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GREEK LAW

Correcting and identifying names in the Greek registers

For the administration, two spellings can mean two people. The file stops until the two are reconciled.

WHO HANDLES THIS

This work is carried out by our lawyers in Greece, before the competent authorities and courts.

The problem in one sentence

The Greek administration identifies a person from the details of the registry record and the
municipal roll. Where the surname, given name, patronymic or date of birth diverges from the
foreign documents produced, the authority does not interpret: it treats them as different
persons and the file does not proceed.

Two distinct routes

The first is correction of the registry record itself. Civil Registry Law 344/1976 provides that, depending on the detail being corrected, either a prosecutor’s authorisation or a final court judgment is required. Obvious or clerical errors follow the lighter route, while the essential particulars of the record, such as the name, the surname or the date of birth, as a rule call for judicial determination. The application may be filed by a lawyer holding a special power of attorney, so your presence is not required.
The second is a change of surname, which is not the correction of an error but a modification, and follows an administrative procedure before the competent authority. The two are autonomous, and a case often needs both: first the accuracy of the entry is restored, then the surname is changed, or the reverse.

When nothing is wrong, but identity must be proved

There are cases in which no entry is erroneous. The ancestor is registered in Greece under his Greek name, while in the country where he settled he appears in an anglicised or shortened form. Here the object is not to alter a detail but to prove that the two names belong to the same natural person.
The proof rests on a combination of material: earlier registry and municipal entries, male registers, church certificates, consular documents and, where required, sworn statements by persons with knowledge of the facts.

Why it comes before the citizenship application

A citizenship file is examined on the consistency of the details across the whole line of descent. If the divergence is identified after filing, the application remains pending or is rejected and the correction is made in any event, with time lost. For that reason the correction precedes the application or runs alongside it.

QUESTIONS

Frequently asked

My Cypriot ancestor is my grandfather.Am I entitled?

It is assessed on your date of birth and on the status of your parents at that time; a separate application exists for persons of Cypriot origin born after 16 August 1960 without a Cypriot parent.

Do I need to travel to Greece?

No. The application is filed by a lawyer under a special power of attorney.

Is a change of surname decided by a court?

No, it follows an administrative procedure, distinct from correction of the registry record.

I changed my name by a foreign court order. Is that enough?

The order is used, but it is not automatically reflected in the Greek registers; the route by which it takes effect is examined separately.

Sources

  • Ministry of the Interior, Special Registry Department; Civil Registry Law 344/1976, as in force.

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Name Change & Correction

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Genealogical &Archival Research

Locating the documents in the first place.
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Greek Citizenship by Descent

Where the documents are used.
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