As an experiment, in 2012, the European Union allowed Greece to cancel visa entry into the country. Vacationers on the western coast of Turkey can take advantage of the opportunity to visit the ancient land of Hellas without a Schengen visa.
All holidaymakers in Turkish resorts from July 7 to September 30, 2012 had the opportunity to visit 5 Greek islands (Rhodes, Chios, Samos, Kos and Lesvos) without a Schengen visa. This innovation can be used by tourists from any country who are legally in Turkey. You just need to buy a ticket for a ferry going to any of the specified islands in one of the Turkish ports (Bodrum, Dikili, Focha, Marmaris, Fethiye, Cesme, Ayvalik and Kusadasi) and / or book a hotel room on the islands. But this must be done with the help of a travel agency that officially provides such services in Turkey.
The principle of visa-free entry into the country is simple. It is necessary to submit the following documents to the office of the travel company at least one day before the departure of the ferry: a completed visa application, a copy of the passport and one photo made according to the Schengen model. The travel agency, having scanned all the documents, sends them electronically to the Greek Immigration Service. And while passing through passport control on the islands, the vacationer shows the original visa application, passport and pays a fee of 35 euros.
If the vacationer, for some reason, did not submit all these documents to the tour operator before departure, it is possible to obtain a permit to stay in Greece upon arrival. To do this, you must have with you a photo, passport, fill out a visa application directly at the border and pay the fee.
Travelers who have completed this procedure can stay on the Greek islands for up to 15 days. In addition, Russian tourists vacationing in Turkey have the opportunity to apply for a free visa, which allows them to stay on the islands for a day.
The European Union took this experimental step because of the prevailing opinion that the Schengen visa is a brake on the tourist flow to Greece. And now vacationers have the opportunity to get acquainted with the unique architectural monuments of the five Greek islands without lengthy visa delays. Remarkably, getting to the islands included in the experiment is much faster by ferry from Turkey than by plane from Athens. For example, the crossing from Bodrun to Kos takes only half an hour, and the flight from the Greek capital to the same island takes about an hour.
According to the representative office of the EOT (Greek National Tourism Organization), if this experiment justifies itself, then visa-free entry into the country will continue.
