My husband and I are are US citizens living in Greece - going on our second year. We are currently in the process of renewing our annual residents' visa. (No problem) But I am confused, and of course, answers in Greek aren't always understandable or correct!

Is there a difference between an annually renewed residents visa and a permanent one? Will we have to renew visas forever, or at some point do we become permanent, permanent EU residents. We are staying in Greece now, but want the option of moving freely around Europe. I had thought that if we stay in Greece for 5 years, then we would automatically become permanent EU residents. Now I'm not so sure. Getting Greek citizenship might be beyond us (don't think my husband will ever speak the language). All I really want is to be as EU as I can be, and stay in Europe legally forever. Voting would be icing on the cake.

Also, what do we get with permanent residency? Here I am doing all I can to get it and I am not sure what the prize is. We seem to get medical treatment by just being here (although we do have ins.) and we travel by way of our US passport. Does my (annually renewable) visa allow me to live for more than 3 months in any EU country? Could I move to another country and renew my visa there, or do I have to start all over again?

Thank you so much for this forum, I couldn't find an answer any place else on the net.

Terry Stone