A Greek expat lives in Australia. He was born in Greece, moved to Australia at a young age and settled there. He feels he can easily register his marriage in Australia in Greece. His intention is to later register his children, born in Australia, so that they can obtain the much sought-after Greek/EU passport. Furthermore, the family may soon start a new business in Greece, and that is why the Australian marriage must be registered in Greece and the children must obtain their Greek passport.
In most cases, a foreign marriage can be registered in Greece, provided that at least one of the married persons (the bride and groom) is a Greek citizen. However, problems can arise. A usual complication arises when the Greek citizen’s name is not indicated in the same spelling in his or her marriage abroad as in the Greek birth certificate. The person was born in Greece with the last name Leontiadis, but married in the United States under the name Leon. The Greek name may have been Xydeas, but in the foreign marriage it was Xydias. Even subtle changes like this can block the registration in Greece of the foreign marriage and therefore interrupt the registration of citizenship.
Another reason why the foreign marriage cannot be registered immediately in Greece is that it is the second marriage of the Greek citizen. When we bring a marriage certificate from Canada to the Greek authorities for registration, we may find out that the marriage certificate indicates that this is the second marriage of the Greek citizen. Or that the Greek citizen was “divorced” before this marriage. In such a case, we need to find the marriage certificate of the first marriage and register it in Greece. Next, we need to find the divorce court decision or court order. If it comes from a country other than Greece, it must be officially translated into Greek, with apostille or notarized by the Greek consulate, and presented before a Greek court, accompanied by a request for recognition in the Greek legal order . We also need additional written proof that this decision from a foreign divorce court is final, meaning that the time to contest or appeal it has passed without incident.
Once the Greek court issues its decision to recognize the decision of the foreign divorce court, the decision will be registered in the Athens Special Register and we will then be able to register the second marriage of the Greek citizen, which was our goal in the first . place. The path to Greek citizenship or any other legal registration in Greece is then open.
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