From next Monday, August 3, Greece’s old blue identity cards will cease to be of use as travel documents. The cards, first introduced in 1961, will be phased out completely within 13 months, in September 2027. Until then, the old cards will still be accepted as identification documents, giving those who have not yet applied for the new credit card style ID a final window to do so. From September 2027 onward, the blue cards will hold only sentimental value and will not be accepted for any purpose.

From August 3, anyone without the new identity card will only be able to travel outside Greece using a passport they already hold. As of next Monday, new passports will no longer be issued to applicants who do not already possess the new-format ID. During the intervening week, a passport can still be issued without the new card, provided the applicant holds an older identity card on which their details also appear in Latin characters (very old cards without this feature will not be accepted).

Nearly 600,000 appointments booked

In recent weeks, appointment slots at identity card offices have filled up rapidly, with thousands of citizens taking advantage of the fact that they can choose any police station in Greece, not necessarily the one in their area of residence. By the end of last month, fewer than 3,800,000 of the new credit card style identity cards had been issued, and almost 600,000 appointments had already been booked through to the end of September.

The appointment booking system, run through the government’s gov.gr online portal, shows availability at every police service for a 90-day period. Many citizens are now combining their summer holidays with the requirement to obtain the new card, booking appointments wherever they happen to be and factoring in that the new document is ready for collection within one to 10 days at most.

Quick and simple process

The process of issuing the new identity card is extremely straightforward and takes only a few minutes, in practice considerably less than the 20-minute slot allocated by the booking platform. Police officers handling the process have also become well practised, so everything now moves much faster. Once a citizen has booked a convenient appointment through gov.gr, all that remains is to pay the electronic administrative fees for issuing the card.

The cost is 10.50 euros (10 euros for the card itself and 0.50 euros for the Greek Police stamp duty). Citizens with many children pay a reduced fee of five euros. No supporting documents are required, since the police retrieve all necessary information automatically, and applicants do not need to bring a photograph, as this can be taken by the officer at the time of issue.

Anyone who prefers may instead use a professional photographer, who will upload the photo electronically; the applicant then simply provides the reference code so the officer can retrieve it. Photographs on USB sticks or other storage devices are not accepted, since connecting an external drive to a police station computer is considered a security risk. On collection of the new identity card, the old one is handed in and cancelled, and the tax authority is automatically notified of the updated details.