Only the person with the appointment can go inside, so leave your friend/spouse/whoever at home. The parking is horrific as with most of SF. The staff really seem like they don't care about the people they serve. Went in for a 12pm appointment, came in 10 minutes early and the girl at the door made sure to get the name and check for appointment time.... But failed to tell the person the appointment was with. So an hour later, the very nice gentleman came out and apologized and said he will get things processed quickly and sorry for not realizing it's not a walk in or something like that. Uhh... what? Ok so the actual appointment was pretty quick, paperwork looked at and taken to be processed, with a promised "we will have it ready next week." No calls, no emails, a week and a half later we call to see what's going on only to get hung up on every single time. The ONE time someone actually answered, she said "that's not my department, you just need to wait" and hung up. Excuse me? There's literally only ONE number to call, the office is the size of my bedroom, how hard is it to transfer to the person sitting within feet from you? Or at least have the common decency to give the correct number to call. Three weeks later, still no word, still only getting hung up on each time, and now the ticket needed to be rescheduled. Let me guess, I'll have to go back and apply for a visa again because it's not the dates originally submitted a month in advance? I don't know how these people function, and sadly there is no other options within a reasonable distance. read more

Consulate General of Greece - From the outside - Embassy Near Me - San Francisco, California

No stars would be more appropriate to describe the extreme unprofessional nature and countenance of the little aide Dimitri assigned the remedial task of handling POAs. Just a rude unhappy little man who keeps you waiting for your appointments then conducts himself in a condescending way. It's really a shame this is who the country of Greece has representing them in SF. read more

My Greek-American husband just received his Greek citizenship with the excellent help of Melina Chiotis at the Greek Consulate General in San Francisco. Ms. Chiotis is a true professional: efficient, patient, responsive. Researching old records in early 20th century Greece is not easy, but she cared about getting it done. Highly recommend read more

Extremely pleased. !! After having made an appointment, all my procedures were completed at my appointment. Thanks to all, our Counsul General Socrates Sourvinos, all the staff and The Consular Specialist Angeliki Tziouvara. Couldn't have asked for more ! in the same day !! read more

Nightmare to work with if you are Greek American. They broke the law and my lawyer filed a complaint against them. I am afraid of dealing with them and 9/10 times they are rude and disrespectful. They were disrespectful to an attorney this time who is from Greece. Not just me. So somebody else finally saw what it is like to deal with them. If you can avoid this place, do. read more

Patience is the key if you want to deal with this consulate. My entire visa process was smooth, but it tested my patience a lot. First, I kept calling them in the month of March for about 2 weeks, until I could actually get someone on the phone. I got the earliest appointment, which was 40 days after the day I called. Thankfully I called way in advance since the last year, I wanted to go to Greece in a month and couldn't get appointment date. I later realized why they are so backed up, keep reading :) On the appointment date, we showed up 15 minutes before time, so me and my husband were asked to wait in the waiting area. It was easy to spot the building since I read it on yelp reviews, to look for the Greek flag. We waited almost 30 minutes, after which we were called inside. The guy who greeted us was very friendly and laid back. He took my documents first, went through all of them and then stepped out to make some record of them. Now this process took around 15 minutes. Then he called me to take a photo and fingerprints. Now same process was repeated for my husband. We went in at 11:45 am and stepped out at 1:15 pm. It was a super long process for 2 applicants. We were told that the visa is approved and we could pick up the passport in a week or so. We did manage to get our visa well in time, but my only complain is about the speed and intuitiveness of the process, its quite a pain to get an appointment and go through a 1.5 hour long interview where they process all documents there itself. We have taken a Schengen visa from Spain embassy in the past, and we were in and out of the consulate in 15 minutes. I picked up our passports yesterday, got the visa and now getting super excited for the trip! read more

Consulate General of Greece - Waiting area - Embassy Near Me - San Francisco, California

I applied tourist visa to Greece for ocean cruise, but I did not realize the long waiting time for the application and could not get my visa on time. When I explained my situation to Mr. Victor Mora, the Visa Application Reception of the consulate, he offered great help and assistance. With his help, I successfully got my visa on time. I sincerely appreciate his service and admire his kindness and devoted attitude to his job. read more

Before you read other 1 star reviews, ask yourself if you did any preparation, and if you really showed the staff the same level of respect that you would expect for yourself. This consulate is busy and old-fashioned - it does not pick up phones very often because there are tons of phone calls and they seem to be a little short staffed. Try phone first, if it doesn't work, pay them a visit and talk to the staff there to try to schedule an interview! They are located in a very beautiful neighborhood. Make sure you do it early!!!!! 2-3 months beforehand, and bring cash since they don't take credit cards!!!! Dimitri was so easy-going, patient, and kind to work with. Compare to other consulate, they are so friendly and personal. read more

This place isn't that "easy going". I was rejected for not complying with 2. Do the following and you'll succeed: 1. Call to make an appointment. Call after 2pm, M-F. Appointments are easy to get. If you want to chance it - be nice and say you'll wait. She may or may not see you. 2. Make sure that if you're getting a Schengen, that Greece is where you'll be spending the most amount of days. They don't mess around. 3. Plane tickets are mandatory. No tickets, no Visa. Hotel is less of a big deal, but try and book one that you can cancel. 4. Make sure your fingerprints are solid. I have no idea how to make this happen...but try! 5. No need for the pre-paid envelope if you can pick up. They prefer this. In general, Ms. Aliki isn't the most friendly. However, she tries to be fair and I was treated with courtesy. This consulate is far less busy than the Chinese one...so there's that! read more

In and out was hardly 20 minutes. The officer was very kind and understanding and I think being in the first one for the day definitely helped :) . I forgot to make a copy of my passport which he was kind enough to do for me while the rest of the bases were covered fairly well. All in all a good 20 minutes and I get to pick the stamped passport next week , just in time!!! read more

I came this morning at 10 am and they took me without an appointment. I needed a letter from them since my passport expired.within 30 minutes they were done,I know they don't answer the phone offen,understaffed,but they helped me.Efhastario. read more

Dimitri is terrible to work with. He is condescending, rude and a terrible representation of who the Greek people are. Why would the country allow someone who is so disrespectful and mean to work with potential tourists wanting to spend time and money in Greece. Why allow him to be the face of their country? He actually stole and disposed of my wife's green card knowing he had just made us spend $4500 for our honeymoon to "qualify" for the VISA. This was I dared ask questions like, "Why does my wife not qualify for the VISA today. We prepared exactly what the website states to bring to the appointment." Then he forced my wife to go to his office and separate us to intimidate her. We had to travel to the SF consular office two days and had to wait in excess of 6 hours. Dimitri took time knowing he asked us to be there at opening time of 10am to go to lunch, drive his daughter to school and serve everyone else before us. Then disappear for another hour and finally see us. He knew how much money and trouble this would cause and cost us by taking her green card. We came in the office with it and when he asked my wife to step out while he dis some work (he hadn't dome this with other applicants) when he asked her to return for fingerprints, he handed her the file folder. We inspected it right there on the spot. Her green card had been removed. When we reported it to both the US State department as well as the Embassy of Greece in Washington DC - neither had any response at all. They have no formal process to review, audit and receive official complaints. Unbelievable for a government. Again, Greece is a beautiful place to visit, although it fits into the "developing country" category. It's too bad their government is constantly bogged down with lazy and mean people like the VISA officer (the only one in SF), Dimitri. You can gather from other reviews some people have actually flown to different consular offices to work with someone beside him. read more

Consulate General of Greece - Embassy Near Me - San Francisco, California

I went here for tourist visa and process was very smooth. Follow the website for appointment slot and take the documents mentioned on their website. As simple as that, but do take a prepaid return shipping envelope, if you want them to post your passport back to you read more

I really appreciate all the staff at the consulate for their kindness and outstanding service. The reception lady was friendly. The visa department is doing an amazing job to make sure you are getting good service. Especial Thank you to Mr. Lefteris Goulas for his cooperation with me making my second visit to the consulate so a memorable experience. read more

This review is for a Schengen visa application for Greece. As other reviewers have mentioned, the best time to call the consulate to set up an appointment is between 2:30PM-3:30PM. Start calling three months before your actual trip. It took me seven attempts over several days before my call was finally answered by Dimitri around 3:15PM. I was told that the appointment calendar for next month wasn't open yet, but he would call me back when it was. He did call me back 2 weeks later, and we settled upon a visa interview date of mid-January in SF. On the day of the appointment, I arrived at the consulate around 10 minutes early. No one else was in the waiting area before or after my appointment. It took about 40 minutes from start to finish to hand over all the documents, get my picture and fingerprints taken. I had to email some additional information regarding the travel health insurance, which I did the same evening (but no response was received to my email). The passport with a 1-year visa was sent to me by mail, and I received it within 6 business days. read more

Appointment only, but never answer call or reply email. Asking sth not on the checklist, then told "u r not prepared". Super rude! Feels like they just want people go to other EU consulate because they need to handle 10 applications each day which makes them toooooo busy. read more

This is the worst establishment in existence. I have been trying to call them for days. No one answers and when someone does, he says he is going to transfer me to an officer who apparently lives in an imaginary world. He told me I have to just wait like others and keep trying to call until the line successfully gets transferred to him. When he transfers the line it will get dis connected or you will just hear beeping. I am shocked at how prehistoric this office is, no one else can help you get an appointment and you just have to sit and wait. read more

We made last minute plans to go to Europe and were looking for a country which didn't need visa appointment etc. etc. We plan to fly out 6 days from now. Turns out the greek consulate is super awesome. Business hours are 10am-2pm. They just want your money (cash only) and will give you the Schengen visa the very next day. No appointments needed. We arrived at 10am promptly and rang the doorbell. After checking out all our documents he asked us to come and pick up the passport tomorrow morning. We carried copies of blocked flight tickets and cancelable hotel reservations. That was good enough for them. The visa cost us $81 per person. You do need to buy travel insurance prior to applying for the visa. We booked ours from http://www.insubuy.com/greece-visa-travel-insurance/ It cost us a total of $16.17 for 21 days. Got our visa the very next day and booked the flight ticket and hotel reservation immediately after. read more

I am almost ready to cancel my dream vacation to Greece. You have to apply for a Visa in person, so we booked tickets from Seattle to SFO, with 3 possible days to visit here. You can't make an appointment online and only the visa officer can make one for you. I called almost every half an hour for 2 whole days. First day the lady who took the phone didn't even fwd the call to the visa officer, who was always busy. Seems like there is only one visa officer. The second day a kind man transferred every one of my phone calls to the officer. Finally I got through in the afternoon, only to be told that I cannot apply for a visa more than 3 months before my trip! I am literally trying to get that appointment 10 days from the three month line. Nothing of that sort is mentioned on the website! Thanks to the amazing airlines policies I can't cancel my SFO tickets. Now I have to make 2 trips to get the visa, making my Greece odyssey so much more expensive! read more

Nondescript location for a consulate. A few tips: 1. Call and make an appointment 2. Be prepared for appointments a month away. 3. Be polite and persistent. I was able to beg and plead my way into a next day appointment. The consulate was super helpful and the officer met me on time. 4. The consular staff I spoke with on the phone guided me through what to bring (in addition to what was listed on their website) 5. The interview was amazingly friendly. I received tons of tips on what to expect in Greece ! And yeah - I did have trouble with my fingerprints being recorded too :) Some hand lotion goes a long way :D read more

After reaching over phone couple of times, I lost hope for an appointment as they are full. But when I told the visa officer my situation he gladly accepted to book an appointment in a week time frame. After reaching the consulate I still did not have hopes but to my surprise the Visa officer Dmitry is super friendly. I missed some documents and he politely asked me to email them and took print out from emails. He did not even charge single penny for print outs. He also gave some tips for the travel and helper in every way possible to get me Visa. If you have right docs you get your visa read more

Much better than the one in ny which is a total joke and unresponsive. Seems they are actually working.

The person that helped me is called Sophia and I think she is fair in her judgement. She is really nice, I called in 3 weeks to get an appointment and she accommodated my need. When I came in, she was friendly enough (definitely better than some of the other consulates). The place has a very relax, homey feeling. Anyway, she is very fair and put my visa on pending status since I forgot some documents (Hotel reservations and Insurance letter stating what coverage it has). This place surely doesn't mess around, but all in all I think this place is great. Do what you have to do and don't give her any reason to reject you. The only cons is that the location of this place is really hard to find. It looks like any house to me, until you see the # or see a Greek flag up there! read more

Dimitri is awesome! I applied couple of times and it was very smooth. Also got my visa in time for my trip. In fact, I'm going again next month so I'm pretty sure it'll be the same service I'll get. read more

I completely disagree with above comment. The Greece embassy was very strict with us. 1) appointment only, they did not entertain us without appointment. Pls call for appointment. We persuaded them that we will wait since we have taken day off n they honored it. 2) every person was questioned about their stay .. Ex: Which other countries they would visit etc. one gentleman has Italian reservation and he had a tough time justifying himself. I am assuming his visa was rejected I think they were being fair and as an applicant make sure you keep this in mind. They don't mind if you travel 10 other countries but as long as Greece is one of it and you have a plan(truthful) Good luck ! read more

This is the best consulate I have ever been. The visa officer is super nice and helpful. I read the comments on yelp and felt a little hesitate to call 15 days before my trip. At first no one answered the call but I called a few times and the guy picked up the phone asked me to call back after noon when the visa officer is free. So I called and the visa officer picked up the call. We had a really nice conversation. And at first he told me the appointment will be at least a month later. Then I told him about my situation. He told me he put me on waitlist and then the next day he called me for an appointment one day later! When I thought I could not be more appreciate, he offered me so much help for the trip to Greece. I can't say how much I thank him. He is the best visa officer I have EVER met, period. read more

I have been to France and Italy in the past and the Schengen visa process was always easy and smooth, so I booked everything one month and 15 days before my trip to Greece without checking any Greek visa info. It turned out that this is not a smart decision. I learned do not do it until you know what you are dealing with. I found the info listed on their website and realized the only way to make appointment is to call them. I called them many times and the front desk did transfer my calls the visa officer, but I never got connected. I did the same thing few days later but did not get any luck. Then I started panic, because the trip is approaching and I have only little more than a month left. I read all the reviews here and it helped me a lot!!! I learned few tips here, basically you have to be patient and also need to have luck with you. I was thinking maybe having multiple people calling for one appointment will increase the chance of "winning"! So I asked my dearest bf to call for me and God he was so lucky!!! I do not know what happened, but he called once and the front desk made a appointment for him without transferring to the visa officer!!!!! This must be an outlier event, because when I was at the office I heard him transferring the call all the time and never heard him making appointment directly. Anyways, so I got one because we were lucky. The interview process was good, but it was slow for sure. He reviewed all of my documents and then he went to somewhere to enter all the info (took half hour or so). And then he came back of bringing me to do the finger print and photo. The finer print machine was also strange, it took many times to finally captured my finger prints. During the whole interview in visa officer's office, I heard at least 10 times of phone calls. Of course he did not pick up any of these, because he was reviewing my documents or went somewhere to do other stuff. I think all of these is caused by inefficient process design here. If they could have someone, for example the front desk to take charge of appointment schedule, then everything will be much better. The visa officer will never have time to answer the calls during his normal working hours. I think the chance is really small if you wait in line to be connected to him. The office is nice and easy to talk to. I do not think they have any attitude problem. The problem is inefficiency!!! So I think that's the tip of getting an appointment is to try as many ways as you can. I think you can also visit the office in person to make an appointment, because you get to talk them in person instead of waiting in line. I do not think you could just have the interview done without appointment, but at least you could secure your appointment by showing up in person. For these that are not in SF area, my suggestion is to call them (multiple people) and email. Since the working ours is from 10 to 2 PM, I guess call from 1-2 PM, might increase your chance, assuming that he finished everything early. My appointment was 12:30 and the time I left the office was almost 1:40, so I believe he is not going to take in any other people for that day. It would be the perfect timing of getting connected. Just keep doing it and do not get frustrated when no one answered, because that's really "normal". Last tip is for the photos on the application form. I got confused when I was filling out the form regarding photo. On the form, the size of photo was quite small compare to 2 inches by 2. I actually had three different photos prepared for the form. It turned out 2 inches by 2 is the one they need. So do not have to over stress about the application photo, a normal 2 by 2 will do it. They will take you the camera to take photos for the visa, so the photo on the form is just for reference I think. Good luck all and I cannot wait for my dream vacation to Greece! read more

I am a Greek/American citizen traveling to Italy for over 90 days. Will I leave on my US passport and need any form of visa? When leaving the country do I just need proof that I have a Greek passport? Thanks!! read more

DO NOT BUY TICKETS AND MAKE ANY NONREFUNDABLE PURCHASES UNTIL YOU KNOW YOUR APPOINTMENT DAY FOR VISA APPLICATION. This is should be the first line written in visa requirements on Greece consulate website. Don't assume you will get lucky as people who left 5-star reviews. I followed advise of people who said here that there is no need to schedule appointment, and showing up at the doors with all paperwork will work. Of course it will be impossible to schedule appointment online or via phone call because no one will answer you. Consul who opened door for me had zero compassion and was rude, he didn't want to listen that I had bought nonrefundable plane tickets already and had to meet my wife which I haven't seen for long time. He said that earliest date my appointment could be scheduled would be in a month, long time past date I had to fly out to Greece. The end of the story is - after calling to LA consulate which I constantly couldn't reach and Houston one which was in a moving process and didn't operate at the time, I finally was able to get my call answered by consulate located in Atlanta. They answered my call from the first try and scheduled my appointment for next week. Once at the office it took them 15 min to accept all my papers, take fingerprints and make photo for visa. I left them prepaid FedEx envelope and got my visa in two days. In Atlanta cost for the visa is $35 compared to $80 in SF. SF Greece consulate was my nightmare, worst customer experience I ever had. They should learn how to do their job after the consulate in Atlanta. read more

Update: I received a call from the embassy the very next day informing me my visa was ready for pick up. Pleasantly surprised.

Follow up ... visa ready for pickup. Took 3 business days. I applied on Monday. Thursday was off for July 4th. Visa ready for pickup on Friday. read more

I've sent emails, and tried calling on 3 different days for an appointment. So far, no luck. The phone doesn't even connect to a person, it just disconnects. Seriously, Greek Consulate General, get your act together. read more

The BEST CONSULATE of EU in SF! Big Thanks to Dimitrios, who helped me with EU visa and was so patient, kind and understanding! It was very stressful and almost impossible to proceed with EU visa in many other consulates in SF. Greek Consulate helped me to relieve a pain of uncertainty related to my trip! Thank you so much for being so accommodating and kind! read more

It is extremely frustrating and difficult to work with this consulate. I have been trying to get something done for years. I send several email each month asking about the status of my situation. No one replies. So I try to call. More than half the time, no one answers the phone. You call, it rings 4 times, then disconnects. When someone does answer the phone, they transfer you to an answering system for the person you request. But no one calls you back. When I ask someone to PLEASE check on what is taking so long, they refuse and say I just have to wait. The service is absolutely terrible. It puts you off wanting to have anything to do with Greece. Most of the people I know who have dealt with this consulate finally gave up and chose another country to visit or invest in. read more

On of the best Consulates we've ever been to! Mrs. Sophia was very kind, polite and very understanding! We are very grateful to her for her service! Thank you!!! read more

If you know anything about Greek culture, you know that it is pretty laid back. That's exactly how your visit will be if you need to get your visa. I've been here about four times already and they usually tell you one week until you get your visa, but more often than not you'll receive a call in one or two days. Very friendly, almost like chilling in a coffee shop lol. Just make sure you have all your paperwork ready and bring a maximum of at least $85 dollars (depending on exchange rates) for the visa app fee. read more

Easy going people, super friendly that will help you get your job done. As I am familiar with the Greek culture, i was prepared for lots of back and forth, but this public service works and other similar to them should follow. Thanks guys, keep it like that. read more

Very disappointed in this office. I've called 3 days consecutively and cannot get anyone to help me, let alone answer their phones. The receptionist answers but cannot assist with any questions, and when he tried to transfer my to the person who could, my line kept getting disconnected! Each time I would call back, the gentleman receptionist told me that everyone is busy. I asked him if I could leave my phone number and he said no one is authorized to make outgoing calls!!! This whole office is a joke! read more

Without a doubt, one of the worst, rudest, experiences I've had in a greek civil-service situation, (including within Greece). I hope you don't ever need them. First I tried to email--possible only from their unwieldy website, so I had no record of this email of my own-- for info about how to get my passport renewed. No response, so couple of weeks later I called, spoke to a very rude lady who eventually told me they'd get a form I needed and call me back. When they didn't call me back, I called again, spoke to another rude lady, who could barely give me any coherent information when I asked things like "is there anything I can do to help expedite? could you tell me if I need any other documents, photos, fingerprints, ID, a check etc?" all she would say, "you have time, this'll take a few weeks". Finally I went to consulate in person. Rude man at door, says only by appointment. I said--my MO in these cases is to be HYPER-polite, which sometimes surprises Greeks into submission--"I was just passing, I'd just like some info on what papers I need for my future appointment and how long it will take--since I have to take time off work". Another lady comes, apparently the one I'd spoken too, also EXTREMELY rude and says "I have no idea--and what's matter w yr finger?" I told here I have a cut, hence the bandaid. "Then we can't take fingerprints" When I profusely apologise for coming, and try to ask, "since I'm here, can we go over what I need and how long it takes?" She tells me only with very ill grace and reluctance "What can I tell you, taking fingerprints could take 45 mins to 1 hour" and when I act surprised she barely has the patience to inform me the other docs I'll need and then leaves without a greeting. Eventually I realize this is all I'm going to get, so I kind of say goodbye into the inner office, receiving no response at all. Eventually I got my passport in Greece, within 4 days, very easily at the nice, polite and efficient special police station. read more

Try your best to avoid this place! I originally reviewed posts before and was already not impressed, but I have to apply tourist visa for my mom who is a green card holder. I called and emailed several times to try to make an appointment, but never ever got any reply. Today I decided to stop by the consulate to try my luck. The gentleman at the front desk kindly told me I had to have an appointment and I could wait to talk to the visa officer to schedule a time. Fine, I'll wait. Obviously the officer was behind the schedule, a girl who had appointment already waited quite a while. There's another young man came after me, he had same problem that he couldn't reach anybody to schedule an appointment. The phone rang once a while and I could hear the conversation mostly were people trying to get the appointment. The front desk gentleman kept saying"Sorry, she's busy, u just have to keep calling ." An hour later I finally was able to talk to the visa officer. He took out an old-fashioned notebook, flipped through and said" June 29 you can come" what?! I then realized the guy only book one person every hour( since he said he's fully booked today and I only saw people reported to front desk for 11am and 12 noon). Plus they only work 4 hours per day. What a joke! The young man after me got the appointment of 6/29 too. He asked the officer if there's anyway he could apply earlier since his flight is before 6/29. The officer simply said he could do nothing! Wow! That's the Greek laid-back style?! It's also hard to find parking nearby. Overall this place sucks! The only star is for the front desk gentleman who is polite. Surprisingly he doesn't speak Greek well, maybe he grew up here, that's why he's more polite. read more