I learnt about the Greek way in England when my friend's husband had to renew his passport.
Applicants must go to the Greek Embassy in London, early in the morning, to hand in the applications in person. The embassy just entertains 50 applications per day for there's just one person handling all matters related to Greek passports. The Greek Government has some very specific and strict requirements regarding passport photo. Applicants are very likely to waste a trip to the embassy if they do not get the photo right. There's no automatic photo-taking machine in the embassy.
Even if the applicants pass the first scan of the photos at the embassy, it does not guarantee that they'll definitely get the new passports. When the applicants are notified of a date for returning to the embassy in London, there are two possibilities. The best outcome is that they get their new passports. The second possibility is that they are informed, right on the spot, that there's something wrong with the applications and they have to do it all over again. The whole process between application submission and notification or passport collection takes at least 6-8 weeks because everything is done by mail. (I didn't ask if there was express service.)
Those who are likely to raise as many questions as I did may just satisfy themselves with a simple answer: that's the Greek way (or the Greek Government way as my friend, a Greek himself, is also driven crazy by these procedures).
About Me
- 熊羚 Valeria
- Valeria Teo is a writer, a travel planner and an owner of private accommodation. Her passion for travel has taken her to nearly 30 countries since 1992. The trip to Croatia in 2007 has brought her a husband and her first Chinese novel. Valeria has published two Chinese novel sets in Croatia and a collection of Chinese essays. Besides being a regular blogger for the Hong Kong travel site UTravel and GOtrip, she writes for various organizations and online publications, in both English and Chinese. Having appeared in two Hong Kong on-line radio travel programmes featuring Croatia, Valeria was also consulted by one Taiwanese and one Hong Kong TV station for shooting travel programmes in and around Croatia. Her particular connection with Croatia has led her to create Croatia Independent Travellers (www.croatia.com.hk) with two partners. The on-line platform specializes in travel planning and custom-made tours for those who want to create unforgettable travel experiences of their own. In the summer of 2014, Valeria realized her long-term dream of running her own private accommodation in Split.
Born in Hong Kong, Valeria now resides in Split, Croatia.
