30 Aug 2022

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Marriage procedures for foreign nationals in Greece

Regarding marriage within the Greek territory, between foreign nationals, who do not have the Greek nationality and they don’t reside in Greece, the needed documents are described in the document no 71160 issued on 22th October 2020 by the Ministry of Interior – Directorate General home Affairs, as follows: Marriage license issued from the country of residence Birth certificate Both documents should be translated and validated (with Apostille Stamp or Consular Stamp, depending on the country of origin) A residence permit or VISA/legal short term stay, whose validity period has not expired (not required for E.U. citizens) A valid passport or...

26 Aug 2022

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Greek S.A. company – transactions with related parties

Posted by ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΑΚΕΛΛΙΑ

in Commercial Law, Special topics

Article 99 of Law 4548/2018 (valid from 01.01.2019), which incorporated Directives 2007/36/EC and 2017/828/EU, provides that the conclusion of any contracts of an S.A. company with specific persons which are referred to as related parties, as well as the provision of securities and guarantees to third parties in favor of these persons, without special approval provided by a decision of the board of directors or by exception of the general meeting of shareholders, is prohibited and invalid. The persons (individuals or corporations) that are considered connected to the S.A are: a) for listed S.A. companies, the persons defined as connected to...

25 Aug 2022

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Acquisition of Greek citizenship by holders of “Golden Visa”

Posted by ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΑΚΕΛΛΙΑ

in Immigration Law, Special topics

Ministerial Decision no 130181/6353/07.03.2018 added Golden Visas to the list of accepted residence permits, which can lead to Greek citizenship through naturalization. The Golden Visa cannot in itself lead to the acquisition of Greek citizenship but the following requirements must be met. The general rule for acquisition of Greek citizenship is that it is based on the jus sanguinis (right of blood), which means that in principle it is self-righteous, acquired by birth, as it is specifically described in article 1 of the Greek Citizenship Code. Provided that a foreign citizen has no such connection to the country, so to establish citizenship through...

22 Aug 2022

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Greek Citizenship through ancestry

Posted by ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΑΚΕΛΛΙΑ

in Immigration Law, Special topics

Regarding the matter of acquiring Greek citizenship through ancestry, it is stressed that Greek citizenship is based on the principle of jus sanguinis (right of blood), according to which the person's nationality at birth is the same as that of his or her natural parents. The right to Greek citizenship and further the conditions and procedures for its exercise are regulated by the "Greek Citizenship Code" (Greek Law 3284/2004, as this law has been amended and is in force). According to the provisions of article 1 the acquisition of Greek citizenship is in principle self-righteous, as it is acquired by any...

19 Aug 2022

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Restrictions for women in the access of professions under Greek law

Posted by ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΑΚΕΛΛΙΑ

in Labor & Employment, Special topics

There is no legal provision in Greek law that prohibits a woman from holding any employment position. However, some conditions for the employment of women in certain sectors of the public sector have been found by the Supreme Court that they constitute indirect discrimination against women and were therefore annulled as contrary to the Constitution. In successive decisions, the Supreme Court of Greece (Supreme Judicial Council ) ruled as unconstitutional provisions for the recruitment in the public sector (Police, Coast Guard, etc.) which stipulated as a necessary qualification a specific height regardless of gender or a special height different for men...

29 Jul 2022

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Offices of Law 89/1967

Posted by ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΑΚΕΛΛΙΑ

in Company Law, Special topics

This is a brief presentation of the legal framework of the operation of Law 89/1967, according to which foreign and Greek companies may be established in Greece, through an office or branch, for the sole purpose of providing to their head offices or to affiliated companies not established in Greece specific services set forth by law providing them with a favourable tax regime and further aid, as we will mention below. Legislative framework of Law 89/1967 More specifically, the offices or branches of Law 89/1967 may provide to their head offices advisory services, central accounting support, quality control of production, products, processes...

12 Jul 2022

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Meaning of working experience in terms of annual leave

Posted by ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΑΚΕΛΛΙΑ

in Labor & Employment, Special topics

Regarding the meaning of the term “work experience” in terms of the right of the employee to annual leave, it is pointed out that this term is found in article 6 of National General Collective Employment Agreement dated 2001, to which par. 7 article 2 Mandatory Law 539/1945 refers and which remains in force at this issue. The provision is expressly referring to the employee’s right to annual leave of 25 working days, when his/her “working experience” exceeds 10 years in the same employer or 12 years in any employer....

07 Jul 2022

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Joint bank accounts – Inheritance and gift tax issues

Posted by ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΑΚΕΛΛΙΑ

in Tax Law, Special topics

Based on the recent law 4916/2022, article 25 par. 2 case (c) of the Greek Inheritance, Gifts and Parental Gifts Taxation Code – L. 2961/2001 (hereinafter referred to as “the Code”) was amended and extends the exemption from Greek inheritance taxation for deposits maintained in joint bank accounts including cash deposits and all kinds of securities that are held not only in bank accounts held in Greece but also abroad, with the exclusion of non-cooperative jurisdictions. It is noted that, in order for the exemption to apply, the contract with the foreign bank should include a clause providing that after the...

21 Jun 2022

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Extension of short-term legal stay of non-EU citizen

Posted by ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΑΚΕΛΛΙΑ

in Immigration Law, Special topics

A non-EU citizen, who entries Greece from any third country outside EU, for touristic reasons, can stay legally until at the most 90 days during a period of time of 180 days. This rule applies either a visa (type C) must be issued or not (cases of permitted stay without the obligation to issue a visa). However, there are cases when an extension of the above time limit is permitted. These are cases of force majeure or of serious humanitarian reasons, which prevented the non-EU citizen from leaving the territory of Greece (or any other Member State, as the EU Code...

14 Jun 2022

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Greek tax issues related to the granting of a loan by a foreign company to its Greek tax-resident (individual) shareholder

Posted by ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΑΚΕΛΛΙΑ

in Tax Law, Special topics

Stamp duty issues On the basis of the territoriality principle, a loan concluded and executed abroad is exempt from Greek stamp duty, provided the following conditions are met: a) the loan agreement is concluded and signed by both parties abroad (not before a Greek Consulate Authority) e.g. before a notary public or attorney at law; b) the loan agreement must not create any executable obligations in Greece e.g. it should not be secured through mortgage or property located in Greece; c) any obligation to grant the loan and repay capital and interest must be executed abroad; this practically means that...

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