Cross-border — Israel Holocaust-descendant restoration

GR-XCT-03 is the cross-border (Israel/diaspora) coordination facet of Greece's Holocaust-descendant naturalisation right. As of 2026 it is ACTIVE: lineal descendants of Greek-born Jewish-origin Holocaust-era persons may naturalise under Code Article 10 by virtue of Article 109 of Law 4461/2017 (ΦΕΚ Α' 38/28-3-2017), which replaced paragraph 2 of Article 13 of Law 4018/2011. It is not an independent substantive ground; it is the consular channel of the GR-SPC-04 / GR-RST-04 cohort, predominantly exercised from Israel.

A descendant qualifies (as of 2026) if they are a direct lineal descendant («σε ευθεία γραμμή κατιόντες») of either (a) a living Art 13 §1 beneficiary — a Jewish-origin person born in Greece before 9 May 1945 who held then lost Greek citizenship — or (b) a deceased Jewish-origin person born in Greece before 9 May 1945 who died before regaining it. The applicant must satisfy the general Art 5(1) gates (adulthood, clean criminal record, no pending deportation); omogeneis are exempt from the Art 5(2) residence/integration conditions.

No ΠΕΓΠ language/civics examination applies: as omogeneis, descendants are exempt from the Art 5(2) integration conditions (language/history/culture) by the article's own chapeau, remaining subject only to Art 5(1). The Art 10 route instead involves a consular interview touching language and Hellenic-consciousness, assessed by the consul as part of the omogeneia report. Valid as of 2026.

Per Circular Φ.130181/38595/2017 and Art 10 practice (as of 2026): passport/travel document; birth certificate; foreign (Israeli) criminal-record certificate; a declaration before the Greek consul; and documentary proof of Jewish-origin Greek ancestry tracing the lineal chain to a Greek-born pre-9-May-1945 ancestor (Greek civil/municipal registers — Δημοτολόγιο/Μητρώο Αρρένων — plus Jewish community archives such as Thessaloniki, Athens, Ioannina, Corfu, Rhodes).

Process (as of 2026): (1) establish the qualifying Greek-born pre-9-May-1945 Jewish-origin ancestor and assemble lineal-descent proof; (2) file at the Greek Consulate of country of residence (Israel for the target cohort); the consul takes the declaration and compiles an omogeneia report; (3) the consul forwards the dossier to the Directorate of Nationality (MoI, Athens); (4) Ministerial naturalisation decision published in ΦΕΚ; (5) Art 9 oath at the consulate within one year; (6) citizenship effective from the oath date.

Indicative processing time is ~18 months from consular filing to decision, consistent with the Art 10 expatriate-omogeneis norm (as of 2026). After ΦΕΚ publication of the naturalisation decision, the Art 9 oath must be taken within one year, failing which the decision is voided. Citizenship takes effect from the oath date, not from filing.

The application fee is €100 (the omogeneis reduced παράβολο category for the Art 10 expatriate route), plus a consular impost of ~€30 (PD 16/2014). Omogeneis pay no allogeneis €550 fee. Figures current per mitos.gov.gr Art 10 procedure as of 2026; the route carries no investment requirement.

Amendment history: Art 13 L.4018/2011 (ΦΕΚ Α' 215/30-9-2011) created the §1 survivor restoration (Era W6); §1 was amended by L.4251/2014; Art 109 L.4461/2017 (ΦΕΚ Α' 38/28-3-2017) replaced §2 to add lineal descendants, implemented by Circular Φ.130181/38595/2017 (19-12-2017) (Era W7). The right is live and unchanged in 2026 (Era W8); the underlying Art 10 was formatted/amended by L.4735/2020 without altering the omogeneis-abroad mechanics.

The filing authority is the Greek Consul of the applicant's country of residence (for this cohort, the Greek diplomatic mission in Israel), who certifies the omogeneia quality. The deciding authority is the Minister of the Interior via the Directorate of Nationality; the decision is published in the Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ) and the oath is administered by the consular authority (Art 9). Valid as of 2026.

The statute uses «ευθεία γραμμή κατιόντες» (lineal descendants) with NO express generation cap, and no administrative gloss capping it was located (as of 2026). The conservative default is to require an unbroken, documented lineal chain to a qualifying §1/§2(b) ancestor; do not import a 2-generation cap by analogy to other jurisdictions. A second edge case: if a direct ancestor remained on Greek registers, jus-sanguinis descent (Art 1) may be available instead of naturalisation.