Christos I. ILIOPOULOS
Attorney at the Supreme Court of Greece
Master Of Laws, International and European Law
105, Alexandras Ave., Athens, 114 75, HELLAS
Phone: +30 - 210-6400282, mobile +30 - 6932-775920. Facsimile: +30 - 210-6400282.
e-mail: bm-bioxoi@otenet.gr

The following is an informal interpretation in English of the Code of Greek Citizenship. The Greek text of the Code of Greek Citizenship is law in Greece, valid from 10 November 2004. The only legally binding text is the Greek one, and the following translation has been done solely for the purpose of accurately informing those who may not read Greek.

CODE OF GREEK CITIZENSHIP (PART 1)

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Article 2
II By recognition. A foreign person born out of wedlock of his/her parents, who was recognized legally as a child of a Greek, so that he/she is completely considered as a legal child of his/her father, becomes Greek from the recognition, if at that time he/she is a minor (under age).

Article 3
III By adoption. A foreign person who was adopted before he/she became of age (18 years old) as a child of a Greek man or woman, becomes Greek from the time of the adoption.

Article 4
IV. By the enlistment to the armed forces. 1. Foreign persons of Greek origin who are admitted to the military schools for officers of the armed forces or are enlisted to the armed forces as volunteers, according to the law, automatically obtain the Greek citizenship from their admission to the military schools or from their enlistment. 2. Foreign persons of Greek origin when are enlisted as volunteers in time of war or mobilization according to the existing laws can obtain the Greek citizenship by applying to the General Secretary of the Region, without any other procedure. 3. Those, from those who are mentioned at the previous paragraph, who become officers, permanent or to the reserves, obtain automatically the Greek citizenship. 4. The military oath given by the persons of Greek origin of the paragraphs 1,2 and 3 replaces the oath of the Greek citizen. 5. The children of the persons of Greek origin who obtain the Greek citizenship according to the previous paragraphs become Greek at the same time, after an application from their parent to the General Secretary of the Region, if at the time of the lodging of the application the children are unmarried and are under age (below the age of 18).

Article 5
V. By naturalization. 1. For the foreign person, who desires to obtain the Greek citizenship by naturalization, it is required that: a) he/she is of age [over 18 years old] at the time of the lodging of the application. b) not to have been sentenced, during the last decade before the lodging of the application, to a prison sentence of at least one year, or irrespective of sentence and of the time of issue of the sentencing decision, for crimes against the political institutions of the State, betrayal of the country, intended homicide and dangerous bodily harm to others, crimes related to drug trade and trafficking, the legalization of monies from illegal activities, international financial crimes, crimes with the use of high technology means, crimes related to the legal tender, resistance to the authorities, abduction of minors, crimes against the sexual freedom and crimes of financial exploitation of sexual life, theft, fraud, blackmail, usurious rates of interest, the law of brokers, forgery, lying under oath, defamation, smuggling, crimes related to arms, ancient objects, helping illegal immigrants to the inside of the country or helping their transport, or movement, or providing to them lodgings for hiding or for breaching the laws for the placement or the transport of foreign persons inside Greece. c) a decision for their deportation is not pending against them. 2. For the foreign person who is not of Greek origin, it is required in addition: a) that he is legally residing in Greece ten years in total within the last twelve years before the lodgment of the application for naturalization. For the foreign persons who do not have the citizenship of any country or for the foreign persons who have been recognized as refugees, five years of residence in Greece within the last twelve years is enough before they lodge the citizenship application. To the above mentioned period of residence in Greece is not included the time that the foreign person has stayed in Greece as diplomatic or administrative personnel of a foreign country. The precondition of the ten-year residence is not required for the spouse of a Greek, who is residing for at least three years in Greece and has acquired a child, as well as for the person who is born and resides permanently in Greece. For the spouses of the members of the Greek diplomatic staff who have stayed, whenever, one year in Greece and are serving abroad, the time they have stayed abroad due to the service of their Greek spouses is included to the above mentioned requirement of time. b) Has a sufficient knowledge of the Greek language, the Greek history and generally of the Greek civilization. 3. Athletes of Olympic games who have completed a five-year legal residence in Greece within the last twelve years, can obtain the Greek citizenship, according to the terms of articles 5 – 9 of the present Code, provided they are entitled to compete to the equivalent Greek national team, according to the international regulations of the athletic sport in question, after a report of the related national federation and the consent of the Greek Olympic Committee.

Article 6
The foreign person who desires to become naturalized Greek, submits to the Municipality of the place of his residence a naturalization application, which is intended for the Minister of the Interior, of Public Administration and Decentralization. The application must also include: a) A declaration for naturalization. Such declaration is signed before the Mayor in the presence of two Greek citizens as witnesses. b) A lump sum to the state, according to the existing legislation. Such sum is not payable by those applicants who are of Greek origin. c) A copy of the passport or of other traveling document. d) Residence permit or other document proving legal residence in the country. e) Birth certificate, or in case of lack of this, baptismal certificate. If the foreign person is a refugee and cannot present the birth certificate, the decision granting him political asylum is enough. f) Certificate from the tax authority or income tax statement for the last financial year.

Article 7
1. The Municipality examines whether all documents required have been submitted and sends the application along with the supporting documents to the responsible for citizenship matters agency of the Region [Periferia], which examines whether the preconditions of paragraphs 1a and 2a of article 5 are satisfied, so that the application can further be examined by the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization. If the above conditions are not satisfied, the General Secretary of the Region rejects the application.
2. If these conditions are satisfied, the responsible agency of the Region asks the applicant to present a criminal record for judicial use, a certificate that he has not been deported and, in addition, all the information the agency or the interested party consider as useful so that an opinion is reached about the knowledge of the Greek language, history and civilization, as well as for his ethics and his personality. Subsequently, the file is sent to the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization along with the supporting data and the opinion of the responsible police authority of the area of residence of the foreign person about matters of public order and the security of the country.
3. After examining the file, the responsible agency of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization invites the foreign person to an interview, at a certain place and time, before the Committee of Naturalization of article 12, so that the Committee can give an opinion to the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization about the sufficient knowledge of the Greek language, history and civilization, as well as for his ethics and personality. The invitation of the foreign person for the interview is certified with a receipt. Failure of the foreign person to present himself is justified only in cases of an Act of God. If the failure of presentation is not justified the application for naturalization is rejected by the Minister.

Article 8
1. The naturalization is approved by a decision of the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization, which is published at the Government Gazette.
2. The decision that rejects the application for naturalization does not include a justification. A new application for naturalization is permitted only after one year from the rejection of the previous application.

Article 9
1. The foreign person obtains the Greek citizenship by giving the oath, which must be done within one year from the date that the decision for naturalization has been published to the Government Gazette. The naturalization decision is revoked if the oath is not given within this period of one year. 2. The oath that is given is as follows: “I swear to hold faith to my Country, to obey the Constitution and the laws of the state and to adequately observe my duties as a Greek citizen”.3. The oath is given before the General Secretary of the Region. By a decision of the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization it can be decided that the oath is given before another institution. When the oath is given, an official document is written.

Article 10
The naturalization application of the persons of Greek origin who reside outside of Greece is submitted to the Greek Consul of the place of residence of the applicant. The Consul sends the application to the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization along with his report, in which it is necessary to include documents that prove the applicant’s Greek origin. Along with the application it must also be submitted: a) A naturalization declaration, which is given before the Consul, in the presence of two Greek citizens as witnesses. b) A copy of passport or other travel document. c) Birth certificate, or in case of non existence of such document, a certificate of baptism and d) A certificate on the criminal record from the foreign authorities. 2. The responsible agency of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization after examination of the data of the dossier of the foreign person and after the opinion of the Ministry of Public Order on matters related to the public order and the security, reports to the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization for the approval or not of the naturalization application. 3. The stipulations of articles 8 and 9 are applied to the naturalization of this article as well.

Article 11
The children of the foreign male or female person who becomes naturalized Greek, become Greek, without any other procedure, if at the time of the naturalization they are under age [under 18 years old] or unmarried.

Article 12
1. At the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization a five-person Naturalization Committee is formed, which consists of: a) The head of the General Directorate of Administrative Support of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization, as chairman, b) a member of the Teaching and Educational Personnel in the field of Sociology, of a university, who is proposed by the President of the relevant Department, with his substitute, c) a member of the Teaching and Educational Personnel in the field of Psychology, of a university, who is proposed by the President of the relevant Department, with his substitute, d) the head of the Directorate of Civil and Municipal Status of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization and e) the head of the relevant Department of Citizenship of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization. 2. The Committee is formed after a decision of the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization. The same decision states the substitutes of the President and of the members of the Committee. The secretarial duties of this Committee are given to a civil servant of university education of the Administrative, who serves at the Directorate of Civil and Municipal Status of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization, who is appointed along with his substitute with the same decision. At the Committee participates as a reporting member, without voting right, the civil servant who is handling the case. 3. The term of the members of the Naturalization Committee lasts for two years. 4. With a decision by the Ministers of Finance and of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization the remuneration of the members of the Committee and the secretary is decided.

Article 13
With a Presidential Decree, issued after a justified proposal of the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization, it is possible that can become naturalized Greek, without the conditions of par. 2 of article 5 and of articles 6,7 and 8, a foreign person who has offered to Greece excellent services, or the naturalization of whom can serve the exceptional interest of the country.

Article 14
VI. Special cases of citizenship acquisition. 1. A child born before 8 May 1984 from a mother who was Greek at the time of the birth or at the time of the marriage from which the child was born, becomes Greek, if he declares his relevant will to the General Secretary of the Region, or to the Greek Consular Authority of his place of residence. 2. A child born of a Greek father and a foreign mother before Law 1250/1982 (16 July 1982), provided the child is considered a true child of the father according to article 7 par.3 of the above Law, becomes Greek, if he declares his relevant will to the General Secretary of the Region, or to the Greek Consular Authority of his place of residence. 3. The acquisition of the Greek citizenship in the cases of the above paragraphs is verified with a decision of the General Secretary of the Region. 4. The children of those who obtain the Greek citizenship according to this article, become Greek without any other procedure, if at the time of the declaration are under age or unmarried.

(End of Part 1) | (Read Part 2)

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Christos Iliopoulos is an attorney at law, LL.M., in Athens, Greece, specializing in International and European Business Law. For more information about him, see his brief biographical sketch under the HCS section for Contributing Authors at http://www.helleniccomserve.com/christosiliopoulosbio.html. He has submitted many articles to HCS; readers can browse these in the archives section bearing his name at the URL http://www.helleniccomserve.com/archiveiliopoulos.html. He can be contacted by e-mail at bm-bioxoi@otenet.gr or by phone (from the US) 011-30-210-6400282; mobile 011-30-693-2775920, fax 011-30-210-6400282, or by postal mail at the address: 105 Alexandras Ave., Athens, 11475, HELLAS