Author
Conditions for citizenship
The Citizenship Code[1] has been subject to numerous amendments over the years.[2] Prior to the amendment of March 2020,[3] refugees could apply for citizenship under condition that they inter alia resided lawfully in Greece for a period of three years. The amended legislation has increased this period to seven years,[4] similarly to the time period required for foreigners residing in Greece on other grounds under migration law, despite the legal obligation under Article 34 of the Geneva Convention 1951 to ‘facilitate the assimilation and naturalisation of refugees’ and ‘in particular make every effort to expedite naturalisation proceedings’. The aforementioned amendment does not apply to refugees who had already submitted an application for naturalisation that was still pending by the time L. 4674/2020 entered into force.[5]
Specifically, according to the Citizenship Code,[6] citizenship may be granted to a foreigner who:
- has reached the age of majority by the time of the submission of the declaration of naturalisation;
- has not been irrevocably convicted of crime/crimes exhaustively listed in the Citizenship Code, committed intentionally in the last 10 years, with a sentence of at least one year or at least six months regardless of the time of the issuance of the conviction decision. Conviction for illegal entry in the country does not obstruct the naturalisation procedure.
- has no pending deportation procedure or any other issues with regard to their status of residence;
- has lawfully resided in Greece for seven continuous years before the submission of the application;
- holds one of the categories of residence permits foreseen in the Citizenship Code, inter alia long-term residence permit, residence permit granted to recognised refugees or subsidiary protection beneficiaries, or second-generation residence permit.
Applicants should also:[7]
- have sufficient knowledge of the Greek language;
- adequately know the Greek history and geography, the Greek culture and the habits of the Greek people, as well as the functioning of the institutions of the Constitution of the country.
- be normally integrated in the economic and social life of the country. According to the Citizenship Code, supporting documents proving the economic independence of the applicant must be submitted in the application.[8] Additionally, the above-mentioned law provides that the applicant is not examined through an interview regarding their financial independence, yet the examiner of each case is responsible for issuing the decision taking under consideration only the provided documents.[9] In case there are doubts as to whether the applicant satisfies the conditions of economic and social integration, the applicant shall be invited to an interview, in accordance with paragraph 7, in order to determine accurately the degree of his or her economic and social integration into the country. The third country national shall be summoned by registered correspondence with proof of delivery. If such correspondence is returned undelivered twice, or if the foreign national, without reasons of objective impossibility, fails to appear for the interview, the naturalization application shall be rejected by the Head of the Regional Directorate for Citizenship.[10]
- It is worth mentioning that according to Ministerial decision No 29845/16.04.2021, applicants and beneficiaries of international protection, who have submitted their application before 31-3-2021 are required to submit documents proving their economic independence and social life for the last five years before their application.[11]
Law 4735/2020 introduced a substantial reform in the naturalisation procedure for third country nationals by providing for the Certificate of Adequacy of Knowledge for Naturalisation (Πιστοποιητικό Επάρκειας Γνώσεων για Πολιτογράφηση (ΠΕΓΠ),[12] as a prerequisite for applying for naturalisation. The examination procedure is in writing, as, according to the General Secretary of Citizenship of the Ministry of Interior ‘the written test was introduced in order to apply objective evaluation criteria ensuring reliability and transparency, to safeguard the integrity of the process of acquiring Greek citizenship and to harmonize this practice with the practices of other countries at European and international level’.[13] The examinations are conducted twice per year on specific dates determined by the Organizing Committee and announced through publication on the platform of the General Secretariat for Citizenship, following an official announcement by the Ministry of the Interior.[14] In practice, the examinations for the Certificate of Adequacy of Knowledge for Naturalisation (Πιστοποιητικό Επάρκειας Γνώσεων για Πολιτογράφηση – Π.Ε.Γ.Π.) are regularly conducted twice annually, during the April and November examination periods, as reflected in the official announcements of the Greek Ministry of Interior.[15]A pool of questions for the acquisition of the Certificate of Adequacy of Knowledge for Naturalisation and information on the respective exams were posted on the webpage of the Ministry of Interior.[16] As regards applicants who are over 62 years old, those who are unable to take a written test due to learning difficulties, and those with a disability certificate of 68% or more, the Adequacy of Knowledge for Naturalisation examinations can be oral.[17] In February 2022, a circular was issued providing more details on the exams procedure.[18]
As per the statistics issued by the General Secretariat for Citizenship of the Ministry of Interior[19], in 2025 the rate of successful applicants ranged from 50.74% (April 2025 exams) to 44.52% (November 2025 exams). Overall, during 2025, a total of 286 beneficiaries of international protection received the Certificate of Adequacy of Knowledge for Naturalisation.[20] GCR, based on citizenship applications it has handled and completed in 2025 after several years of procedure, observes that in most cases even well-prepared beneficiaries of international protection are not able to pass the citizenship examination on their first attempt, and that almost all candidates require two or even three attempts to succeed. This is reportedly linked to the difficulty of the examination questions.
Naturalisation procedure
Beneficiaries of international protection who wish to apply for naturalisation must first take exams and get the Certificate of Knowledge Adequacy for Naturalisation. Exempted from this obligation are those who have studied for a given number of years in Greek primary school, elementary school, high school or Greek universities, who can submit a direct application for naturalisation, when completing the required number of previous years of legal residence.[21] In particular, according to the Ministry of Interior,[22] this applies to: “(a) those who have successfully completed either nine classes of primary and secondary education or six classes of secondary education; (b) those who attend a Greek university and have obtained a bachelor’s or master’s degree or a doctorate, are exempted from the obligation to obtain the Certificate of Adequacy of Knowledge for Naturalisation (Πιστοποιητικό Επάρκειας Γνώσεων για Πολιτογράφηση (ΠΕΓΠ)”.
Those who have passed the exams and have obtained the Certificate of Knowledge Adequacy for Naturalisation are able to submit an application for naturalisation to the competent Citizenship Directorate of their place of residence, provided they have completed the required years of previous lawful residence in the country (i.e., 7 years).[23]
A EUR 100 fee of is required for the submission of a naturalisation application for refugees. In case of beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, the fee is EUR 550.[24] A EUR 200 fee is required for a re-examination of the case.[25] For the participation in the exams for the acquisition of the Certificate of Knowledge Adequacy for Naturalisation, an additional fee of EUR 150 is required. For those who already had a pending application before the change of the law and the provision of the written test, the first participation in the examinations does not require a fee.[26]
In case of a negative decision, the applicant may file an application for annulment before the competent Administrative Court of Appeal.[27]
In case of a positive recommendation, the the competent authority of the Ministry of the Interior (i.e., “Head of the Directorate-General for Citizenship of the Ministry of the Interior”) issues a decision granting the applicant Greek citizenship, which is, subsequently, published in the Government Gazette.[28]
Greek citizenship is acquired following the oath of the person, within a year from the publication of the decision.[29] Persons with disabilities can take the oath in their house or via teleconference.[30] If the oath is not taken during this period, the decision is revoked.[31] The procedure, in general, remains extremely slow and beneficiaries of international protection are often requested to submit several times social security certificate and tax clearance that expire. During 2025, applications for citizenship were processed within a year, provided the supporting documents in the file were complete.[32] However , GCR observes that there are exceptionally long delays in practice in the issuance of naturalisation decisions. In particular, in cases concerning beneficiaries of international protection, the legal unit of the organisation is currently handling cases that have been pending since 2019.
Between January and December 2025, a total of 50 beneficiaries of international protection, primarily from Syria (13) and Afghanistan (10), received the Greek citizenship, of which 45 were refugee status holders and 5 were beneficiaries of subsidiary protection. During the same period, a total of 25 new applications for citizenship were submitted by beneficiaries of international protection.[33]
[1] L. 3284/2004, Gov. Gazette A’ 217/10-11-2004.
[2] See inter alia L. 4604/2019,Gov. Gazette A 50/26-03-2019), L. 4674/2020,Gov. Gazette A 53/11-03-2020), L. 4735/2020, Gov. Gazette Α’ 197/12.10.2020).
[3] L. 4674/2020.
[4] Article 5(1)(d) Code of Citizenship, as in force .
[5] Ministry of Interior, Circular No 151/2020, 25 May 2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3sDV5pG, p. 8.
[6] Article 5(1) Citizenship Code.
[7] Article 5A (1) Citizenship Code.
[8] Article 37 L. 4873/2021.
[9] Article 38 L.4873/2021.
[10] Article 7 (6) Citizenship Code as amended by article 38 L. 4873/2021
[11] Ministerial Decision 29845/16.4.2021 Gov. Gazette B 1652/22.4.2021.
[12] Ministry of Interior, General Secretariat of Citizenship, available at: https://bit.ly/3s9ln31.
[13] Ministry of Interior, General Secretariat of Citizenship, available at: https://bit.ly/4dfyhVJ.
[14] Decision No. 21536/2026, Government Gazette (FEK) 2319/B/24-4-2026, Article 2 (“Place and time of the examinations, and procedure for submitting an application for participation in the examinations”).
[15] See indicative official announcements of the Greek Ministry of Interior (General Secretariat for Citizenship) regarding the conduct of the Π.Ε.Γ.Π. examinations and the publication of results (in Greek):https://www.ypes.gr/anartisi-apotelesmaton-exetaseon-pegp-5is-noemvriou-2023/ ; https://www.ypes.gr/oloklirothikan-epitychos-oi-exetaseis-apoktisis-pistopoiitikou-eparkeias-gnoseon-gia-politografisi-p-e-g-p/ ; https://www.ypes.gr/enarxi-exetaseon-gia-tin-apoktisi-pistopoiitikou-eparkeias-gnoseon-gia-politografisi-p-e-g-p/ ; https://www.ypes.gr/oloklirothikan-me-epitychia-oi-panellinies-exetaseis-apoktisis-pistopoiitikou-eparkeias-gnoseon-gia-politografisi-p-e-g-p/ ; https://www.ypes.gr/deltio-typou-g-g-ithageneias-ypes-anakoinosi-apotelesmaton-exetaseon-p-e-g-p-3is-noemvriou-2024/ .
[16] Ministry of Interior, General Secretariat of Citizenship, available at: https://bit.ly/3WgrMfB.
[17] Ministry of Interior, General Secretariat of Citizenship, available at: https://bit.ly/3WcAkUJ.
[18] Ministry of Interior, Circular No 81/04.02/2022, Prot.No: Φ 130181/6929, 4 February 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3wMsSmz.
[19] Ministry of Interior, General Secretariat of Citizenship, Examination Statistics for the Certificate of Adequacy of Knowledge for Naturalisation, 2 December 2025, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/4nwbcj3u.
[20] Information provided by the Central Directorate of Citizenship operating under the General Secretariat of Citizenship of the Ministry of the Interior on 4 February 2026.
[21] Generation 2.0 For Rights Equality and Diversity, New naturalization process: what is it about?, 30 March 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/44gUsa4.
[22] Ministry of Interior, General Secretariat of Citizenship, General Directorate of Citizenship, prot. no. Φ1200000/3316 / 07.05.2021, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3zhfg5L.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Article 6(1)(g) Citizenship Code.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Article 2(c) Ministerial Decision 28881/13.04.2021, Gov. Gazette B’ 1535/15.04.2021.
[27] I. Kamtsidou, Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, Advisory note on the rejection of an application for naturalisation on the basis of income criteria, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/c9xemmmw.
[28] Article 8 Citizenship Code in conjunction with the Ministerial Decision 34226/06.05.2019, Gov. Gazette Β΄ 1603/10.05.2019.
[29] Article 9(1) Citizenship Code.
[30] Article 9(5) Citizenship Code.
[31] Article 9(1) Citizenship Code.
[32] Information provided by the Central Directorate of Citizenship operating under the General Secretariat of Citizenship of the Ministry of the Interior on 4 February 2026.
[33] Ibid.