Greece Opens Visa Station on Rhodes to Facilitate Turkish Tourists

Photo source: region of the South Aegean / Katerina Nomikou

In order to facilitate tourists arriving from neighboring Turkey under a new visa-on-arrival scheme, Greek authorities announced the opening of a visa station on Rhodes.

Under the fast-track visa scheme, Turkish citizens will be able to visit the Eastern Aegean Greek islands of Kalymnos, Limnos, Leros, Kos, Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Rhodes, Symi, and Kastelorizo all year round for a period of seven days.

No application is needed for the new visa which costs 60 euros and includes passport check and fingerprints. The single-entry visa does not enable free travel to other European countries.

The visa program was announced during a historic meeting in Athens between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year.

According to the Rhodes Port Authority the system is up and running, ready to handle the influx of Turkish tourists.

SKAI television reported that thousands of Turkish travelers had already been granted Schengen visas while some 20,000 are expected to visit the 10 Greek islands where the program is being implemented as of the coming week.

Commenting on the program, which is temporary and the only exception to Schengen zone rules, Greek Migration and Asylum Minister Dimitrios Kairidis said it was a result of close cooperation with the EU and will not only generate revenues for the Greek islands but will also bring the two nations closer.