In order the documents issued by foreign authorities, to be accepted by Greek authorities, they need to be legally certified and officially translated in Greek.

There are two types of certification:

a. The Apostille stamp for countries that are parties to the Hague Convention and

b. Certification by the Consular

More specifically:

  • The Apostille stamp: For countries that are parties to the Hague Convention, and for which Greece has not issued a warning, the Public Administration accepts the Apostille stamp which is provided by the relevant foreign authorities on the foreign documents.

You will find the list of states for which the Hague stamp is required (apostille) at the following link: https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members. For the local authorities that are responsible to place the Apostille stamp please follow the link below: https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/authorities1/?cid=41 Certification must always be done on the original document  and not on a photocopy.

  • Certification by the Consular: For any countries that are not parties to the Hague Convention, or for the countries that are parties of the Hague Convention but our country has raised objections, a certification by the Greek consular in the country of origin of the document is required. Certification must always be done on the original document and not on a photocopy.

For Cyprus there is no need their documents to be certified, if: a. are public documents and b. the private ones are certified by the Public Authorities of Cyprus.

According to Law 4231/2014, no further certification of birth, marriage or death certificates is required for the countries: Austria, France, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Turkey. These documents will be accepted without any further certification, provided that they bear the date and signature or seal of the competent authority, that issues the documents every time.