Hello. I was wondering if anyone has had a recent experience trying to get residency permits in Greece as the non-EU spouse of an EU national (not Greek).

For background: My fiance is British, I am American. He has just been offered a job in Greece. My understanding from reading other posts is that once we are married I should have the same rights to live and reside in Greece as he does. I also understand from other posts -- and please correct me if I'm wrong -- that the correct process to follow is that I should apply for an EEC family permit at the embassy here (we live in South Africa now) before we go. This would last for six months. Then once there, we should both apply for residency permits.

It seems like in many countries, however, there are long waits for the residency permits. Has anyone tried to do this in Greece? I hear the bureaucracy there can be terrible. I've heard that Americans married to Greeks wait on average two years for their "Green cards"!

Also, can I leave and reenter the country while on an EEC family permit, before my residency is processed? Can I work while on an EEC family permit? And what happens if they don't finish processing my residency permit before the 6 month validity of the EEC family permit expires?

Any advice would be very much appreciated! This tangle of EU law is enough to give you a headache.