ATHENS – The procedure for registering vital events involving Greeks that occurred abroad is being simplified through the use of the Special Registry Office’s digital pre-approval platform.
A joint decision signed by Minister of Interior Theodoros Livanios and Deputy Minister Vassilis Spanakis establishes the procedure for submitting applications to register vital events – births, marriages, deaths, and so forth – of Greeks living abroad.
Under the new decision, once the required documents for registering a vital event have received preliminary approval through the Special Registry Office’s digital platform, citizens authenticated as users through their Taxisnet credentials, as well as authorized attorneys authenticated through the online services of the Plenary of the Greek Bar Associations, may now submit digital applications to register the relevant vital events.
Applicants may send the original documents, or exact copies of the originals certified by a Greek attorney, by registered courier, or submit them in person to the competent Directorate of Civil and Municipal Status of the Ministry of Interior.
Once the documents received are confirmed to fully match those approved through the platform, the applicant will receive an electronic notification inviting them to proceed with the application to register the vital event.
Deputy Interior Minister Vassilis Spanakis emphasized that “the modernization of the now outdated 1976 registry law (Law 344/1976) is leading to measures that simplify procedures and digitize paper records, reducing bureaucracy and inconvenience for citizens.”
“Given that more than 8,000 registrations are made each year – 3,500 new registrations of events that occurred abroad (marriages, births, deaths, etc.) and more than 4,500 corrections to records of events abroad (divorces and changes to personal details) – the goal is for the Special Registry Office to become more citizen-friendly and to adapt, with reliability and accuracy, to the demands of modern reality.”
