare that to this one and make adjustments as needed. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me and I can help you. Now, the first thing you want to do is download an application for a national visa that's going to look like this. Just a few pages long. You want to print the whole thing. It doesn't have to be in color, but everything should be very clear and legible. Next, you'll want to open the completed sample application. And as you fill out your application, you're going to want to use our sample app as a guide. Make sure you're filing it line by line and filling it out appropriately as we recommend. Please note that for the Greek process, this application must be written in uppercase letters only. The dates should be written by day, month, year. And any data that's on your passport that's also requested on this application must match. So when it asks for your first name, line two, that should be your first name on your passport. But if your middle name is included on your passport, you need to also write that here. Your sex that's checked off here on line ten, that needs to match your passport. Make sure everything matches. If you have to make any changes to this and you make a mistake or something goes wrong, you need to print out a new application and start back from the beginning. You can't have any white out or cross outs on your application. In addition to submitting your paper application here, you're also going to need to submit your original passport, which must be valid through October 22nd, 2021, with at least two blank pages available. Again, if you need to renew or apply, let me know. Next, you're going to need to supply one passport size photo printed on this kind of paper that's recent. It's really, really important that you get this taken at Walgreens or CVS. I know you might want to kind of save some money by doing this at home. But you are not going to want to get all the way through your appointment and find out that your whole application failed because your photo was a little bit odd because you tried to take it at home. Invest the money to get the passport photos taken professionally. Make sure that you glue, not staple, your photo to the application. Bring the extra photos with you just in case. And I would recommend that you save those, maybe bring one to Greece with you and then save the other for when you apply for your visa for your year three study abroad. Alright, number four, this is provided by ACG. They're going to be mailing this to the University of Delaware and then we will send it on to you. Number five, this is that medical form that your doctor will have signed. Again, we hyperlink to that. Please make sure you use that form. Number six, you're going to want to include your CHRC with your federal apostilled stamp. Next, number seven, we will provide you with a proof of travel insurance through GeoBlue. We will mail this to you so that you will have to include in your application. Number eight, nine and ten are regarding proof of funds. The government of Greece wants to know that you will not be a burden on their country while you're studying abroad. And so their way of identifying this is looking at a lot of your financial information. This is challenging and we recognize that it's a stressful topic. Do your best to supply this, but if you are concerned or if you have questions, you're not sure how it's going to work for you, let me know. I know it is a sensitive topic, but we've really heard at all. And we're here to help you come up with a way to meet these requirements. We also know that the American College of Greece does have relationships with the consulates. They can reach out to see what would be accepted if you can't provide exactly what's being asked here. Now, you want to make sure that you use this template form. If you're showing proof of funds that come from your parents or your guardians, this is a document that needs to be filled out and notarized. Let see, parents W2 forms. We know that this can be a challenge for some individuals to provide. And so we have found feasible solutions in the past. So again, please let us know in advance so we can communicate with the consulate on your behalf. The other thing I want to mention to you is that all these consulates, Greece, Spain, Italy, they reserve the right to ask for different information than what's posted online, which is somewhat scary because you don't necessarily know until you get there. So bring extra paperwork with you in a separate folder, you'd have it, and don't be alarmed if they're asking for additional paperwork. That does happen. And again, we'll work with you to figure it out if it's something that you're not sure how your you're going to produce or show. But don't take it personally either if they're asking for more information. Next, number 11, the visa application fee is €90. Now this rate changes on a monthly basis and it's posted at the bottom page of this website that's hyperlinked here. So on the month that you go to apply for your visa, you need to bring this application fee in a USPS money order. I would also recommend that you bring that amount of money in cash, if you can do it, and bringing a checkbook just in case. It's always better to have additional means on hand, just in case. Now students who will be under the age of 18 on the arrival date in Greece must also provide a travel authorization note signed by both parents and you can use this template. And lastly, you want to provide a trackable, pre-paid and pre-addressed envelope for the consulate to return your passport with visa unless you plan to pick it up in person. Now I'll say that, again, because of coronavirus, they may not want you coming back in person. So bring this envelope with you just in case. It's better to be safe than sorry. I think I mentioned these helpful hints before for completing your visa app. But again, remember to use the sample, list your dates as requested, complete this in capital letters, do not cross any thing out. Write N/A for any questions that do not pertain to you, and make sure that all your information matches what's on your passport, and be sure to sign the application where indicated by the consulate. Additional visa notes, I mentioned this, the consulate can ask for further documentation. They are going to want to most likely mail your passport back to you. And very importantly, minors cannot apply on their own for their visa. If you are under the age of 18 on the day of your appointment, Your parents will need to be there to give their consent in person. If you're concerned about this, worried about that at all, again, let me know and we'll figure out a solution. Alright, so that was a lot of information. I realize that my email is embedded here in various places, but what I'm going to do is put it down here at the bottom for everyone, as well as my cell phone number. Feel free to call me during business hours if you have any questions or shoot me a quick email and I'm happy to help you. So best of luck with your process. You are not alone. We're here to help and I'm very excited to hear how your appointment's were at the consulate.
UD World Scholars 2020-21 Visa Application How-To: Greece
From Kaitlyn Laws July 28, 2020
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Class of 2024 UD World Scholars, watch this short video guide to applying for your Greek visa. Additional instructions for students and families are available in Canvas and the Parent and Family Hub. Questions? Contact go-global@udel.edu.
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