Medical Certificate in Heraklion: Online, Same-Day from €34.99

Heraklion is Crete's largest city and the island's economic and administrative hub, home to around 200,000 people, the University of Crete, and a heavily tourism-driven economy that includes the Port of Heraklion and major attractions like the Palace of Knossos, which drew over 920,000 visitors in 2023 alone. Under Greek labour law, an employer generally covers 50% of an employee's daily wage for the first three days of illness, with a medical certificate required for any absence beyond three days, and longer absences covered by sickness benefit through EFKA, Greece's unified social security fund.

Heraklion's hospitality and tourism workforce swells dramatically during the busy spring-to-autumn season, putting real pressure on local GP availability just when hotel, restaurant and tour-operator staff are working the most irregular hours. Our online service lets you submit your case to a registered doctor within minutes, with most assessments completed within 24 hours, wherever you are on the island.

Common situations we see from Heraklion: hotel, restaurant and tour-operator staff working seasonal peak-summer shifts, University of Crete students needing medical proof for an exam deferral, and port and logistics staff supporting the island's tourism and shipping traffic.

Heraklion is the medical and academic centre for the whole island, which is a mixed blessing when you need a routine document. PAGNI, founded in 1989 with more than 750 beds and around 1,900 employees, is the university hospital for the University of Crete medical school and takes referrals from across Crete, while Venizeleio-Pananio carries much of the city's general workload. Add the Hellenic Mediterranean University, headquartered here with over 12,000 students across branches in Chania, Rethymno, Agios Nikolaos and Sitia, and the research staff at FORTH, whose roughly 1,551 researchers are based in the city, and the result is a lot of demand concentrated on one urban area.

That concentration is the argument for not travelling. If you live in a village in the Heraklion hinterland or are working a season on the south coast, an in-person appointment can mean an hour's drive each way on mountain roads before a wait. Meanwhile the airport that connects all of it, Nikos Kazantzakis, handled over 9.38 million passengers in 2024, making it the second busiest in Greece — which is why pre-travel and fit-to-fly documentation is such a common request here, usually at short notice from someone whose flight leaves the next morning.

1. 1

   Complete assessment

   3-5 minutes. Select your certificate type, confirm Greece as your country, and answer relevant health questions honestly and in as much detail as you can. No payment is taken at this stage, and your answers go straight to a doctor for review.

2. 2

   Doctor reviews your case

   A doctor registered to assess cases in Greece reviews your case against Greek requirements, generally during business hours (9am-6pm EET/EEST, Monday-Friday). The doctor may request more information before deciding whether it is appropriate to issue a certificate.

3. 3

   Receive your PDF

   Emailed same day, usually within 30 minutes of approval, with doctor credentials and a verification reference the recipient can scan or check to confirm authenticity.

*Typically €30-60 for a standard private consultation in Greece. Specialised in-person assessments, such as sports medical clearance, may cost more. These are general estimates and vary by location, provider, and case.

Note on e-EFKA sick-pay claims: Supporting a sick-pay claim through e-EFKA generally involves additional steps beyond simply obtaining a medical certificate, and the specific procedure, required forms, and payment amounts can change over time and can vary by employment type and individual case. e-EFKA's own cash sick-pay benefit is also generally subject to a short waiting period at the start of an absence (commonly the first three days), with your employer typically covering part of that gap directly, so the certificate requirement itself and the point at which e-EFKA's own payment begins are not necessarily the same day. Confirm the current process directly with e-EFKA, your ασφαλιστικός φορέας (asfalistikos foreas), or your employer's HR/payroll team at the time you need to rely on it. Self-employed workers, part-time employees, and those under different insurance arrangements may face different documentation requirements than a standard full-time employee, which is another reason to confirm your own situation directly rather than relying solely on general guidance.

Read the full Greece rules, glossary and national FAQ →

Every Greece certificate is reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in Greece. Relevant registration details are shown on your certificate. A doctor will only issue a certificate after genuinely assessing your case and if it is clinically appropriate to do so. If a doctor decides it is not appropriate, you receive a full refund rather than a certificate. Doctors review the health questions you provide during the assessment step and may follow up with additional questions before making a decision, in the same way a clinician would ask follow-up questions during an in-person consultation. We do not name individual doctors on this page, but registration and credential details are provided on the certificate itself so the recipient can verify them if needed. If your case involves symptoms or a condition that genuinely needs a physical examination, imaging, or lab tests, the doctor reviewing your request will tell you that an online assessment is not sufficient and will direct you toward in-person care instead of issuing a certificate that would not be clinically sound.

Other cities in Greece

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