NATURALISATION DOCUMENTS FOR ADULT FOREIGN NATIONALS
For several years now, more and more of our fellow citizens of foreign origin have chosen to reside permanently in our country and, additionally, to apply for Greek citizenship, provided, of course, that their period of permanent residence in Greece and the other necessary conditions allow this. In a series of articles, the translation office METAFRASIS in Kavala and the office’s branch in Thassos, will thoroughly analyse the various cases of naturalisation of foreigners and the legal framework governing each of them. METAFRASIS undertakes the complete processing of the case-files of our foreign clients applying for Greek citizenship from the beginning to the end of the process. Our office provides official - certified translations of all the necessary documents as well as the checking or completion of the case-files before submission, so that our clients avoid needless inconvenience and unnecessary expenses that arise in cases of errors or omissions.
In our first article of today, we set out the legal framework governing the naturalisation of adult foreign nationals. In subsequent articles, which will be uploaded soon, we will analyse cases of granting of Greek citizenship to underage children (minors), spouses of Greek citizens, etc.
By naturalisation. Typical requirements for naturalisation
A foreign national who wishes to become a Greek citizen by naturalisation must:
- (a) Be an adult at the time of submission of the naturalisation application.
- (b) Not have been irrevocably convicted: of a crime committed by him/her (not negligently), during the last decade prior to the submission of the application for naturalisation, to a sentence of imprisonment of at least one year or at least six months, irrespective of the date of the conviction, for the crimes of high treason, the crimes of questioning the validity of the constitution, laws and institutions that govern a country, of manslaughter with intent and dangerous bodily harm, of crimes related to dealings and trafficking in drugs, money laundering, international economic crimes, crimes using high-tech media, currency crimes, crimes related to child trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography (Law 3625/2007, National Gazette 290A), crimes of setting up or participating in a criminal organisation within the meaning of Article 187 of the Criminal Code and the crimes under Article 187 A of the Criminal Code, resisting arrest, child abduction, crimes against sexual freedom and economic sexual exploitation, theft, robbery, fraud, embezzlement, extortion, usury, the law on intermediaries, forgery, false certification, theft of false certification, defamation, smuggling, crimes relating to weapons, antiquities, the promotion of immigrants who lack a residence permit within the country or facilitating their transport or promotion or providing them with a hiding space to live in.
- (c)not be under deportation or have any ongoing or imminent legal issues that could affect his/her status of legal residency in the country
- (d) have been residing legally in Greece for seven consecutive years prior to submitting an application for naturalisation. The time spent by the foreigner in Greece as a diplomatic or administrative employee of a foreign country is not counted towards the period of legal residence. As regards holders of Member-State of the European Union citizenship, the spouses of Greek citizens with a child, those who have custody of a child of Greek citizenship, if this was not acquired in accordance with Article 1A par. 2, recognised political refugees and stateless persons, having resided legally in Greece, continuously, for at least three years, this period of time is considered a sufficient. For spouses of Greek diplomatic officials, the time spent abroad due to the service of their Greek spouses is also counted towards the completion of the above period, provided that they have completed, at any time, one year of residence in Greece. For expatriates and for those born and continuously residing in Greece, the seven-year residence precondition is not required
- (e) hold one of the following legal residences permits:
- a long-term resident's permit, pursuant to the provisions of Presidential Decree 150/2006 (National Gazette 160 A),
- a certificate or other residence permit issued to citizens of European Union Member States or EFTA countries, based on the provisions of Presidential Decree 106/2007 (National Gazette 135 A').
- a residence card or other residence permit issued to family members of a Greek citizen or a citizen of a Member State of the European Union or to parents of a minor holding Greek citizenship, pursuant to the provisions of Articles 61, 63 and 94 of Law 3386/2005,
- a certificate of recognised or subsidiary protection status or a family member of a holder of such a card, including those granted in accordance with the provisions of the Presidential Decree 61/1999 previously in force (National Gazette 63 A), as well as Presidential Decrees 90/2008 (National Gazette 138 A), 96/2008 (National Gazette 152 A), 167/2008 (National Gazette 223 A) and 81/2009 (National Gazette 99 A), as these have been amended and are in force,
- travel documents or a special card issued by a national authority, in accordance with the provisions of the New York International Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which has been ratified by Law 139/1975 (National Gazette 176 A),
- a residence card or any other residence document, apart from the Special Identity Card for Greek expatriates.
By way of a presidential decree, issued on the proposal of the Minister of the Interior, Decentralisation and Electronic Governance, permanent residence permits referred to in point (e) of the previous paragraph may be amended, replaced or abolished and new legal residence permits may be added. The Naturalisation Committee is the competent authority to decide on the aforementioned conditions.
TIME PERIODS REQUIRED FOR NATURALISATION
The foreign national concerned must have resided legally in Greece (holder of a legal residence permit) for seven consecutive years before submitting the application for naturalisation.
As regards foreign nationals who hold citizenship of a member state of the European Union, spouses of Greek citizens who have a child, persons who have custody of a child of Greek citizenship, if this was not acquired by a declaration and an application due to the child attending Greek school, recognised political refugees and stateless persons, their legal residence in Greece for at least one period of three consecutive years prior to the submission of the application for naturalisation is sufficient.
It is hereby noted that as far as spouses of Greek citizens with a child are concerned, the three-year legal residence is counted from the date of the marriage within which a child was born.
It is pointed out that a) A Greek citizen is also a person who does not hold Greek citizenship by birth but acquired it at a later time in any way (e.g. naturalisation, decision of the General Secretary of the Region, etc.). In the event that Greek citizenship was acquired by the Greek spouse on a date placed after the marriage, the legal three-year residence is counted from the date on which the said acquisition took place and b) by the term “child” what is also included, is a child jointly adopted by the couple, as well as the child of a foreign national from a previous marriage, adopted by the Greek spouse, as well as a child whose paternity that has been acknowledged.
Time periods do not apply for expatriates and for those who have been born and live continuously in Greece
Documents for naturalisation
- A foreign national who wishes to be naturalised as a Greek citizen submits a declaration to the municipality of his/her permanent residence and an application for naturalisation to the services of the Region to which the municipality falls under.
- The declaration of naturalisation is made before the mayor in the presence of two Greek citizens as witnesses. The declaration is recorded in a special protocol and a copy of it is given to the declarant together with an application form stating all the requirements for acquiring Greek citizenship by naturalisation.
- The application for naturalisation is addressed to the Minister of Interior, Decentralisation and Electronic Governance and is accompanied by:
- A copy of the declaration of naturalisation.
- A copy of the passport, of travel documents or other proof of identity verification.
- One of the legal residence documents which is valid and is referred to in point (e) of Article 5 of this Decision.
- A birth certificate or other equivalent certificate provided for by the legislation of the Country of the first nationality. If the foreign national is a beneficiary of international protection as a political refugee or has been placed under subsidiary protection status or is a stateless person and is unable to produce a birth certificate, the act of recognition of the foreign national as a political refugee, his/her placement under subsidiary protection status or the relevant stateless person's card, respectively, shall be sufficient. If the foreigner was born in Greece, the birth certificate is sufficient. If the foreigner is objectively unable to hold a passport, within the meaning of paragraph 1, subparagraph c' of Article 84 of Law 3386/2005, the residence permit issued in such cases in accordance with the aforementioned provision, suffices
- The income tax clearance or a copy of the income tax return of the last financial year,
- Social Security Number (AMKA)
- A fee of seven hundred (700) euros. For the resubmission of an application for naturalisation, the fee due shall be limited to two hundred (200) euros. Εxpatriates, holders of ΕU-member state citizenship, as well as recognised political refugees and stateless persons shall pay a fee of one hundred (100) euros for the application."
