Yes, people who have refugee or subsidiary protection status and are holding a valid residence permit have full access to the Greek labour market, under the same conditions that apply to nationals.

Asylum-seekers are eligible to work two months after they lodged their claim with the Asylum Service. After these two months, the asylum-seeker can receive all needed documents required for employment.

Ukrainian nationals can apply for a Temporary Protection status that lasts for 1 year, based on Council Directive 2001/55/EC. Their AFM (Tax registration number) and AMKA (Social security registration number) are issued automatically upon receiving the Temporary Protection and subsequently, they are eligible to work.

Refugees are granted and a residence permit that has a duration of 3 years while beneficiaries of subsidiary protection are granted a residence permit that has a duration of 1 year. These permits are renewable. Their AMKA is issued automatically from the Asylum Service, upon their recognition as beneficiaries of international protection, while their AFM can be issued from a nearby Tax Office (DOY). When receiving a job offer, refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection can also issue the AMA number from the national insurance provider (EFKA). Moreover, they can open a bank account, but it is recommended to hold their hiring letter with them.

Asylum seekers hold asylum-seeker card until they receive a decision on their asylum application. The Asylum Service can issue their PAAYPA, temporary social insurance, and health care number, which is valid for as long as they remain asylum-seekers. If they are granted asylum, PAAYPA will be converted to AMKA after an application is submitted to a KEP (Citizens Service Center), however, if their application for asylum is rejected, PAAYPA will automatically be deactivated. Their AFM (if not already assigned upon lodging their asylum application) can be issued from a DOY (Tax Office), while, upon receiving of a job offer, asylum seekers can also issue their AMA from the national social insurance provider (EFKA). Asylum-seekers can open a bank account as well, however it’s important to hold their hiring letter with them and it’s advisable to accompany them, as there are differentiations on how banks approach the matter.

CRS is reviewing all job postings prior to their publishing to ensure that the context is relevant and accurate, and that language used is appropriate and correct. Once the post is reviewed it will go public. This verification will take approximately up to two days.

This platform allows refugees and asylum- seekers to apply for the jobs they are interested in directly, however, employers need to declare who they would like to interview. The team of the Adama Center will contact both parties (employer and jobseeker) to arrange the interviews based on their availability.

It is highly recommended for employers to declare the progress status of the applicants. There are 4 options you can choose from: 1. Interviewed, when an interview has been completed, 2. Offer sent but rejected by the candidate, 3. Hired, upon recruitment of the candidate, and 4. Rejected when an applicant has not been considered. CRS collects this information for monitoring purposes and for further comprehending the needs and preferences of the companies per sector and position.

CRS highly encourages employers to reflect on the training needs of their current refugee personnel but also of prospective candidates. The aim of the trainings can be to further develop the skills of recruited refugees and to prepare future candidates to be more equipped for the positions the company expects to open. The platform can host written material and videos. Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss this further though the contact form.