Dummy ticket for a Greece visa: Athens, the islands and GVCW

In India, Greek Schengen applications are collected by Global Visa Centre World (GVCW), rather than VFS. The Greek consular authorities decide the application. Submit a round-trip flight reservation with your documents instead of paying the full airfare. If your trip includes Santorini or Mykonos, also explain the onward journey from Athens and how you will return for the flight home.

GVCW runs the Greek visa centres

If you have applied for another Schengen country before, do not go looking for Greece on the VFS website. Greece uses a different contractor in India, Global Visa Centre World. According to GVCW and trade press reports, centres operate in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi and Kolkata.

The centres were shut for several weeks from December 2025, reportedly after a cyber incident, and reopened on 12 February 2026. That episode pushed a lot of spring applicants into the same few months. Prior to booking, confirm on the GVCW India site that your centre is open and download the current checklist for your visa category from there. The exact wording on flight bookings should be taken from that checklist, not from third-party sites.

The Athens nonstop changes what a sensible reservation looks like

Until 2026 every Indian traveller reached Greece with a stop. IndiGo then began nonstop flights to Athens, from Mumbai on 23 January 2026 and from Delhi the next day, each three times a week on the Airbus A321XLR.

Two things follow for your visa file:

• Days of operation. A three-times-weekly flight does not run on the other four days. Choose dates on which the flight operates, or the reservation cannot be made on that service.
• Check it is flying. Airspace closures in West Asia disrupted India to Europe services in early 2026. Confirm the route is operating for your month before building the trip around it.

The one-stop alternatives are the usual European hubs such as Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Istanbul, and Gulf hubs when they are operating typically. A stop in Frankfurt or Zurich means your first Schengen entry is Germany or Switzerland, which is fine when Greece has the most nights.

Islands: the gap between your flights

International flights from India land in Athens. Santorini, Mykonos, Crete and the rest are reached by ferry from Piraeus or Rafina, or by a short domestic flight. Consulates review whether the whole plan hangs together, so the island legs deserve the same care as the long-haul flight.

1. List each leg in the cover letter: Athens to Santorini by flight, Santorini to Mykonos by ferry, Mykonos to Athens by ferry, with dates.
2. Keep the last night in or near Athens, or leave a clear buffer. Ferries are delayed by wind, and a return flight four hours after a ferry is due is not convincing.
3. Make hotel dates follow the legs exactly. A Mykonos hotel on a night your itinerary puts you in Santorini is the kind of error that gets noticed.

If you want the island hops on the reservation itself, that is a multi-city booking, which costs the same ₹799 / $10 per passenger as a simple return. Many applicants indicate the international return and add ferry or domestic flight bookings separately. See how to lay out a flight itinerary for a format.

The Schengen rules in brief

Greece applies the standard code: most nights determines the relevant consulate, 90 days in any 180, insurance with €30,000 cover, and no need to purchase the ticket before the decision. Details are in the Schengen dummy ticket guide.

Greece with Italy or Türkiye

Two combinations are popular. Greece and Italy is straightforward: count nights, and if Rome and Florence outnumber Athens and Santorini, the application goes to Italy.

Greece and Türkiye needs more thought. Türkiye is outside Schengen and has its own visa process for Indian passport holders. If you go Athens, Istanbul, then back to a Greek island, you leave and re-enter the Schengen area, so you must request a multiple-entry visa and the reservation should include both entries. Day ferries from Kos or Rhodes to the Turkish coast raise the same issue. See the Turkey visa page for that side.

Season, ferries and timing the paperwork

May to September is when Indian travellers go, and it is when appointments are hardest to find. Many island ferry routes run reduced timetables outside the summer season, so a November island-hopping plan needs checking against real schedules.

Book the GVCW appointment first and order the reservation a few days before it. FDT issues a genuine airline reservation with a PNR that can be verified on the airline's Manage Booking page, at ₹799 / $10 per passenger for one-way, return or multi-city reservations, sent by email and WhatsApp approximately 10 minutes after payment through the booking page. It is a held booking and cannot be used to board. The consulate alone decides the visa.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Greece visa application submitted at VFS?

No. In India, Greek applications are handled by Global Visa Centre World (GVCW). Book through the GVCW India website and use the checklist published there.

Do I need to show ferry tickets to Santorini or Mykonos?

Show how you move between places. A ferry or domestic flight booking, or at least a dated plan in the cover letter that corresponds to your hotels, makes the itinerary credible. Check the GVCW checklist for what is mandatory.

Can my reservation be on the IndiGo nonstop to Athens?

Yes, if it operates on your dates. It runs three times a week from each of Mumbai and Delhi at the time of writing, so pick matching days.

I want to visit Istanbul between Athens and Santorini. What changes?

You will exit and re-enter the Schengen area, so apply for a multiple-entry visa, arrange the Turkish visa separately, and include both entries into Greece in your itinerary.