Birth — Foundling / statelessness
Ciudadanía en Grecia
- Elegibilidad
- Born in Greece + otherwise stateless OR foundling discovered in Greek territory.
- Plazo
- Code 3284/2004 §1(2); 1954 Statelessness Convention (acceded 1975-11-04)
- Tasa oficial
- 0 €
- Renuncia
- No requerida
Esta página se tradujo automáticamente. La versión en inglés es la versión autorizada.
Resumen
GR-BTH-03 es la salvaguardia contra la apatridia y los expósitos de Grecia según el artículo 1§2 del Código (L.3284/2004): un niño nacido en territorio griego adquiere la nacionalidad griega automáticamente (αυτοδίκαια) al nacer cuando se cumple una de las tres extremidades enumeradas. NO es jus soli incondicional: el mero nacimiento en suelo griego de padres extranjeros que transmiten una nacionalidad extranjera no confiere nada. La ruta se encuentra activa y vigente a junio de 2026 (Código consolidado al 02-12-2025 / 17-09-2025).
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Quién califica
Eligibility under Art 1§2 requires birth on Greek territory PLUS exactly one limb: (α) a parent was born in Greece and has resided permanently in Greece since that parent's own birth; (β) the child acquires no foreign nationality at birth and cannot acquire one even by the parents' declaration to the foreign authorities (would-be-stateless); or (γ) the child is of unknown nationality (foundling), unless the impossibility of ascertaining a foreign nationality is due to a parent's refusal to cooperate. No residence requirement, no age limit. As of 12-Feb-2025 consolidation.
Requisitos
No language test, no civics/integration exam (ΠΕΓΠ / Art 5A) and no interview apply to Art 1§2 birth acquisition; those steps are confined to discretionary naturalisation (Arts 5A-7). The route confers nationality on factual qualification alone, consistent with its treaty-driven anti-statelessness purpose. As of 2026.
Documentos
Because acquisition is ex lege at birth, documents prove the qualifying facts for registration/determination rather than support a discretionary grant: the Greek birth act (ληξιαρχική πράξη γέννησης) establishing birth on Greek soil; for §2(β) a non-acquisition attestation from the parents' state(s) of nationality; for §2(γ) the foundling/abandonment record and absence of any ascertainable nationality; for §2(α) proof a parent was born in Greece and resided there since birth. Foreign documents require certified translation and apostille. As of 2026.
Cómo solicitar
Process: (1) the birth is registered at the Civil Registry (Ληξιαρχείο, Law 344/1976); (2) the Art 1§2 limb is asserted to the Regional Citizenship Directorate of the Decentralised Administration with proof; (3) the authority issues a declaratory determination under Art 25(2) ΚΕΙ confirming nationality was acquired at birth; (4) registration follows in the Δημοτολόγιο and the unified Μητρώο Πολιτών (Law 4483/2017). There is no oath, no naturalisation hearing and no integration exam. As of 2026.
Plazos
Acquisition is legally instantaneous at birth; the administrative determination/registration has no Art 1§2-specific statutory deadline. Code Art 31 provides that the general administrative-procedure deadlines of Art 4 L.2690/1999 do NOT apply to nationality acquisition/recognition matters, so practical timing varies by Regional Directorate caseload. No fixed route-specific day-count is pinned (do not assume one). As of 2026.
Tasas y costos
No statutory acquisition fee applies to ex-lege birth acquisition under Art 1§2 — the naturalisation παράβολο regime (€550/€200/€100, codes 2159/2162/2161) governs discretionary naturalisation, not acquisition by birth. Only incidental civil-registry, certified-translation and apostille costs arise. No Art 1§2-specific fee is pinned in the Code. As of 2026 (naturalisation fees per mitos.gov.gr, upd. 10-03-2025).
Base jurídica
El instrumento rector es el Código Art 1§2 (α/β/γ), L.3284/2004 (ΦΕΚ Α' 217/10-11-2004), consolidado hasta 2025; la forma enumerada del §2 sobrevivió ΣτΕ (Ολομ.) 460/2013. El título actual textual dice «Την Ελληνική Ιθαγένεια αποκτά από τη γέννησή του και όποιος γεννιέται σε ελληνικό έδαφος, εφόσον δεν αποκτά με τη γέννησή του αλλοδαπή ιθαγένεια ή είναι άγνωστης ιθαγένειας», elaborado por las subcondiciones de tres letras. El artículo 1§1 (jus sanguinis) es primario; §2 es la salvaguardia residual basada en el suelo.
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Autoridad competente
The competent authority is the Regional Citizenship Directorate (Περιφερειακή Διεύθυνση Ιθαγένειας) of the Decentralised Administration, which ascertains acquisition under Art 25(2); the Ministry of the Interior is the supervisory authority for all nationality matters (Art 25 ΚΕΙ). Civil registration runs through the Ληξιαρχείο and Δημοτολόγιο, unified in the Μητρώο Πολιτών. Service renamed to 'Περιφερειακή Διεύθυνση Ιθαγένειας' by L.5225/2025 (ΦΕΚ Α' 152/02-09-2025).
Exceptions & edge cases
Common pitfalls: treating Art 1§2 as general jus soli (it is not — ΣτΕ 460/2013 is the guardrail); citing the 1961 Convention as Greek law (Greece is a non-party); conflating the surviving §2(α) limb with the struck L.3838/2010 declaration jus-soli; confusing this route with the declaration-based Art 1A/1B birth-plus-schooling routes (GR-BTH-01/02); and assuming a fee, test or oath applies (none do for ex-lege birth acquisition). As of 2026.
Escenarios de ejemplo
Los escenarios de ejemplo se muestran en inglés.
nationality: Stateless (both parents stateless ex-Soviet)
Greek nationality acquired automatically (αυτοδίκαια) at birth under Art 1§2(β); registered via declaratory determination, no fee, no test.
Code Art 1§2(β): a child born on Greek territory who does not acquire any foreign nationality at birth and cannot acquire one even by the parents' declaration is Greek from birth — the core anti-statelessness limb, underpinned by Greece's 1954 Convention party status (accession 1975, L.139/1975). [, ]
nationality: Unknown
Greek nationality acquired automatically at birth under Art 1§2(γ) (foundling/unknown-nationality safeguard).
Code Art 1§2(γ): a child born in Greece of unknown nationality is Greek, unless the impossibility of establishing a foreign nationality is due to a parent's refusal to cooperate. With no known parent and genuine unascertainability, the carve-out does not apply and the foundling safeguard operates.
nationality: Country X (parents are nationals of X)
NO Greek nationality under Art 1§2 — the child acquires a foreign nationality at birth, so neither the §2(β) nor §2(γ) limb is satisfied; the §2(α) limb is unavailable (no parent born in Greece).
Art 1§2 is NOT general jus soli (ΣτΕ Ολ 460/2013 confirms formal soil criteria cannot alone confer nationality). Because Country X passes its nationality at birth, the would-be-stateless premise fails. The family's route to Greek nationality would lie, if at all, in later schooling-based Art 1A/1B (GR-BTH-01/02) or naturalisation. [, ]
nationality: Foreign (parent eligible to register child but refuses)
NO Greek nationality under Art 1§2(γ) (and §2(β) is not met because acquisition WAS possible) — the safeguard is disabled by the parent's refusal to cooperate.
Art 1§2(γ) expressly excludes the case where the impossibility of ascertaining/acquiring a foreign nationality is due to a parent's refusal to cooperate; §2(β) also fails because the child could acquire the foreign nationality by parental declaration. The anti-abuse design prevents engineered statelessness.
nationality: Mixed/uncertain
Greek nationality acquired automatically at birth under Art 1§2(α) (conditional jus soli for Greece-rooted parent), on strict proof of the parent's Greek birth and uninterrupted residence since birth.
Code Art 1§2(α): birth in Greece where one parent was born in Greece and has resided permanently in the country since that parent's own birth. Read strictly (Conservative tier) — continuity of the parent's residence from birth must be documented; this surviving automatic limb is distinct from the struck L.3838/2010 declaration jus-soli. No on-point ΣτΕ case located (carried honestly).
Resumen informativo recopilado a partir de fuentes legales primarias: no es asesoramiento jurídico. La ley de ciudadanía cambia; verifica con la autoridad competente antes de actuar. Verificado por última vez el 2026-05-02.
Sigue los cambios en esta vía
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