Know what your
visa allows. Exactly.

What each route permits

If you do take up Greek work: the 5C break

Greece wants working relocators too. Under Article 5C of the income tax code, people who move their tax residence to Greece and take up Greek employment or self-employment can exempt 50% of that income from income tax for 7 years. Conditions mirror the pensioner regime's logic: you weren't Greek tax resident in 5 of the last 6 years, and you're arriving from a tax-cooperation country (US and Canada qualify). Applications go through AADE — see Tax & Finance.

Social security: e-EFKA and your US/CA record

• Employees pay e-EFKA contributions through payroll; self-employed pay fixed-class monthly contributions they select from a band.
• Americans: the US–Greece totalization agreement (in force 1 September 1994) prevents double contributions and lets US and Greek credits combine toward benefits in either system.
• Canadians: the Canada–Greece social security agreement (in force 1983, revised 1997) covers OAS and CPP — both remain payable in Greece, and periods can combine for eligibility.
• Paying into e-EFKA is also the door to public healthcare — working residents get EOPYY coverage that non-working permit holders don't. See Healthcare.

The local labour market, for calibration

Most of our readers aren't job-hunting in Greece — but the numbers calibrate expectations for anyone who is, or whose spouse might. The minimum wage is €920/month gross from April 2026, paid 14 times a year, and typical private-sector salaries sit far below US and Canadian equivalents. Non-EU hiring runs through employer sponsorship inside annual quotas by occupation and region. In practice, Americans and Canadians working in Greece are overwhelmingly remote workers on foreign payrolls — which is exactly what the digital nomad route exists for.