We use cookies for statistical purposes.

  • Ermou 56, Athina 105 63, Greece
  • clients(at)lawyersgreece.eu
  • +302111995654
Our Articles

Citizenship by Descent in Greece

Citizenship by Descent in Greece

One can acquire Greek citizenship through ancestry either at birth or if one of the parents is a Greek national. The same can apply when the grandmother or grandfather of the individual was born in Greece or has gone through the process of naturalization. Our immigration lawyer in Greece is ready to answer your questions regarding citizenship by descent and provide you with additional information, apart from the data listed in this article.

We offer tailored services to our clients, meaning that our team will take into account your unique family history in order to determine if you are eligible for this type of citizenship.

 Quick Facts  
Who can obtain citizenship by descent in Greece?   Persons born to a parent with Greek nationality

 Citizenship by descent for adopted children 

 Yes, if at least one parent is a Greek national

 Citizenship by descent in case of unmarried parents 

When at least one parent is a Greek citizen 

Citizenship by descent through grandparents  If at least one grandparent was a Greek citizen (subject to definitive proof) 
Conditions for the ancestors  

At least one ancestor was a Greek citizen (must be duly documented) 

 General required documents for citizenship by descent

 Proof that the ancestor is/was registered in the Records of a Municipality of the Hellenic Republic.

 Requirements for language knowledge 

Not necessarily 

 Means of proving language knowledge

Not applicable in all cases 

 Other requirements

 The applicant will be asked to take an oath at the end of the process.

 Document requirements Other documents may be needed on a case-by-case basis. 
 Translation requirements

Yes 

Apostille 

Yes, required so that a foreign-issued document is recognized (when issued in certain countries). 

 Power of attorney

Can be used. You can contact our immigration lawyers in Greece for details. 

 Situations in which citizenship applications are prohibited

In some cases, if the applicant is a threat to national security. Our team can give you more details. 

Dual citizenship   Yes 

Obtaining Greek citizenship through origin is not always possible, as not all applicants who wish to obtain Greek nationality have Greek heritage. However, this is also possible through other methods, discussed in more detail by our team in other articles. The two main routes, which are commonly used by foreign nationals who do not have Greek origins, are through marriage or through naturalization, possible after the applicant has lived for several years in Greece.

Read below more about citizenship by descent in Greece and reach out to our immigration lawyer if you need special assistance to apply.

The conditions for Greek citizenship by descent

Obtaining citizenship in Greece through ancestry or parentage is subject to certain conditions. Below, our Greek immigration lawyers highlight the most important ones:

  • Greek parents(s): a child who has one or both parents with Greek nationality acquire citizenship automatically at birth;
  • Foreign naturalized parents: the same citizenship at birth rule applies for a child whose parents have lawfully lived in the country for five years; for children with naturalized parents who were not born in Greece, citizenship can apply at a later date; our immigration lawyer in Greece can provide more details;
  • Wedlock children: a child can obtain citizenship by descent in Greece if he or she is born out of wedlock and the mother has Greek nationality;
  • Children of age: those older than 18 can obtain citizenship automatically if their father is a Greek national (proper documents are required to prove this).

Other situations may include those in which the applicant can prove that he has at least one grandparent who was a Greek national. Marriage is no longer an automatic means of acquiring citizenship in Greece. This was possible until 1984 for women marrying Greek nationals.

It is important to keep in mind that, for citizenship by descent in Greece, the Greek parent needs to have been registered with the Greek Municipality as a resident. This needs to be a standard registration and not an indicative one. Our immigration lawyer in Greece can give you more information and help you verify this.

Additionally, one can also apply for Greek nationality in the situation in which he or she was born before May 5th, 1984, to a Greek mother or before July 16th to a Greek father, in this case in wedlock.  

Special assistance for obtaining Greek citizenship through origin

Foreign nationals who have first made inquiries about the possibility of applying for Greek citizenship based on their lineage with the nearest Consulate in their country of origin should note that the Consulate is not the one to determine if citizenship can or cannot be awarded in a certain case. The task is handled by the Greek Ministry of Interior, Public Administration, and Decentralization and, as needed, by the General Districts in the country.

Bringing forward the documents that can attest to one’s Greek origin is mandatory for this process. Our team can help you with complete information on the required documents as well as what to expect during the initial visit with the Consulate. Once this first step has taken place, we will assist you during the subsequent phases. Receiving proper legal assistance from a Greek specialist is even more important if the applicant does not have proper knowledge of the Greek language. We can help you draft and sign documents and handle the submissions with the Greek authorities.

Among the most important documents we list the following:

  1. the application form and the applicant’s identification documents (passport);
  2. the legalized birth certificate;
  3. the parent’s marriage certificate;
  4. baptism certificate;
  5. the Greek ancestor’s registration certificates with the Greek municipality or their military records;

Some of the fees that can be expected when applying for Greek citizenship through ancestry include the following:

  • an application fee of 210 Euros;
  • 10 euros for the authentication of the original signature for EU citizens;
  • 30 euros for signature authentication for third-country nationals.

Please keep in mind that these fees can be subject to change. Our team can provide you with updated information as needed.

Our immigration specialists invite you to watch a video about this manner of obtaining Greek citizenship:

Information about the documents needed to obtain Greek citizenship through heritage

When making the application for Greek citizenship by descent, the following conditions apply to the documents that are submitted:

  • the documents  are to be submitted either in original form or certified copies of the original;
  • all documents issued by a foreign authority are not only translated by a sworn translator but also legalized by a notary public; if the issuing state is part of the Hague Convention, an apostille is applied to the document, in the issuing country;
  • when applying for citizenship by descent in Greece, the document translations need to be made by a  certified translator included in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s register of certified translators;
  • the names of the applicant need to be consistent across all documents, as well as his or her particulars; this also applies to the names and the particulars of the ancestors.

All original documents are kept by the authorities while processing the application and returned to their owner once the process is complete. When the application is rejected, the original documents will remain in the possession of the authorities, pending a resubmission or a completion of the file.

The documents that are filled in concerning the Greek mother and/or father are to be filled-in in Greek. Information about the father and the mother is provided in this form. For example, the applicant will need to provide the father’s year of registration and number of registrations with the Greek citizen male register of the Municipality in which the father was born. Other details will refer to the mother’s maiden name, as well as the parents’ addresses and contact information.

Once again, observing the language requirements is important for these types of applications and working with a sworn translator (for persons of Greek origin who cannot read or write in Greek) or with one of our lawyers who specialize in immigration matters is relevant in this particular case. While sworn translations can only be performed by an accredited translator, our immigration lawyers can help you with drawing up and filling in relevant documents.

Individuals of Greek origin should know that when they submit their citizenship application to a Greek Consulate, it is not the Consulate that determines if the applicant can or can’t receive Greek citizenship by descent. The documents are forwarded to a General District of the Greek Ministry of Interior. Our team will help you gather all the needed documents before you schedule your first meeting with the Greek consulate. It is important to bring all the relevant documents that will be used to ascertain your citizenship rights at the first scheduled meeting.

Scheduling your appointment with the Greek Consulate

In order to apply, a foreign national will need to make an appointment with the Consular office via the booking system. For some Consula Offices, such as that in the United Kingdom, new appointments become available for booking on Fridays, after 12:00 pm.

You will need to handle some of the steps for the appointment, as well as showing up in person at the Greek Consulate. However, whenever necessary and as appropriate, our immigration lawyer in Greece can act on your behalf, to represent your best interests in front of the Greek authorities.

For the purpose of preparing your application for Greek citizenship through ancestry, you should take into account the following scheduling considerations with the Greek Consulate:

  • you will need to register via the appointment service; this is done by providing preliminary personal details;
  • the scheduled appointment is submitted in the name of the citizen who will be attending and who is interested in making an application in front of the Consular Service (and not in the name of a representative; an exception applies in the case of parents, spouses, or interested persons);
  • the Consular Service may delete appointments; canceling an appointment is possible via the service.

Once the appointment is scheduled at a convenient date and time for the applicant, it is his or her responsibility to fully comply with the document requirements, as well as preparing with the appropriate and filled-in form for the requested service.

Please keep in mind that if you are interested in moving to Greece you should check the Greek Consulate’s requirements in your city or area of residence as the aforementioned steps are only a general outline of the process.

The authorities can issue a response on an application for Greek citizenship by lineage within several months. Overall, the waiting period can be longer, as the applicant may need to go through several stages.

By comparison, those who apply for Greek citizenship via the naturalization route can wait for more than one year, often more, because they also need to be called in for an interview.

Additional information about Greek citizenship by birth

The status of the parents living in Greece at the time the child is born is essential for determining the right to apply for Greek citizenship not necessarily by descent, but by birth. The parents can be recognized as Greek citizens when the child is born if they apply for this status through naturalization, or the child may have one parent who is a Greek national. However, there is a particular case in which the citizenship of the child is not readily determined upon birth.

When the child is born in Greece and none of the parents have a residence permit (or they only have a temporary residence permit) or when the child is born in the country, however, when the parents have not been living in the country for more than 5 years with a residence permit when the child is born, then the application for the child’s citizenship can only be submitted once he or she is enrolled in the first grade of elementary school. In this case, the application is submitted to the Directorate of Civil Registry in the area where the parents reside, an application fee applies and the decision can be made in six months to a year.

Other options for acquiring Greek citizenship

As previously mentioned, obtaining Greek citizenship is not only possible by birth or by descent. Foreign nationals who have no previous ties with the country through their parents or grandparents can still be eligible for this status, provided that they have lawfully lived in the country long enough. We list a number of other possible cases below. If you need more information about any of these situations, we encourage you to reach out to our Greek immigration specialists. We can help you prepare the needed documents or help confirm if the documents you have prepared are in line with the requirements. We will also indicate where the submission is made and, if possible and as applicable, we can act as your representative if you do not live in Greece when the application is made (but are still interested in exploring your options for acquiring citizenship, through descent or otherwise).

When the individual has a co-ethnic Greek ancestor, he will be able to submit the application at any time, provided that they do not reside permanently abroad. For this type of application, an individual who resides permanently abroad cannot be regarded as being Greek. The documents required in this case are also the application for naturalization, the criminal record, passport, birth certificate, as well as the documents that prove the relationship with the co-ethnic Greek ancestor. The processing time can be between 1 and 2 years.

Co-ethnic Greeks from Turkey, Albania, and states that were part of the former USSR, who hold a Special Identity Card can apply for citizenship. They will need to submit their special identity card (issued for co-ethnic Greeks), as well as their identification documents, the application for naturalization, and the family status certificate.

Co-ethnic Greeks who reside in countries that were formerly part of the USSR can also apply for citizenship with the Greek consular office in the country or area in which they currently reside. They will need to submit proper documentation in the form of an application for naturalization, the identity card for co-ethnic Greeks, the birth certificate (as well as that of the parents, authenticated and translated into Greek by a sworn translator), the marriage certificate of the parents and other documents that can be used as proof of the Greek heritage (for example, any documents of the soviet authorities that stipulate ethnic designation).

The application is not subject to a fee in this case and the applicant will need to discuss the estimated issue date with the authorities. Co-ethnic Greeks from former USS countries who have settled into Greece before May 2nd, 2021 or are the parents or children of co-ethnic Greeks who already have Greek citizenship can also apply for citizenship. They will also need to provide specific documents that prove the status of their parents, as well as their ethnic heritage.

If you fall under one of these categories that refer to persons with a co-ethnic Greek ancestor, our team can help you.

Are you looking to apply for another type of resident permit for Greece? Or perhaps you are interested in the available programme for non-EU investors who purchase property for the purpose of gaining residency? Our team will answer questions concerning resident permit applications, focusing on the needed documents, the expected processing time, when and where to apply, and more.

Greece is one of the most desirable countries in Europe. Its cities, beautiful islands, climate, and culture are among the main reasons why many foreign nationals are inclined to apply for Greek citizenship, either by descent if their family history allows or otherwise.

Moving to Greece based on ancestry may be available only to a small group of people who have Greek origins. However, your relocation to Greece is still possible based on other grounds. For example, one of the easiest routes for remaining in the country is available to non-EU/EEA foreign nationals who can make certain types of investments in the country, including ones in real estate.

Did you know that even if you do not have Greek descendants, you can retire to Greece? While it is true that no specific visa designed for foreign pensioners is in place, those who wish to remain in the country for more permanent purposes once they retire can do so and will even benefit from a flat rate on foreign-source income (for a limited time). Our team can tell you more.

Greek citizenship is not available to all applicants based on their ancestry. If you do not have any Greek relatives, and are not married to a Greek citizen, you can be eligible for naturalization based on your prolonged lawful stay in the country. In most cases, this minimum stay is seven years, however, it can be reduced in some situations. You can reach out to our team to find out more and to receive assistance during your application.

Living in Greece

For foreigners who plan to move to Greece, the citizenship application will be the natural conclusion of a relocation journey that starts with obtaining a residence permit in Greece.

For those foreign nationals who relocate to the country based on citizenship by descent in Greece, as well as for those who cannot base their stay on lineage, but on the ordinary route, the following issues are relevant for relocation:

  • accommodation;
  • healthcare;
  • education, and others.

If you plan on relocating to Greece this year, discussing the needed steps with one of our Greece immigration specialists is advisable.

Greece’s population

It should come as no surprise that, for many of those who are interested in moving to Greece, the city of Athens is the top choice. Other data about the country’s main cities and population are listed below by our team:

  • Athens has an estimated metro area population in 2024 of 3,154,591;
  • Thessaloniki has a metro population estimated to be 814,980 in 2024;
  • The country’s total population was estimated at 10,318,308 at the start of 2024.

If you plan on relocating to the beautiful Mediterranean country as a digital nomad instead of based on your lineage, our team can also give you details about your options.

Specialized legal advice can be very important during the citizenship application phase. You can contact our immigration lawyer in Greece if you are ready to start the application process.