Greek citizenship when documents are missing

By Christos ILIOPOULOS*

Athens, 14 May 2025

Thousands of people of Greek heritage all over the world wish to obtain the Greek citizenship and a Greek / European Union passport. Numerous potential applicants knock on the door of the Greek Consulates asking questions and declaring their wish to apply for the citizenship of their ancestors’ country. Although most of these interested applicants can prove that they are, indeed, descendants of Greeks, they often discover that their case is not as straightforward as they thought it was. If we add the complexities of the process and the strict interpretation of the law by the administration in Greece, we can understand why several applications cannot go through, because of missing documents, or due to bureaucratic details of the certificates.

When a foreign – born person of Greek origin discovers that his/her application for the Greek citizenship cannot be filed, or after it has been filed, it cannot be approved, the usual reaction, after the initial disappointment, is whether there is any other legal way to get the citizenship. The reply is that, if an application can’t be approved, or it cannot even be filed because the initial review of the file has shown missing documents or name changes which prohibit the lodging of a successful dossier, there is a “fall back” type of application, based on Article 10 of the Code of Greek Citizenship.

This is the naturalization application as a person of Greek heritage. It requires that you file all the birth and marriage certificates which show that you are the descendant of a Greek – born person. You must also file your criminal record showing that you have not been convicted of any serious crime. In addition, references are needed from the Greek Orthodox church in your country of residence and/or of other Greek expatriate communities, which will state that you have been participating in their activities, that you are or have been a member, that you have demonstrated action related to anything Greek and, essentially, that you are interested in Greece, past and present. The municipal certificates of the Greek – born ancestor must also be filed, unless you can’t find them in Greece, or unless the ancestor was ethnically Greek, but officially a citizen of another country, like the Ottoman Empire, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Romania etc. Such an application allows for missing documents, names misspelled or name changes compared to the original Greek names. It requires, however, the applicant’s interview with the Consul of Greece at the Greek Consulate, which has local jurisdiction based on the residence of the applicant.

The Consulate will review the dossier of the application, it will examine the municipal certificates which show that the applicant’s parent, grandparent or even great grandparent was born in Greece, or was a proven member of an expatriate Greek community in another country and it will consider the reference letters by the local Greek parish and any Greek community which describe the love for Greece of the applicant. If the entire file is considered strong enough, the interview with the Consul can be scheduled. During the interview the Consul will determine how much Greek the applicant feels and if he/she has a Greek conscience. It is a big plus if the applicant speaks Greek, at least to some degree. Compared to nothing at all, speaking even a few Greek words or phrases will help. After the interview, the Consul makes a report on the “Greekness” of the applicant.

The entire file is processed subsequently by the Greek administration. The Consul’s report is the key point. Whatever the Consul has suggested in the report, it will be more or less followed by the administration in Greece, approving or rejecting the application.

The bottom line is that if the main application for citizenship is doomed, because of name changes from the original Greek names, or because we cannot find one document, or because a marriage certificate is not religious or it is civil or because a parent is not in life today and we can’t file based on the grandparent who was Greek – born, there is still a process which leads to the citizenship. This alternative or backup procedure, apart from the birth and marriage certificates, requires also that the present applicant can demonstrate basic knowledge of Greek history and civilization, awareness of modern life in Greece, involvement in Greek expatriate communities and organizations and, ideally, a certain degree of knowledge of the Greek language.

   *Christos ILIOPOULOS, attorney at

the Supreme Court of Greece , LL.M.

www.greekadvocate.eu

e-mail: bm-bioxoi@otenet.gr