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Greek citizenship is the legal relationship between an individual and a state.
Naturalisation is the process of acquiring the Greek citizenship for foreign expatriates (populations of Greek origin outside of the Greek borders) and allogeneic foreigners (citizens of other countries).
➢ By Birth
- The child of Greek parents acquires Greek citizenship by birth.
- Greek citizenship is acquired upon the birth of a child in Greece in the event that
- a. one of the parents was born in Greece and resides permanently in the country of birth
b. the child does not acquire another foreign citizenship by birth, neither can it acquire foreign citizenship by a relevant declaration of the parents to the foreign authorities, if the law of the parents' citizenship requires the submission of such a declaration
c. is of unknown citizenship. However, the inability to establish the foreign citizenship that might be acquired at birth, is not due to the parent's refusal of cooperation.
It should be noted that at the time this text is written, the Greek Citizenship Code is placed under public online consultation until 25.05.15, to improve its provisions.
Yes! ➢ By recognition
- A foreign child born out of wedlock, who is legally recognized by a Greek national voluntarily or by full judicial acknowledgment, becomes a Greek citizen if during the acknowledgement the foreign child had been a minor (before reaching the age of 18).
- A person who has been adopted as a minor by a Greek national becomes Greek from the day of his/her adoption.
The Decentralized Administrations of each Municipality are responsible for this matter. Naturalisation applications are submitted to the competent department of naturalisation according to the Municipality you reside in. In the following table you can see all the required steps of the naturalisation process. The table with the naturalisation process by the Ministry of Interior can be found in the following link
Below you can see in detail the 7 naturalisation steps by the Decentralised Administration of Attica
- 1 photo
- Declaration of naturalization. It takes place in Municipality of residence with 2 Greek witnesses.
- Exact copy of a valid passport and a copy of all of its pages. Also a copy of all the pages of old passports and a solemn declaration of arrivals and departures from the country from 2005 to today.
- Exact copy of a valid residence permit. (no certificate)
- Previous DECISIONS or CERTIFICATE for ALL RESIDENCE PERMITS, CONSECUTIVE at least from March 24, 2005 until today. For citizens of a member state of the European Union, Greek spouses with a child, recognized political refugees and stateless individuals CONSECUTIVE RESIDENCE PERMITS for the past three years from the date of application is sufficient documentation. Spouses of Greek citizens without children are excluded and seven years of legal residence from the date of application is required.
- ORIGINAL birth certificate in FOREIGN LANGUAGE - and marriage certificate for women - certified according to the country of origin and then translated either by the Translation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (10 ARIONOS St., Athens) or by a Greek lawyer (no translation centres).
- Administrative Fee (TUPE A DUPLICATE, KAE 3744) by the tax authorities: 700 Euros under the applicant's name.
- Copy of the Social Security Number (AMKA).
- Copies of the most recent notice of tax assessment, as well as those of the 7 (seven) last years.
- If available: tax clearance by social security funds (e.g. IKA, OAEE), a certificate of residence from the Municipality and Greek language certificates or certificates of attendance in Greek schools.
(All fields are compulsory)
Naturalisation Application
After submitting the documents on the date and time set for you and if there are no omissions, the procedures followed for completing your naturalisation are made by the service without requiring any further action on your part. If you need to provide some additional supporting documents our service sends you a letter. For this reason it is extremely important to update the service on any change of residence by submitting a Solemn Declaration of change of address along with the required supporting documents addressed to the Secretariat of our service (6 Ipatias St., Athens, Monday to Friday, 8:00 -14:30). Finally, we should note that the only information required on your part concerns the renewal of your residence permit, a copy of which should be presented to our service whenever it is issued. For Athens: To book your appointment you should arrive to our service, 6 Ipatias St., Athens, 1st floor, Office 1 from Monday to Friday, hours: 8:00-14:00. You can receive an update on the progress of your naturalization application every Monday 8:30-14:00, 6 Ipatias St., Athens, Office 1. Lawyers are available at any weekday.
Six months after submitting the application for the acquisition of Greek citizenship through the naturalisation process, you will be asked to an interview with the Naturalisation Committee operating in the Decentralized Administration of your residence.
What is the Committee’s objective? To assess whether the essential naturalization conditions are met. How long does the interview last? Approximately 20-25 minutes. What are the questions about? The initial questions are related to your life, your work, your place of origin. Then the questions concerned the history of Greece, geography, politics, the place you reside in and current issues that are of interest to the Greek society. Examples of questions per subject:- Which national holidays do you know? Or What is celebrated on October 28 and what on March 25?
- What do you know about the Greek Revolution?
- What was the “Filiki Eteria”?
- What do you know about the term “krifo scholio”?
- Mention heroes/central figures of the Greek Revolution.
- What do you know about I. Metaxas?
- What do you know about the Asia Minor Catastrophe?
- Have you heard about Alexander the Great, what can you tell us about him?
- What do you know about Homer?
- What is the subject of Odyssey and Iliad?
- When was the Fall of Constantinople?
- Who was the first prime minister of Greece? Or Which was the first capital of the Greek State?
- Which are the largest islands of Greece?
- Mention the bordering countries of Greece.
- Do you know where Greece is located in the European map?
- Which are the sea and land borders of Greece?
- Which seas surround our country?
- Can you name the Eptanese Islands?
- Which other island complexes do you know?
- From where did the Cyclades get their name?
- Do you know some of the largest islands of Greece?
- Can you mention some well-know rivers of Greece?
- Mention some lakes, natural or artificial.
- Which large cities of the country do you know?
- Do you know where the city of Olympia got its name from?
- Have you visited Knossos and Phaistos? Do you anything about these monuments?
- What do you know about Epidaurus?
- What are the Elgin Marbles or where did they get their name from?
- Have you visited the Parthenon, do you know anything to tell us
- What is the Megaro Mousikis?
- What do you know about Acropolis?
- Can you mention the most important poets and writers of Greece?
- Have you been to a museum? Do you know some museums?
- Do you know Greek painters? Have you visited the National Gallery? What exhibitions does it feature?
- What do you know about the personality of Chatzidakis or Theodorakis?
- Do you know other musicians or composers?
- Who is the president of the Hellenic Republic?
- What is the Greek Prime Minister or the Minister of Finance?
- How many are the Members of the Parliament?
- Which are the supreme courts or what do you know about Areios Pagos?
- Do you know what the constitution is?
- When did Greece join the European Union?
- What is the European Council?
- What do you know about the United Nations?
- Which newspapers are published in your Prefecture?
- Mention the largest squares of your Prefecture.
- Who is the Mayor in you toof residence?
- Mention some of the beaches of your Prefecture (if there are any, e.g. if someone lives in Lefkada, Milos)
- What does IMF stand for?
- What is the Memorandum (Mnimonio)?
- What do you know about the Troika?
It should be noted that at the discretion of the Commission and by the grading process of the Committee, a positive or negative decision is formed by the Committee which is communicated by a document of the service. If there is a negative decision by the Committee an objection may be submitted to the Council of Citizenship of the Ministry of Interior, within 15 days of notification of the decision. At the discretion of the Council of Citizenship the objection is either accepted or discarded.
A. Next, there is a decision by the Minister of Interior, with which the application for acquisition of Greek citizenship is accepted, followed by announcement of the naturalisation to the service, so the interested party may be invited to take an oath as described below in step 6.
B. The application is rejected by the decision of the Minister of Interior and a new application may be submitted with a reduced administrative fee of two hundred (200) Euros after one year has passed from the date of the negative decision of the Minister.
3: This manual is offered as an aid (electronic) for foreigners interested in acquiring the Greek citizenship by naturalization, by the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction. The particular book contains concise information about Greek history, culture, geography, etc. However the manual was written with the previous legislation and its content does not touch on all the issues that may be mentioned during the interview. Therefore it would be desirable to use other sources of information. As http://www.metanastes.gr/ithagenia-omogenia/politografisi-alladopou/209-sinentefksi.html
Following the positive assessment of the Committee and the decision is communicated to the Ministry of Interior so the decision of the Minister of Interior will follow. After the publication of a summary of the Greek naturalisation decision in the Government Gazette and a notice to the service, the next step is the oath.
The naturalization process is completed by the Greek Citizen oath for which the service sends a letter setting the specific date and time. Along with this letter a solemn declaration is also sent where the particulars of underage children are stated.
It is the final stage of the service's involvement after taking the oath, and it relates to the mandate given to women for their registration in the Municipal Roll of the City of Athens, while for the men a decision of registration in the Males Register of the City of Athens is needed first and then they may register to the Municipal Roll.
* It should be noted that the children of naturalised citizens acquire the Greek citizenship provided that they are underage (under 18) and unmarried at the time of the parents' oath. If you are interested in this process you should contact the Municipality of Athens. If the children are adults by the time of the oath they need to submit a new request.
| CAN I? | Greek National Card | Residence Permit for dependent work (2 year + renewal for 3 years) | Ten Year Residence Permit | Long Term Residence Permit – Five Year Duration (European) | Residence Permit of Greek family member or citizen of the EU | Second Generation Permit | No Residence Permit | Stateless (child born in Greece, no nationality recognised) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enroll in the University? | √ | x | √ | √ | √ | √ | x | x |
| Travel abroad? | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | x | x |
| Study in a Schengen country? | √ | x | x | √ | √ (under conditions)** | √ | x | x |
| Work in the European Union? | √ | x | X | √ (under conditions)* | √ (under conditions)** | x | x | x |
| Have full access to the labour market? | √ | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Get insurance? | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | x | x |
| Work in the public sector? | √ | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Have political rights? | √ | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Get deported? | x | x | x | x | x | x | √ | x |
** only if I am an in the same country with the person through which I got the permit.
