Source: http://www.legislationline.org/documents/action/popup/id/5395
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 10:23:14+00:00

Document:
1. The child of a Greek man or a Greek woman acquires from its birth Greek citizenship.
2. Every person born on Greek territory acquires Greek citizenship from his birth, if he does not acquire from his birth a foreign citizenship or if he is of an unknown citizenship.
A foreigner, who has been born out of wedlock of his parents and has been recognised legally as a child of a Greek man or a Greek woman, and therefore possesses the same legal position as a legitimate child of his parents, becomes Greek citizen from the date of the recognition, if at that moment he has not reached the age of 18.
Marriage does not affect the acquisition or loss of Greek citizenship.
1. Persons of Greek ethnical descent without any citizenship or with an unknown citizenship, who live in another country and who in fact act like Greek citizen, if they are of full age may be recognised as Greek citizen by lodging an application on the Greek consular office of their place of residence and if the Minister of the Interiors will accept the application, they will take the Greek oath, as it is provided by Art. 9 paragraph 2, before the consular office or the mayor, which oath is defined specifically and for each case by the Minister of the Interiors.
The same provision will apply for their spouses, even of they are not of Greek ethnical descent.
2. The effects of the recognition exist from the date they will be put under oath.
3. Their children, of they are not 18 years old and if they are not married, become Greek citizen from the date their parent took the oath.
1. A Foreigner who is 18 years old, may acquire the Greek citizenship by naturalisation.
c) an application for naturalisation lodged to the Ministry of the Interiors.
3. The decision for the naturalisation is taken by the Minister of the Interiors after an investigation for the character and generally the personality of the foreigner.
No explanation has to be given for the decision which rejects the application for naturalisation.
4. He can not be naturalised the foreigner whose deportation has been ordered or whoever has been convicted by a Greek tribunal to imprisonment more than one year or because of crimes for high treason, against public morals, for robbery, fraud, defraudation, extortion, forging, perjure, counterfeit, defamation, smuggling, because of crimes or offenses for the establishment and movement of the foreigners in Greece and for the protection of the national currency and for drugs.
5. The decision of the Minister of the Interiors for the naturalisation of a foreigner does not being revoked during the annual time limit that is provided in art. 9 paragraph 1 of the legislative decree No. 3370/1955, which constitutes the code for the Greek citizenship, unless the decision was taken after false activity or omission by the foreigner, who wanted to be naturalised.
The foreigner who offered Greece special service, introduced remarkable invention or industry, established useful or beneficial to the public institutions, who is prominent because of his intellectual ability or because his naturalisation will serve exceptional Greek interest, may be naturalised by presidential order which is being issued after the decision of the cabinet without being necessary to fill the conditions a-c of paragraph 1 and paragraph 3 of Art. 7.
1. The naturalisation is complete from the time the naturalised person takes the oath of the Greek citizen within one year from the time the decision for the naturalisation is published in the newspaper of the Government.
2. The form of the oath is the following: "I swear to keep faith in the country, to obey the constitution and legislation and to fulfil my obligations as a Greek citizen".
3. The oath is taken before the governor. Exceptionally, the Minister of the Interiors may authorize for the taken of the oath specifically and for each case, the consular office of the place of residence of the naturalised person.
4. After the taking of the oath a protocol is drawn up, which is signed by the naturalised person and the authority which is referred in paragraph 3.
1. The children of the foreign man or foreign woman, who is naturalised, become Greek citizen, if during the completion of the naturalisation they are not married and they have not reached the age of 18 years.
c) they declare their will to dismiss the Greek citizenship to the authorities or to the Greek consular office of their place of residence or domicile within one year from the date they became 18 years old.
Copy of this declaration is lodged immediately by these authorities to the Ministry of the Interiors.
Foreigners of Greek etnical decendance who enter in the military schools to become officers and non-commissioned officers of the military service under the specific law of each school or being classified in the military service as volunteers under the specific law of each section, they acquire the Greek citizenship from the time of their entry in the schools or from the time of their classification, and without any other formality.
1. Foreigners of Greek etnical decendance, who ware being classified as volunteers during mobilization or war, according to the Act concerning "the conscription of the military service", they may acquire, if they want, the Greek citizenship by lodging an application to the Governor, without any other formality.
2. The acquisition by them of the degree of permanent officer or reservist leads to the de jure acquisition of the Greek citizenship without any other formality.
3. They take the military oath, which replace the oath of the Greek citizen.
1. Every Greek citizen, who after permission acquired a foreign citizenship by his own will or accepted a public service in another country, of this acceptance has an effect the acquisition of the citizenship of this country, he will lose his Greek citizenship.
When the permission is granted for exceptional reasons after the acquisition of the foreign citizenship, the loss of the Greek citizenship is subsisting from the date that the permission is granted.
2. A person, who has a foreign citizenship, may lose the Greek citizenship by lodging an application. In this case the loss of the Greek citizenship is subsisting from the date that the application is accepted.
3. The permission in paragraph 1 is granted and the application is accepted by the Minister of the Interiors with the opinion of the council for citizenship. The permission is not granted and the application is not accepted, if the applicant delays his military obligation or is being persecuted on a crime of offence.
A person of another race, who leaves the Greek territory without the purpose of returning back, may lose the Greek citizenship. The same applies for a person of non-Greek ethnical decent, who was born and resides in another country. The children of this person, who reside in another country and they are not of full age, may lose the Greek citizenship, if both parents or the one who is in life has lost the Greek citizenship. The decision for these is taken by the Minister of the Interiors in accordance with the consent opinion of the council for the citizenship.
c) if while he was residing in another country he acted for the benefit of this country and against the interest of Greece.
2. The forfeiture is decided by the Minister of the Interiors in accordance with the consent opinion of the council for citizenship. The loss of the Greek citizenship exists from the date of the publication of the decision in the Government's newspaper.
3. The loss of the Greek citizenship because of forfeiture of a Greek citizen, shall not affect the citizenship of his spouse or his children, minors or adults.
4. Paragraph 3 of Art. 20 applies also for actions that happened in the past, before this legislative decree came into force.
1. A foreigner, who has adopted before the age of 18, by a Greek citizen, shall become Greek citizen from the date of the adoption.
2. A Greek citizen, who was adopted before the age of 18 by a foreigner, if he acquires the citizenship of the adoptive parent, may dismiss the Greek citizenship by an application which is lodged by the adoptive parent and if this application will be accepted by the Minister of the Interiors. The Minister will decide for the application by estimating the special circumstances and with the opinion of the council for the citizenship. The application will not be accepted of the adopted child delays his military obligation or is being persecuted on a crime or offence.
This Act will not effect the provisions of the international conventions concerning nationality.
A person of Greek ethnical descendance who was born in Greece and acquired the Greek citizenship by birth, but lost it according to Art. 23 of the Civil Act of 1856 because he acquired by his own will a foreign citizenship and he lost the foreign citizenship because he left this country, he may recover the Greek citizenship de jure, after residing in Greece for two years.
1. Foreign woman, who acquired the Greek citizenship because of her marriage to a Greek man, if she keeps the citizenship that she had before her marriage, she may dismiss the Greek citizenship by lodging a declaration of her will before the 31 of December 1986 to the Minister of the Interiors or to the Governor or to the consular office of her place of residence or domicile.
2. A Greek woman, who lost the Greek citizenship because of her marriage with a foreigner, she may regain it by lodging a declaration of her will before the 31 of December 1986 to the Minister of the Interiors or to the Governor or to the consular office of her place of residence or domicile.
3. According to paragraph 1 of Article 7 of the Act 1250/1982 the recognition of marriages as substantial does not have as an effect the acquisition of the Greek citizenship by the foreign spouse of a Greek man, neither the loss of the Greek citizenship by the Greek spouse of a foreign man.
1. A child born before this Act came into force, whose mother was a Greek citizen on the date of this child's birth or on the date of the marriage in which this child is born, may become a Greek citizen by lodging a declaration of his will before the 31 of December 1986 to the Minister of the Interiors or to the Governor or to the consular office of his place of residence or domicile.
2. If the child is not of full age, the declaration of the previous paragraph if lodged by the mother. This child within one year after he becomes 18 years old, may dismiss the Greek citizenship by lodging a declaration to one of the previous authorities.
1. The children, who are born of a Greek father and a foreign mother before the Act 1250/1982 came into force and if they are legitimate according to the provision of Art. 7 paragraph 3 of the previous Act, may become Greek citizen by lodging a declaration of their will before the 31 of December 1986 to the Minister of the Interiors or to the Governor or to the consular office of their place of residence or domicile.
2. If the children are not of full age, the declaration is lodged by the father. These children within one year after they become 18 years old, may dismiss the Greek citizenship by lodging a declaration to one of the previous authorities.
3. The recognition of the children, who are born of the marriage of a Greek man or a Greek woman, as legitimate, according to art. 7 of the Act 1250/1982, shall not affect the citizenship of these children.
In these provisions for the Greek citizenship, "Full age" means the age of 18 years old.
2. The foreigner wife of a Greek citizen, whose marriage has been recognised as substantial, according to Art. 7 paragraph 1 of the Act 1250/1982, if she has been registered in her place or residence after the Act 1250/1982 came into force and until the enforcement of the Act 1438/1984, it is deemed that she acquired the Greek citizenship from the date of her registration. But within 3 years after the enforcement of this Act she may renounce the acquisition of the Greek citizenship by lodging a declaration, which is not subject to revocation, to the entitled authorities, In this case, it is deemed that she had never acquired the Greek citizenship and her registration is cancelled. The declaration is not accepted if this renunciation would render her without any citizenship.
3. Children born from marriage to a Greek citizen, which has been recognised as substantial according to paragraph 1 Art. 7 of the Act 1250/1982; if they have been registered in their place of residence until the enforcement of the Act 1438/1984, it is deemed that they acquired the Greek citizenship from the date of their registration. But within 3 years after the enforcement of this Act, they may renounce the acquisition of the Greek citizenship by lodging a declaration, which is not subject to revocation, to the entitled authorities. If they are not of full age, the declaration is being lodged by the Greek father. In this case, it is deemed that they had never acquired the Greek citizenship and their registration is cancelled. The declaration is not accepted if this renunciation would render them without citizenship.

References: Art. 9
 art. 9
 Art. 7
 Art. 20
 Art. 23
 Art. 7
 art. 7
 Art. 7
 Art. 7