The Visa Debacle

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In 2025 we met cruisers who had Greek visas which gave them the freedom to stay in the EU beyond the 90 day Schengen restriction. This was the second season they had successfully applied for the financially independent person (FIP) visa.

There are many hoops to jump through for the visa application but after much research, we decided it would be worth it because it would allow us to spend our 2026 season sailing the Adriatic Sea at leisure, taking in Greece>Italy>Croatia>Montenegro>Albania>Greece. 

It was so not worth it and what followed was 5 months of stress and expense which ended with no visa and having to delay our sailing season by a month.

It all started in December when I began the renewal process for my UK passport. I still had 15 months on my passport but the visa requires a minimum of 18 months. The UK passport office has a new rule that if you are a dual citizen you must submit both passports at the time of renewal, so I dutifully sent my US passport along with my UK one.  

A few days later I received an email saying that because my US passport didn’t have my middle name on it, they would not process my renewal and they would not return my UK passport until I could show proof that my US passport had been updated with my full name.  

This was just before Christmas and 6 weeks before our winter vacation to New Zealand.  This was the first of many “oh shit” moments over the coming months. 

We were able to get a 7:45 am appointment at the US Embassy in London three days before Christmas.  So there we were, before the break of dawn, queuing with hundreds of other people in the cold and wet, guarding my bag with my life because it contained every official document I possess showing my full name; birth certificate, wedding certificate, medical records, expired UK passports etc.

We had no idea what to expect.  Would the US require an update of my naturalization documents before reissuing my passport?  We’d read this process could take 6 months.  That would be a disaster as it would mean our New Zealand trip couldn’t go ahead, a trip that we planned and paid for a year ago and have been looking forward to for even longer. 

Luckily, my UK drivers license was all that was needed as proof of my full name and so an application for a new US passport was submitted.  The agent acknowledged that a lot of people don’t have their middle name on their US passport and this new UK requirement was causing many problems for citizens and lots of extra work for the US Embassy.  He suggested I should have denied having dual citizenship on the renewal form. I thought it wise not to ask him if it’s appropriate for a US Government Agent to advise me to lie on a UK Government document.

Despite the Christmas and New Year holidays, my new US passport was delivered mid-January.  I took a moment to do a little happy dance and then painstakingly photocopied all the pages as requested and sent it overnight special delivery to the UK Passport office – they would not accept a copy via email.  I was advised it would take 2 weeks to process which put us one week before our New Zealand trip so there was only a small buffer for any delay or complications.  

Meanwhile we busied ourselves putting together all the items that were needed for the application:

• Certificate of criminal record proving we do not have a criminal record or any pending prosecutions.  
• Medical certificate from an authorized doctor confirming that we are fit and healthy and do not have syphilis (?!)
• Travel insurance to cover any medical costs that may arise or repatriation if needed.
• Proof of funds; bank statements proving a stable, non-Greek passive income.
• Completing extensive documents ready for our in-person application and interview at Global Visa Center World (GVCW) in London.

Another happy dance was done when my UK passport was delivered a week before our departure to New Zealand and off we went on our 3 week hiking trip in the South Island with our GVCW interview scheduled 2 days after our return.

“Oh shit” moment # 2 came when Trump started causing trouble in the Middle East two days before we were due to fly home from New Zealand…via Dubai.  Our flight was cancelled and we couldn’t get home in time for our GVCW interview.  

Rescheduling when we eventually got home only gave us four weeks until we were due to fly to Greece on April 7th to start our 2026 sailing season.  We were assured by GVCW (as they took our money, supporting documents and passports) that the visa processing would only take 15 calendar days and we would have everything back in plenty of time.  

15 days came and went with no word on our application.  We called GVCW daily but all they would tell us was that the application was with the Embassy.  We called the Embassy daily and were routed through automated messages and prompts until the line cut off. 

We got closer and closer to our April 7th departure date and could not get a clear answer on what was causing the delay or when we would get our passports and visas.  

One week prior to departure was “oh shit” moment # 3 and we made the decision to postpone by 10 days to April 16th. This was 37 days after our application was submitted. Surely we would have our passports and visas back by then?   

We did not and we had to postpone a second time.  This time pushing our departure back an additional 3 weeks to May 4th – “oh shit” moment # 4.

Each time we postponed we had to rebook airport transfers, flights, accommodation, car hire, boat launch, insurance. The flight changes cost us financially and that stung but another concern was the inconvenience we were causing the small businesses that we messed around every time we changed dates.  Fortunately they were all very flexible and sympathetic to our problem. 

Continuing to chase our tails for updates from GVCW and the Greek Embassy with no success, Mike found an online forum where people going through the same process shared their status and experiences.  We were not alone.  There were lots of us.

We found people who’d submitted their applications a couple of weeks before us had still not received an update. And worse, we found out that the Embassy had recently introduced a new policy requiring an in person interview for each application which would further delay the process by 2 to 3 weeks.  We estimated that with these timings, we wouldn’t get our visa until mid June, if we were lucky. 

That was “oh shit” moment # 5, when we realized we needed to cut our losses and withdraw our application.   

We followed protocol and sent an email requesting the withdrawal of our application and for our passports to be returned as a matter of urgency. We heard nothing back.  What a surprise!  

In sheer frustration Mike called the Embassy emergency line and a real live person actually answered the phone. Imagine that!  She officiously told him this line was only for life and death emergencies but when he calmly explained our situation she agreed to look into it.  Thirty minutes later we got emails confirming our application withdrawal and a week later we got our passports back.

We won’t get to sail the Adriatic Sea this year as planned, but this time next week we will be so happy to be back on board Dreams I don’t think we will care where we spend our summer.

This whole experience has been incredibly stressful and frustrating. The financial cost which we cannot recoup has been considerable.  If GVCW had been upfront and honest about the processing times from the beginning we would never have begun the process in the first place. We know that they are still telling people “15 days” despite knowing for a fact it is taking so much longer. It’s criminal.

Still, we need to put this behind us, so we have filed it under “life lessons” and have moved on. 

As for the freedom of movement challenges BREXIT has brought us, we have decided to solidify our plans to cross the Atlantic for the Caribbean at the end of 2027. 

We are not naive enough to think we won’t still face challenges and bureaucracy in other parts of the world, but hopefully it will be easier to swallow served alongside sugar white sandy beaches, coral reefs and warm trade winds.  Time will tell, but for now, we’re looking forward to our 3rd season living our Dreams on Dreams.