Moving to crete and self employed

[Pete_1974]

Hello, having spent three amazing holidays in agios nikalous over the last 12 months we’ve decided to move there next year, my partners business in the U.K. will continue to run and provide us with an income, however at the age of 44 I don’t want to retire yet!

Is there much demand for an electrician / plumber / Heating & air conditioning engineer among the expat community, I appreciate my earning will be much less than they are in the U.K. but I’m going to want to work at least a couple of days a week, and being a grumpy bastard most of the time working as a holiday rep / in a bar etc really wouldn’t be my cup of tea.

Kind regards and thank you for any answers in advance.

Pete

[filippos]

If you plan to do electrical work and work legally you'll need to get Greek qualifications whatever your UK ones. Whether or not the same applies to plumbing I don't know but it will be no surprise if it does.

[Pete_1974]

Many thanks, will look at conversion courses or just stick to plumbing. I will need to do a solar course when we move anyway, I guess my question is more about demand and wether I’m better of sticking to construction or trying something different.

[Carolina]

As self employed/ a freelancer in Greece you need to register as a small business. Have a look at this thread too - viewtopic.php?f=13&t=11152

You might try cash in hand work, difficult to say how much work you could expect, but it's illegal to work that way. You'd perhaps find odd jobs in a large expat area, or for a property maintence company (who look after holiday villas for absent owners).

I take it you are from the UK? One major thing to consider is when (if?) Britain leaves the EU next March, depending on the transition deal and how the Greek government applies that, you may no longer be entitled to live in Crete indefinitely, particularly as a newcommer, and setting up as legally self employed as a non-EU citizen could be nigh-on impossible. See half way down this page 'Rules for non-EU business owners' http://livingingreece.gr/2007/10/26/how ... in-greece/