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 identity card for citizens’ members of the E.U.
The above documents are presented in person at the City Hall where the marriage will take place. Each partner submits a separate set of documents. The official then sets the date for the wedding ceremony. The marrying couple must arrange for two witnesses to attend the wedding ceremony, one of whom will act as an interpreter. Witnesses should carry passports or Greek IDs.
The marriage must be registered at the Civil registry of the city where the marriage is performed. All marriages, civil or religious, should be registered within 40 days following the ceremony. Marriages can be registered by either spouse, or by proxy with a power of attorney.
However, there are cases where foreign citizens are informed by local City Halls that no wedding license from their country of origin is required, so in cases the interested parties wish to proceed to their marriage in Greece, it is recommended to have come to a communication with the City Hall where the marriage is planned to take place
* The information is accurate to the best of our knowledge as at the time of writing. We have no obligation to update it. We accept no responsibility against any third party who is not a client of the firm and has not signed the terms of our engagement.