If you are planning a season in Leonidio — mornings on the limestone, afternoons on a laptop in a café or a rented house — the visa file has to be finished before you fly. Since 6 February 2026 you can no longer enter Greece as a tourist, or on a short Schengen C visa, and switch to a digital-nomad residence permit once you are already here.

Law 5275/2026 (Government Gazette A’ 17/06.02.2026) repealed Article 12(7) of the Migration Code. That was the in-country shortcut. It is gone. A national D visa from a Greek consulate, coded Z.1, is now the mandatory first step.

Leonidio itself did not change. The crags, the winter season and the remote-work habit are the same. What changed is the order of the paperwork for a non-EU climber who also needs to work legally while they are here.

What this means if Leonidio is the point of the trip

The typical file we see is not “I am moving to Athens.” It is: a non-EU climber or remote worker who wants three to twelve months in South Kynouria, with income from an employer or clients outside Greece.

For that file, the 2026 rule is simple:

1. Apply for the Z.1 national visa at the Greek consulate of your country of main residence, before you travel.
2. Enter Greece on that visa.
3. File the residence-permit application before the visa expires.

Do not build the season around “I will sort it at the Decentralised Administration after I land.” That route is closed.

The same law lengthened the general grace period for a late residence-permit renewal to three months after expiry, with a fine of €100 per month (Article 12 of Law 5275/2026, amending Article 11 of the Code). That helps someone who is already here on a permit and is late renewing. It does not let a new arrival skip the consulate.

What did not change — including for a winter in Arcadia

Law 5275/2026 did not rewrite Article 68 of Law 5038/2023. The numbers a Leonidio season is planned around are still:

• Income: €3,500 per month. Where the income is salaried or contract work, the statute treats this as net of tax in the country where the work is performed.
• Family: add 20% for a spouse or partner and 15% for each child.
• Work: remote, by ICT, for an employer or clients outside Greece. You may not take a job with a company established in Greece on this route — including a local climbing shop, a guesthouse or a Greek-registered guiding outfit.
• Visa fee: €75 at the consular stage. The later residence-permit paravolo is a separate cost.
• Insurance: travel cover for the full requested visa period at the consulate; full sickness cover of the kind required of Greek residents at the permit stage.

The national visa is issued for up to 12 months. Consular times vary. A published “10-day” target is not a promise, and a November–March climbing window is easy to miss if the consulate is slow.

Tax is still a separate Leonidio question

Our 2023 post said you would not pay Greek tax if you stayed no more than six months. That was too neat for a winter here, and it is still too neat.

A climbing season that runs from October to April is already close to, or over, the 183-day presence test in the Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013). Greek tax residence is a facts-and-law question, plus any double-tax treaty. The digital nomad visa does not create a six-month holiday or a 50% income-tax cut by itself.

If you are coming to Leonidio for the season and keeping foreign clients, the visa file and the tax file should be opened together.

A short comparison with our 2023 post

Point	2023 post	2026, for a Leonidio stay
In-country switch from tourist / C visa	Presented as available	Repealed
Income	€3,500 / month	Still €3,500 net, plus family uplifts
Work for a Greek company	Not allowed	Still not allowed — including local hospitality or guiding
Tax / six-month stay	Over-simplified	Separate tax-residence analysis, especially for a full winter
Late renewal	Not covered	3 months, €100 per month

If you want the current sequence mapped onto your nationality, your consulate and a planned Leonidio season, that is a file we can open. Bring the remote-work contract, the last three months of bank credits, and the country where you actually live.

This article is general information on Greek law as in force on 19 August 2026. It is not legal advice for a particular application.

Sources and version dates

Read on 19 August 2026 from official state texts.

• Law 5275/2026, Government Gazette A’ 17/06.02.2026. Version date of this gazette issue: 6 February 2026.
• Law 5038/2023, Article 68 (digital nomad / sufficient-resources rules). Version applied: as left unamended by Law 5275/2026 on 6 February 2026.
• Law 4172/2013 (Income Tax Code — tax residence). Base statute; 183-day presence test as in force on 19 August 2026.