Determination of nationality for children born by greek parent

1. The applicant is born before 08.05.1984 to a Greek mother and non-Greek father (in or out of wedlock)
OR
before 16.07.1982 to a Greek father and non-Greek mother, in wedlock.
AND
The Greek parent is registered with a Greek Municipality/ the citizens roll as a Greek citizen (‘standard’ registration, not ‘indicative’). The Greek Citizenship must have been acquired by birth or necessarily before the birth of the applicant.

Required documents:

• Application Form (must be filled out in Greek).

A) Βοrn to Greek father who did not have a Greek orthodox marriage (i.e. had a civil or Anglican or Catholic church marriage) or to a Greek mother who had a Greek orthodox marriage APPLICATION FORM
B) Born to Greek father who had a Greek orthodox marriage or to a Greek mother who had a civil or Anglican or Catholic church marriage APPLICATION FORM

• Valid passport and one i.d.-type photograph.

• Applicant’s birth certificate duly legalised and translated in Greek. Please note that for UK birth certificates it must be the full / long form legalised with the apostille endorsement.

• Registration certificate (Birth certificate and/or Family Status Certificate and/or certificate of citizenship) of the Greek parent issued by the Municipality in Greece where their records are kept/citizens’ register (issued not earlier than 6 months). Please note that the Greek ’Registrar’s Act of Birth’ (in Greek ‘Lixiarhiki Praxi Gennisis’), issued upon birth, is a different document and does not suffice for the purposes of this process.

• Parents’ marriage certificate issued from the Register Office, duly legalised and translated if necessary.  If the marriage took place outside of Greece, then the registration with the Special Registry in Athens is also required (if it exists).

• Parents’ marriage certificate from the church (if applicable). Please note that the church certificate alone does not suffice – the civil certificate from the register office is the required one (see above).

• In case the applicant has children under the age of 18, and wishes for them to become Greek Citizens at the same time, the marriage certificate and children’s birth certificates and passports must also be provided (duly legalised and translated).

NOTE: In the event that the applicant has a Greek father and his marriage was civil or of a religion/denomination other than the Greek Orthodox, OR a Greek mother and her marriage was a Greek Orthodox one, their children under 18 will automatically receive the Greek citizenship without further formalities or extra cost.

In the event that the applicant has a Greek father and his marriage was a Greek orthodox one, OR a Greek mother and her marriage was civil or of another religion/denomination than Greek orthodox, then their children under 18 do not receive the Greek citizenship automatically, but must submit a separate application subject to the additional fees of 100 Euros.

PLEASE NOTE / GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

• All non-Greek certificates to be submitted must be originals / certified copies of the original produced by the issuing authority (not a lawyer or notary public).

• LEGALISATION: Documents issued by foreign authorities must be duly legalised and officially translated into Greek. Legalisation is done by APOSTILLE if the documents originates in a country that has signed the Apostille Convention https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41 (for UK documents, see https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised). If the issuing country is not a contracting party in the Apostille Convention, the documents must be legalised by the designated public authority of the issuing country and subsequently by the Greek Consular Authorities in the issuing country. The Apostille must be done first – before the translation.

• TRANSLATIONS: For the purposes of nationality applications, translations are accepted only by translators included in the Register of Certified Translators of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs https://metafraseis.services.gov.gr/ , or qualified lawyers in Greece or graduates from Ionian University/Translation & Interpreting Department. Translations are accepted in original form signed with wet ink or digital signature.

• The translation must include the APOSTILLE.

• NAME DETAILS: All names and other particulars of the applicant and ancestors should appear in a consistent way in all documents and translations. Names of persons and places must be translated/converted to Greek in a consistent way and in lowercase accented characters.

• At the event the name/surname given at birth has changed (e.g. the passport has a different name), then the deed poll or other official document regarding the change must be provided, duly legalised and translated. Similarly, married women who changed their surname to that of their spouse, must provide their original marriage certificate, duly legalised and translated.

•  The original documents, including UK certificates, are kept by the examining authority and NOT returned to the applicant upon completion of the process (unless application is unsuccessful). For this reason we strongly suggest that applicants purchase more than one originals/certified copies from the General Register Office, so they do not submit the one they keep in their records.

•  Our Office as well as the competent Citizenship Office in Greece have the right to request additional documents or information at any stage of the process if necessary.

• If the enquiry concerns the birth registration for children under the age of 18, or if you were born after the dates mentioned under title I and do not fall under any of the other categories described above, then please see ‘Registration of Birth’ at https://www.mfa.gr/uk/en/services/registration