Arriving in Greece we knew we had to clear in and get our official paperwork sorted. We didn’t want to leave it for too long being a non EU boat and authorities may have us on their radar. On Friday morning we left Lakka to head to a port of entry - Gouvia Marina.
Friday afternoon the cleaning lady in the Port Police office told us to come back on Saturday. When we came back on Saturday morning we were told that we needed to go to the tax office first, which is in Corfu Town, but they won’t be open on the weekend PLUS Monday was a public holiday. So we could only check in officially on Tuesday, meaning we were not really able to sail off again… We thought it was weird that we had to go to Corfu Town, as Gouvia is supposed to be a port of entry. So we decided to do some online research to find out what we really needed to do. We started a thread in a facebook group and got about 20 different answers, we checked the Cruising Association website and got more and more confused…. Finally, we found out what we needed to do – we needed a Transit log and not a DEKPA! This is what we found out: Transit log Non-EU boat & non-EU residents, VAT paid on boat, also Swiss boats/residents Go to customs office in Corfu Town, he may send you over to passport control. The passport control officer checks your passport and then sends you back to the customs office who will then take your passports / boat papers to make up the Transit log. Be careful, if you are EU citizens to tell and show him that you are not an EU resident, otherwise he will only give you a Transit Log for 1 month! The only question he asked us was how many litres of diesel we had on board. All in all it took us 40 minutes to get all the paperwork done – cost 30 Euro, the Log is valid for 18 months. Head to the Port Police in Gouvia Marina with the Transit Log and have yourself checked into the country / port, pay another 15 Euro to the PP for whatever reason and you are free to go… that is, when you leave the marina again, you have to let the PP know. Each port/marina you go to you need to find the PP to check in and then check out again when you leave. At the end of your stay in Greece you have to hand in the Transit Log before you leave. DEKPA EU boats & EU residents Since April 2017 there is a facility in the 1st floor of the marina office to pay your 50 Euros for the DEKPA, take the receipt/paperwork to the PP. DO NOT go to the PP first and ask for the DEKPA, they will send you to the tax office in Corfu Town, which is completely unnecessary. Maybe by now they know better. The DEKPA is valid for 3 years and does not have to be handed back when leaving Greece. If you are unsure, you can always ask a taxi driver. The guy who took us to customs knew everything: EU / non-EU, DEKPA, Transit Logs, where to go, how long it takes, what it costs… we should have asked him before we started our web search!
1 Comment
26/6/2017 11:58:50 am
Great blog! We are kiwis too, hoping to do exactly the same as you in a couple of years time.
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