In this mega web-article:
- Get the mind-blowing effects of becoming a Greek dual citizen.
- Find out the best ways to start chasing down your Greek citizenship dream.
- Put yourself behind the wheel with the ultimate guide to Greek citizenship.
- Identify your route forward. What does your type of Greek citizenship application mean for you short/long-term?
- Grab an overview for a Greek citizenship application based on a citizen parent.
- Grab an overview of the naturalisation process for a Greek citizenship application based on a grandparent/great grandparent.
- Understand how you can submit your type of Greek citizenship application.
Also, in this post:
- Connect with the author.
- Find out about the ETIAS visa waiver application coming in 2025.
- Disclaimer
Καλώς ήρθατε! Welcome!
1. Get the mind-blowing effects of becoming a Greek dual citizen.
Your Greek citizenship goal is extremely valuable and meaningful. Pursuing it means you’re investing in your life.
Internal effects
Firstly, by exercising your birthright and becoming a citizen of Greece, you’ll deepen the connection to your ancestors, your heritage, and to your family’s πατρίδα (homeland).
On achieving your goal you’re likely to feel an amazing sense of peace, closure, pride and of life coming full circle. Imagine how excited you’d be enjoying beautiful Hellas as a citizen rather than as a foreigner.
In other words, Greek citizenship can give you many rewards for the heart and soul.
External effects
Plus, you’ll gain access to lots of ongoing exclusive EU citizenship benefits. This will redefine you as a global citizen.
Your Greek citizenship can open up a world of real opportunities, such as:
- having the right to study, work and do business as a legal citizen in any country of the EU,
- enjoying reduced length-of-stay restrictions in Greece and the EU,
- buying properties and renting them out legally as a citizen in any EU country,
- having the safety net of choosing to live in your current country or in any of the EU countries,
- opening up the opportunities and choices for your children and future generations, and
- retiring on an island in Greece or anywhere in the EU if you want!
For a moment, internalise all the mind-blowing effects that Greek citizenship would have on your life. Picture the possibilities it could bring you and what your future could look like.
Super exciting! So, get fired up!
You can start moving toward what the future could hold, right now.
Read on to find out how.
2. Find out the best ways to start chasing down your Greek citizenship dream.
A) Begin the journey with your eyes on the prize and keep them there!
The journey to Greek citizenship can be challenging at times. However, your application/registration process is temporary. At some point it will end and, if successful, you’ll be enjoying the rest of your life with ongoing benefits and a stronger heart connection to Greece. So, always keep your eyes on the prize!
B) Explore the website of the Greek Embassy or Consulate that serves the area you live in.
Look for information and requirements under the tab “Services for citizens”, then “Other services” and then “Citizenship”. On many consular websites there is also a blue widget in the corner that you can use to ask for information.
Contact your Consular Authority to make a citizenship application appointment in the way that it instructs you to. (Some Consular Authorities, like NYC, need you to submit a pre-approval application first.)
If you can’t find enough information on your consular website, try another’s. Each one holds varying degrees of information and the Greek registration process/requirements across the board are more or less the same.
C) Get loads of extra, important info that’s not available on consular websites. Get support!
This way, you’ll be better equipped to move forward with more confidence and enthusiasm.
You’ll feel less in the dark: less confused, less overwhelmed, less frustrated, less anxious.
In other words, you’ll feel more empowered.
Imagine setting sail for your Greek citizenship goals and dreams with:
- a big supply of vital information in one easy place – saving you time fishing for answers in the internet sea,
- an elevated vantage point with an exclusive inside look into the process – helping you to better navigate the journey and sail more smoothly around obstacles,
- support and guidance from start to “mission complete” – you have a compass, a map and a companion all the way.
You could put yourself in this very pleasant position. You could have an enhanced trip to your Greek citizenship.
Keep reading to find out how.
3. Put yourself behind the wheel with the ultimate guide to Greek citizenship.
Guide to Your Greek Citizenship puts you in the driver’s seat.
It accelerates your know-how and fuels you with enthusiasm. FAST.
Get answers and workarounds. All in one easy, friendly place.
Basically, the Greek citizenship registration process is universal. So, this book applies to you wherever you live.
How Guide to Your Greek Citizenship got built.
Danae assisted her adult sons during their unusual Greek registrations. Along the way, she gathered lots of valuable legal information from her Athens lawyer and first-hand consular insights.
Then Danae went on to research many areas of the Greek citizenship registration process, including different types of applications based on parents/grandparents/great grandparents.
She crafted all this information into a unique book.
Danae did this to help and encourage others to become Greek citizens, like her sons did.
Will this guide help you?
Danae holds back nothing and reveals all to you in this bumper, easy-to-read ebook/paperback.
It’s totally transparent, kind and comprehensive.
This book is bubbling with quality information that spans a very wide and deep line-up of topics to fill you in on all sorts of situations. ASAP.
Plus, being packed with legal information from Danae’s lawyer, it saves you BIG money and provides you with unbelievable value.
In other words, this book is for you only if you want answers to questions such as:
- where do I begin and what do I do?
- how can I find out if I’m already a Greek citizen?
- what are some tips for the first consular appointment? (There are eleven.)
- how can I get current copies of my registered ancestor’s Greek certificates without going to Greece?
- how can I find the correct Municipality where my Greek ancestor is registered?
- can I register under my mother’s family lot instead of my father’s?
- what’s the difference between a standard and indicative municipal registration? Why is this important?
- what can I do if my Greek ancestor was not a Greek citizen?
- what documents could I use to support my application if my citizen ancestor’s Greek registration documents can’t be found?
- which Article of the Code of Greek Citizenship would my application come under?
- which documents need to be translated and apostilled and how do I do this?
- how long might the Greek registration process take and why?
- what can I do to help the process along?
- what are the impacts of marriage laws prior to 1984 if my citizen parent were married and I was born before then?
- what are the rules for Greek lawyers on what they can and can’t do for citizenship clients?
- how did Danae’s recommended lawyer in Athens help with her sons’ Greek registrations?
- how do I contact Danae’s recommended Greek lawyer?
- how did they overcome obstacles and challenges that appeared?
- what were their legal fees?
- what’s the process to engage a Greek lawyer?
- what’s the difference between a Greek Power of Attorney and a third-party authorisation?
- what’s it like working with a Greek consular officer?
- what are the stages of the “Standard”, “Determination of Nationality” and “Naturalisation” registration processes?
- how can I find out which stage my application is up to?
- what do the documents I need look like?
- what criteria must my documents meet?
- how do I know what the Greek documents are? What are they called?
- which documents will my Consular Authority issue for my Greek citizenship application?
- what’s involved if my Greek ancestor is a grandparent or great grandparent?
- what does a “Greekness Interview” entail?
- which documents can I expect Greece to issue during my citizenship registration process?
- when will I be able to get my Greek EU passport and Greek Police Identity Card? How do I get these?
- and much more!
Take one easy step toward
your Greek citizenship future today.
Simply view the book Contents and sample chapter
at your local Amazon!
Quick links:
View the ebook at your Kobo or Apple Books!
Quick links:
Guide to Deferring Your Greek Army Service
This is Danae’s second support book. It’s for new male Greek citizens aged between 19 and 45 years.
The Greek Army will contact them as soon as their Greek citizenship registrations are finalised. That’s what happened with Danae’s twin sons. (However, if the male citizen is close to 45 years of age, the Army probably won’t contact him.)
After becoming registered Greek citizens, Danae’s sons applied for ongoing military service deferment as permanent residents abroad (i.e. permanently living outside Greece). This was so they could obtain a ranking of military service deferral on their Military Status Certificates.
However, their applications were complicated because her sons had lived permanently in two countries. Also, they were travelling internationally at the time.
Consequently, this is a comprehensive, one-of-a-kind guide that will help young males in all sorts of situations. Danae shows you exactly how they overcame the challenges. There are tips, tables, timelines and costs.
Also, you’ll discover all the documents they provided for her sons’ Certificates of Permanent Resident/Residency Abroad, including workarounds.
To find out more, follow the links below to check out the Contents in the sample chapter.
Put your mind at ease today!
Ebook quick links:
4. Identify your route forward. What does your type of Greek citizenship application mean for you short/long-term?
Greece allows up to third-generation applicants to apply for Greek citizenship. Consequently, applications can be based on descent OR ethnicity.
That is, you can apply if you can prove that you have just one Greek parent, grandparent or great grandparent who is/was a Greek citizen (Greek municipal registration certificates exist and can be found).
OR you can prove you have an ancestor who is/was ethnically Greek (no municipal registration certificates exist or can be found).
Applying for Greek citizenship using your ancestor’s municipal registration certificates:
Your ancestor needs to be registered as a child in his/her Greek citizen parent’s merida (family lot/registry). Or the ancestor has his/her own merida at Position 1 as a citizen adult (the merida depicts his/her own marriage and children, if any).
So, depending on the circumstances, you’ll need either your ancestor’s municipal Greek Birth Certificate or municipal Family/Marital Status Certificate (certificate of the merida).
This is because the existence of these certificates is proof that your ancestor is/was a Greek citizen registered in the Municipal Roll by the relevant Municipality (usually where the ancestor was born).
Also, you’ll need to provide additional documents that link you to your ancestor (such as your own birth certificate) that must meet criteria and will accompany your birth declaration and citizenship application.
Basing your application on a citizen great grandparent can be difficult to do because it’s a greater challenge to locate your ancestor’s municipal registration certificates. Perhaps the documents have been destroyed during wars or misplaced over time.
Also, there’s a greater chance that name variations will appear on the certificates that link to your ancestor and these must be justified. However, the likelihood of success becomes easier if an ancestor in the family lineage before you applies for citizenship first.
In the event that your citizen ancestor’s Greek registration certificates are unlocatable, there’s a possibility that you might succeed in providing documents that demonstrate without a doubt that your ancestor was of Greek background.
Applying for Greek citizenship via your ancestor’s Greek background (with no municipal registration certificates):
These types of applications are rare and it’s difficult to succeed. You must be able to prove your ancestor’s “Greekness” using alternative documents if the municipal registration certificate/s can’t be found or never existed because the ancestor was not born or registered in Greece.
Also, you must adequately demonstrate that you live with a high level of “Greekness” in your life and provide documents that strongly support this. For example, being able to speak Greek would normally be required.
A lawyer’s assistance to support the merit of the application will probably be needed. This type of application might take several years to obtain the Ministry of Interior’s approval.
Greek citizenship application scenarios – short- and long-term implications:
Basing your citizenship application on two Greek citizen parents who are citizens by birth or acquire citizenship by birth from their registered parents, is the very best scenario, if possible.
This is because the registration process can flow down from the grandparents to the parents’ registrations to the adult child’s (your) registration very quickly.
The consular officer simply updates the Registry of Citizens by adding the new registrations, such as a birth, to the existing family merida – in the order in which the events occurred.
This simple type of registration also applies if you were born after 8th May 1984 from a mother who is a citizen by birth. Or if you were born within wedlock after 18th July 1982 to a father who is a citizen by birth.
If you were born after 1982 to a Greek father out of wedlock, the regional citizenship department in Greece will require additional documentation and review the application. Following this, if the application is approved, the Ministry’s decision of approval will be published/probated in the State Gazette.
Depending on the circumstances surrounding an application based on a citizen parent, the Greek citizenship registration process called “Determination of Nationality” could be applied.
Subsequently, you will need to provide additional documentation and the regional citizenship department in Greece will need to determine that the applicant is of Greek nationality. Also, the Ministry’s Decision of approval will be published in the State Gazette.
With applications based on one or both citizen parents, usually the applicant will acquire citizenship from birth.
Consequently, this type of citizenship can then be “passed on” to his/her children as from the dates of their births. This means that the child’s children (i.e. your grandchildren) can have a Greek citizen parent (i.e. your child) registered from birth at the time of their births, and so on.
This does not apply in cases where, for example, the adult applicant’s parent is approved of becoming a Greek citizen as from the time of the of the application-declaration, and not from his/her date of birth.
For example, a parent’s citizenship application that comes under Article 14 – Special Cases whereby the parent was born before 18th July 1982 to a Greek father who married a foreigner in a civil/state ceremony. (Note: if the children of the parent who becomes a citizen from the date of the application are still minors and unmarried at the time, the children will acquire citizenship from birth.)
With second/third-generation applications (based on a grandparent or great grandparent), the registration process called Naturalisation will be applied. Also, the Naturalisation Process is applicable if the parent of the adult applicant acquired citizenship from the application date and not from birth, such as an Article 14 cases.
Naturalisation requires extra documentation, such as a foreign criminal check certificate. Additionally, the consular officer conducts an evaluation on the applicant’s knowledge and love of Greece and its ways of life (“Greekness interview”).
In effect, Naturalisation is a longer, more involved process than “Determination of Nationality” based on a citizen parent. Another example of this is that after the Ministry’s Decision approving the application is published in the State Gazette, the applicant must say an oath to finalise the citizenship process.
The Naturalisation Process for applicants applying for citizenship based on their ancestor’s Greek background (rather than on the municipal registration certificates) can take much longer to obtain an approval from the Ministry and the success rate is lower.
Also, as mentioned, much more emphasis is placed on the applicant’s level of “Greekness” interview at the Consular Authority.
Furthermore, the applicant is more likely to need a lawyer’s ongoing assistance with the matter.
Acquiring Greek citizenship via Naturalisation means that the applicant won’t be granted citizenship from birth. Therefore, the children of the applicant will not have a parent who is a registered citizen from birth. So, citizenship can’t be “passed on” as with the majority of parent-based applications.
For all Greek citizenship application scenarios:
Of course, for all citizenship applications you need to provide supporting verification documents that link you in a direct family line to your Greek ancestor. This means that you need to provide the foreign certificates (birth, death, marriage) for the people in the lineage between you and your Greek ancestor.
Also, you’ll need to provide the extra documents that might be required for any unusual circumstances surrounding your application. Plus provide documents to justify any name changes or variations on certificates.
5. Grab an overview for a Greek citizenship application based on a citizen parent
This is a guide only. The circumstances surrounding your application will determine whether you need to provide any additional (or variants) of the documents.
You become a registered Greek citizen when your parent’s municipal office in Greece registers you in its Municipal Roll as a standard registration (i.e. as a Position 1 registration on a Family/Status Certificate for a family merida) and your Greek birth certificate is issued.
Then you may obtain your Greek Police ID card – taftotita (available while in Greece only), and apply for your Greek EU passport (you can apply via your Consular Authority where you live, even if you don’t have your taftotita yet).
NOTE: The following document overview is a guide on the requirements for a citizenship application based on a registered Greek parent. As the Greek registration process is universal, this overview will apply to you wherever you live.
NOTE: Always check your consular authority’s website for information relating to parent-based citizenship applications.
For much more info than what’s on your Consulate’s website, get Guide To Your Greek Citizenship (link to Amazon US).
NOTE: You must present original documents that your Consular Authority will keep. These can be the original current certificates re-issued by your relevant state government department so that you can keep the original originals.
NOTE: Many Consulates and Embassies will help you by locating current copies of the Greek documents you need in the Greek data system (provided that the records are in the digital system and that the Consular Authority can find them.) Older records might only be located in the municipal office archives. Guide to Your Greek Citizenship shows you step-by-step ways to get these certificates to the Consular Authority all by yourself.
There are two stages to your citizenship application process:
1) Consular Marriage Declaration of the applicant’s parents (if a marriage occurred and the event has not been registered in Greece) and
2) Consular Declaration of the applicant’s birth and application/petition for Greek citizenship.
STEP 1) Parents’ Consular Declaration of Marriage
First, the marriage of the citizenship applicant’s parents must be declared at the consular authority that serves the state/region in which the parents were married. (Again, only if the parents were married and the marriage isn’t registered in Greece).
Only one registered Greek parent needs to attend the appointment with the required documents for both parents. (If the parents are deceased then the interested party, which is you, may declare the marriage using apostilled, translated copies of the parent’s foreign certificates).
If the parents’ marriage is registered in Greece, then you’ll need their Greek municipal Family/Marital Status registration certificate instead of the foreign civil/state marriage certificate (see below).
Documents required for the citizen parent (a guide only):
- Parents’ civil/state Marriage Certificate from the relevant registry of births, deaths and marriages. This means provide the original state/civil marriage certificate or a full, state-issued, replacement certificate (known in the U.S. as a government-certified copy). Note: Greek Church marriage certificate is no longer necessary unless the parent’s marriage to be registered took place before 8th May 1984.
- If the applicant’s parents’ marriage is registered in Greece then you need a current copy of the Family/Marital Status Certificate – Πιστοποιητικό Οικογενειακής Κατάστασης – instead.
- Copy of the registered parent’s Greek Birth Certificate (or Confirmation of Greek Birth Certificate called a Βεβαίωση – Vevaiosi). For both parents if both are registered Greek citizens.
- Registered parents’ Greek ID, if available.
- Original Birth Certificate for the parent who is not a registered Greek citizen, (if applicable). Or a full/long-form, state-issued replacement birth certificate (known as a government-certified copy in the U.S.).
- Both parents’ home passports.
- Parent/s’ Death Certificates (if applicable).
Generally, Consular Authorities require current copies of the re-issued foreign (i.e. not from Greece) government certificates (current meaning not more than six months old at the time of the appointment). Greek certificates for your citizenship application/petition also need to be current.
Then, the foreign certificates will need to be legally apostilled and then officially translated (by a consular-accredited translator or qualified Greek lawyer) in preparation for Greece. (This is generally not required if the consular officer is able to simply update the family registry.)
As mentioned, for ALL of the above certificates, you can find out:
- the specific criteria that each of our documents had to meet for Greece to accept them,
- how we got them,
- where we got them,
- ways to get them, including the Greek certificates (without having to go to Greece),
- how we prepared our documents for Greece, and
- what our documents looked like, including all the documents that the Greek Government issued to us throughout our sons’ Greek registration process
- and more!
in Guide to Your Greek Citizenship (link to Amazon AU).
STEP 2) Citizenship applicant’s Declaration of Birth and Application/Petition for Greek Citizenship
After the applicant’s parents’ marriage has been declared at the Consular Authority (if a marriage occurred and it had not been registered in Greece) – or if the parents’ marriage is already registered in Greece – then the citizenship applicant’s consular Declaration of Birth takes place at the Consular Authority for the state/region in which the applicant’s birth occurred.
If it’s a simple birth registration and citizenship application, these can be handled by the Consular Authority together at the one appointment.
For more complex citizenship applications that might require additional appointments (or if unusual circumstances surrounding the application present during the appointment), these can be continued by the Consular Authority where the applicant resides.
Documents required (guide only):
- Applicant’s original passport for ID,
- Copy of the applicant’s biometric page of passport,
- Applicant’s original Birth Certificate or provide a full/long-form, state-issued current replacement certificate – known as a certified copy in the U.S.,
- NOTE: Greek Baptism Certificate is optional (if you were baptised in a Greek church).
- 2 recent passport-sized photos – only for male applicants,
- Current International Movements Record from birth to the present day – only for male applicants. (Not more than a few weeks old at the time of the appointment).
- Any unusual circumstances surrounding your application may require you to provide additional documents.
The foreign certificates will need to be apostilled and officially translated in preparation for submission to Greece.
Usually, the Consular Authority requires these certificates to be current (not more than six months old at the time of the appointment) if they are re-issued originals (i.e. not the “original originals”).
Generally, the foreign certificates don’t need to be apostilled and translated if the consular officer is able to validate the certificates to simply update the family registry.
NOTE: Every applicant has their own set of circumstances surrounding their citizenship application.
Therefore, you may not need to provide the additional documents that we did.
Or you might need to provide other documents not mentioned here.
At your appointment, the consular officer will assess the circumstances surrounding your citizenship application. Then, he/she will advise you on what to do next and inform you of any additional documents you will need to provide, (if applicable).
Again, for ALL of the above documents/items, you can find out:
- the specific criteria that each of our documents had to meet for Greece to accept them,
- how we got them,
- where we got them,
- ways to get them,
- how much they cost us,
- how we prepared our documents for Greece, and
- what our documents looked like, including all the documents that the Greek Government issued to us throughout our sons’ Greek registration process,
- and more!
in Guide to Your Greek Citizenship (link to Amazon UK).
6. Grab an overview of the naturalisation process for a Greek citizenship application based on a grandparent/great grandparent.
This section is for applicants with citizenship applications based on a grandparent/great grandparent. Or on a parent who became a citizen through statement “dilosi”, such as via an Article 14 application.
You become a Greek citizen when the municipal office of the Greek Municipality you choose registers you in its Municipal Roll as a standard registration (i.e. as a Position 1 registration on a Family/Status Certificate for a family merida) and issues your Greek birth certificate.
Then you may obtain your Greek Police ID card – taftotita (while in Greece only) and apply for your Greek EU passport. (Alternatively, you may apply for your Greek passport via your Consular Authority where you live. You may do so even if you don’t have your taftotita yet).
As mentioned, the Naturalisation Process applies if an applicant is unable to base his/her application on a registered Greek parent. Or if the parent acquired citizenship via Article 14 of the Code of Greek Citizenship.
As an alternative, the citizenship application can be based on an ancestor’s Greek background (“Greekness”), although this can be a difficult type of application to get across the line. This is type of case applies if your registered Greek grandparent’s municipal registration documents are unlocatable. Or the ancestor was never a Greek citizen, but was Greek beyond a doubt.
Basing your application on an ancestor beyond a parent is necessary when the Greek parent has passed away before becoming a registered Greek citizen. Also, in the event that the parent doesn’t wish to become a Greek citizen.
Danae received information from her Greek lawyer on the Naturalisation Process. This includes document requirements and procedures.
As a result, Guide to Your Greek Citizenship contains this and all the other legal advice/information that she received from her lawyer throughout her sons’ Greek registration process.
NOTE: For a citizenship application based on a grandparent/great grandparent, some variations of the documents listed in the previous section plus additional documents, will apply.
Visit Embassy of Greece in London webpage for a great list of documents required for citizenship by naturalisation based on a citizen grandparent. This includes an example of the application form. Note: the application form on the London website is for the Embassy in London only. So, you won’t be able to submit it to another Consular Authority.
Remember, the process is basically universal. Therefore, the information on that webpage applies to you wherever you live.
However, make sure you also check your own consular website.
As mentioned, the Naturalisation Process for applicants is more involved than the process for an application based on a registered Greek parent. For example:
- You must provide all the foreign certificates (birth, death, marriage) for your ancestors in the lineage between you and your registered Greek ancestor.
- Extra documents are required, such as a criminal record check.
- Any name variations on the certificates must be justified with acceptable documents.
- There will be a “Greekness” interview.
- The applicant must swear an oath to finalise the approval.
All the foreign certificates need to be officially apostilled. Then they must be translated by a consular-accredited translator or qualified Greek lawyer.
And of course you’ll need your ancestor’s Greek municipal Family/Marital Status certificate (if the ancestor’s marriage was registered in Greece). Otherwise, the Greek birth certificate if the grandparent’s marriage was not registered in Greece.
Alternatively, you’ll need documents that undoubtedly prove your unregistered ancestor’s Greek background. The application based on an ancestor’s “Greekness” rather than Greek registration does not require the ancestor’s birth certificate, but can be a much longer, more involved process that relies significantly on the “Greekness” interview and requires a lawyer’s assistance. You’ll find more detail in Guide to Your Greek Citizenship.
NOTE: The applicant brings all documents for the citizenship application to the Consular Authority that services the region in which he/she resides. If grandparents are deceased, the applicant may register the grandparents’ foreign marriage (if they were married outside Greece) as the interested party.
7. Understand how you can submit your type of Greek citizenship application.
In January 2022, Greek lawyers and applicants abroad were restricted from submitting citizenship applications directly in Greece and from registering foreign vital record certificates with the Athens Special Registry.
This greatly increased the workload on consular officers to submit applications and register vital record certificates. The result is that in many cases there are extremely long wait times for consular appointments.
However, to help ease this overload on Consular Authorities, some application submission laws changed in September 2023 via statutory document “Circular 996”. These changes allow some types of parent-based applications to be submitted directly to Greece.
Circular 996 allows eligible applicants – who permanently live outside Greece – to submit their applications in person while in Greece, rather than via a Consular Authority.
The applications must submitted to the Regional Administration (Regional Directorate of Citizenship/Decentralised Administration) that has jurisdiction over the relevant Municipality where the applicant is to be registered.
The applicant may submit, even if they only have temporary valid residence in Greece.
For example, even if they are staying in Greece for up to 90 days (as long as they have valid legal visa entry into Greece, which includes Visa C – Schengen Zone Visa. You may be from a country that does not require a Schengen Visa to enter the EU, such as Australia, USA, UK, Canada, New Zealand). In other words, if the applicant is validly staying in Greece on holiday.
Greek citizenship applications that MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA YOUR CONSULAR AUTHORITY:
All Article 10 Naturalisation applications must be submitted via Consular Authority that serves the region in which the applicant lives. These are applications based on a Greek ancestor beyond a parent and/or when the registered Greek parent was not categorised as a Greek citizen from birth.
Or when the Greek father didn’t acknowledge the applicant as his child born out of wedlock when the applicant was a minor, according to the the laws of the country of the birth.
Greek citizenship applications that may now be submitted in ways other than via your Consular Authority:
A simple, straightforward, standard Birth Declaration-Application for Greek citizenship that is based on a citizen parent will usually occur during the one appointment at the Consular Authority that has jurisdiction over the region in which the applicant was born.
If not a simple Birth Declaration-Application Greek Citizenship that can be completed during the same appointment (due to the complexity of the case or incomplete documents), the citizenship application part may be completed at a later appointment at the Consular Authority where the applicant resides.
Alternatively, as of September 2023, some types of applications based on a citizen parent may be submitted in person during a valid temporary stay (holiday) in Greece. The eligible applications are those that come under one (or a combination) of the following Articles of the Code of Greek Citizenship (KEI):
- Article 26 – Determination of Greek nationality,
- Article 1 – Child of a Greek man or woman,
- Article 2 – Acknowledgment by a Greek citizen father of a child born out of wedlock, and
- Article 14 – Special Cases.
(Other applications based on a citizen parent that do not come under the Articles listed above must be submitted via the relevant Consular Authority.)
Furthermore, according to our Athens lawyer, “Applications with a legal basis of acquisition – Article 1 KEI (birth from a Greek parent) in combination with Article 26 KEI or independently, as well as with Article 2 KEI (acknowledgment by a Greek father) – may be lawfully submitted, with or without the applicant’s presence in person and therefore, (a) either in person, (b) or through authorized person (ie. lawyer or other authorised proxy), or even be sent by registered mail correspondence.”
NOTE: Also, according to our lawyer, “The application-declaration of Article 14 cannot be submitted by a power of attorney or by registered post contrary to the other legal basis of Article 1, 2 and/or 26 of KEI.” An Article 14 application-declaration must only be submitted in person to the Regional Administration by the applicant or via the relevant Consular Authority.
For those permanently residing abroad who are eligible to submit their application in any of these ways, the supporting foreign documents (apostilled and officially translated into Greek) must be provided with the application by the applicant, or proxy or with the application if submitted by registered mail.
The Greek municipal registration certificates that prove the relationship of the applicant to the registered Greek parent may be searched for:
- “by the competent Prefectural Administration of Citizenship, as long as the interested parties provide sufficient information for their search (exact names and surnames of parents at the time of marriage, etc.),
- (b) be issued by the Greek Consular Authority through the Civil Registry, if the application is submitted to a competent Consular Authority, or
- (c) be issued electronically by the interested parties through the services of Digital Portal gov.gr.” ~ Circular 996
Also, in the case of a proxy submission of the application in Greece or by registered mail, the applicant must ensure that certain conditions are met. For example, in relation to a legally valid third-party authorisation or Limited Power of Attorney, if by proxy. The legal verification of the applicant’s signature, if by registered mail.
If the above options don’t pertain to your type of application or they do, but don’t suit you, act now and contact your Consular Authority to book an appointment in the way that it specifies.
Or start preparing the pre-appointment documents (if your Consulate requires this first) as soon as possible.
As mentioned, with many Consular Authorities, the current wait times are extremely long. Many Australian citizenship applicants have had to book consular citizenship appointments two years in advance!
So, get onto it.
IF YOU’VE LOVED THE INFORMATION DANAE HAS SHARED WITH YOU,
IMAGINE WHAT’S AVAILABLE TO YOU IN
Guide to Your Greek Citizenship!
WOOHOO! ΏΠΑ!
HAVING THESE GUIDES IS LIKE HAVING DANAE BY YOUR SIDE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.
SO, GET THESE GREAT GUIDES NOW!
MOVE TOWARD YOUR GREEK CITIZENSHIP TODAY!
Get the ebook/paperback from your Amazon.
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8. Connect with the author.
- Follow Danae’s page on facebook.com/GreekCitizenshipByDescent.
- Subscribe to Danae’s Youtube channel for videos on topics related to Greek citizenship by ancestry. See Created Playlist for more videos.
- Follow Danae’s Instagram.
- Join Go Next-Level Greek Group – Danae is Admin. It’s a global help hub for people of Greek heritage about acquiring Greek citizenship: facebook.com/groups/gonextlevelgreek.
8. Find out more about the ETIAS visa waiver application coming in 2025
Watch Danae’s Youtube video about the ETIAS visa waiver and what it means if you are or are not an EU citizen.
9. Disclaimer
At no time is the information on this webpage to supersede the advice or instructions from your Embassy of Greece, Consulate General of Greece, the Greek Government, or a lawyer in the matter of applying for Greek citizenship by descent from abroad (i.e. from outside Greece). This information is for discussion purposes only.
Furthermore, the Greek citizenship application and registration process described on this webpage could change at any time to reflect new reforms introduced in Greece.
The author accepts no legal liability for publishing this information.
Finally, for further information on the Terms & Conditions of using this website, refer to: Terms & Conditions.
ΝΑ ΕΙΣAI ΚΑΛΑ! MAY YOU BE WELL!