Greek expats beset by bureaucratic hurdles

Christos Kaltekis, born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, a city renowned for its vibrant Greek community, wishes to relocate to Greece. His mother is of Greek descent and his father from the central Elassona region. Raised with a profound love for their ancestral homeland, Christos and his brother, both working in the field of information technology, aspire to invest in their Greek roots. However, this dream seems distant.

"We've been attempting to schedule a passport appointment at the Greek Consulate in Melbourne for quite some time now, and finally, after months of effort, the earliest available date they offered us is in 2026," Kaltekis tells Kathimerini. "It's utterly frustrating." Despite his deep affection and respect for Greece, nurtured since childhood, the bureaucratic hurdles and prolonged delays have left him disheartened. "The process has been incredibly...