Criteria and conditions

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Greek Council for Refugees Visit Website

According to PD 131/2006 transposing the Family Reunification Directive, as supplemented by PD 167/2008 and amended by PD 113/2013, only recognised refugees have the right to apply for reunification with family members who are third-country nationals residing in their home country or in another country outside the EU.

As per Article 13 PD 131/2006, “family members” include:

• Spouses;
• Unmarried minor children;
• Unmarried adult children with serious health problems which render them incapable to support themselves;
• Parents, where the beneficiary solemnly declares that he or she has been living with them and taking care of them before leaving his or her country of origin, and that they no longer have other family members to care for and support them;
• Unmarried partners with whom the applicant has a stable relationship, which is proven mainly by the existence of a child or previous cohabitation, or any other appropriate means of proof.
• If the recognised refugee is an unaccompanied minor, he/she has the right to be reunited with his/her parents or his/her legal guardian or any other member of the family, where the refugee has no relatives in the direct ascending line or such relatives cannot be traced.

If a recognised refugee requests reunification with his or her spouse and/or dependent children, within three months from the service of the decision granting him or her refugee status, the documents required with the application are:^[1]

• A recent family status certificate, birth certificate or other document officially translated into Greek and certified by a competent Greek diplomatic authority, proving the family bond and/or the age of family members; and
• A certified copy of the travel documents of the family members.

However, if the applicant cannot provide these certificates, the authorities take into consideration other appropriate evidence.

This is not the case when it comes to travel documents, as the refugees who cannot objectively provide certified copies of travel documents of their family members, are not given alternative solutions (e.g., laissez-passer).^[2] Nevertheless, according to the response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to GCR’s request in January 2024, “in 2023, two temporary travel documents were provided by Greek Consular Authority and in one case three temporary travel documents were provided (Emergency Travel Documents (ETD) of the Red Cross to family members for family reunification”.^[3]

As far as the Emergency Travel Documents of the International Committee of the Red Cross, are concerned, doubts are raised as to the reliability of the data provided. In particular, ETDs cannot be issued without a prior positive family reunification decision, while pursuant to P.D. 131/2006, copies of travel documents must be submitted as a prerequisite for the issuance of positive family reunification decision. According to GCR’s knowledge, there is only one positive family reunification case to date, issued in November 2023 by the Asylum Service, where the commitment letter of the Red Cross for the issuance of three ETDs has been accepted. In this particular case, the process for the issuance of ETDs has started but they have not been issued yet.

On the other hand, if the refugee is an adult and the application refers to their parents and/or the application is not filed within three months from recognition, apart from the documents mentioned above, further documentation is needed:^[4]

• Full Social Security Certificate, i.e., certificate from a public social security institution, proving the applicant’s full social security coverage; or
• Tax declaration proving the applicant’s fixed, regular and adequate annual personal income, which is not provided by the Greek social welfare system, and which amounts to no less than the annual income of an unskilled worker– plus 20% for the spouse and 15% for each parent and child with which he or she wishes to be reunited;
• A certified contract for the purchase of a residence, or a residence lease contract, or other certified document proving that the applicant has sufficient accommodation to meet the accommodation needs of his or her family.

The Asylum Service has interpreted this article of P.D. 131/2006 in a pro-refugee light and requires either, as opposed to both, a full social security certificate or a tax declaration proving sufficient income. On the contrary, the Aliens Police Directorate, i.e., in cases of recognised applicants for whom the competent authority is the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, requires both certificates (social security certificate and tax declaration) after the three months of recognition. Another difference is that the Asylum Service starts counting the three-month period from the service of the recognition decision whereas, for the Aliens Police Directorate, this deadline starts from the issuance of this decision.

The abovementioned additional documents are not required in case of an unaccompanied child recognised as refugee, applying for family reunification after the three-month period after recognition.^[5] The Asylum Service has decided that unaccompanied or separated children who are recognised refugees, under the age of 15 years old, and have applied for family reunification do not require a family reunification interview. Instead, a written memo has to be submitted before the Asylum Unit for Beneficiaries of International Protection (AUIPB). Despite the fact that P.D. 131/2006 does not include siblings as family members, the AUIPB, in cases of unaccompanied minors, is asking from the Director of the Asylum Service an ad hoc exception in order to issue a positive family reunification decision also for the refugee’s siblings.

If the application for family reunification is rejected, applicants have 10 days to submit an appeal before the competent administrative authorities.^[6] It is worth mentioning that there is no provision of free legal aid for this appeal. In case the appeal is rejected, applicants have the right to lodge an application for annulment before the competent Administrative Court of First Instance within 60 days from the service of the negative decision.^[7] If the family members enter Greece, they must, within a month of their arrival, submit in person an application for the issuance of a residence permit as refugee family members.^[8]

Lengthy procedures, administrative obstacles as regards the certification of required documents and the issuance of visas makes family reunification an extremely lengthy and onerous procedure, as illustrated by the indicative cases mentioned below.

Case of recognised refugee from Eritrea: After 12 years and 2 Court decisions (ΔΠΑ 861/2022 & 59/2018), in May 2023, the family reunification decision was issued by the Hellenic Police Headquarters. The family was reunited in December 2023.^[9]

Case of recognised refugee from DRC: After 7 years and a court decision (ΔΠΑ 493/2020), in December 2020, the family reunification decision was issued by the Hellenic Police Headquarters. The family was reunited in December 2023.

Case of recognised refugee from Sudan: In May 2023, the family reunification decision was issued. It is the only case of Sudanese nationals who, despite the internal armed conflict and the obstacles set by Greek Consulate in Cairo, managed to be reunited in December 2023.

Case of an unaccompanied minor – recognised refugee from Syria:  In March 2023, the first family reunification decision of UAM was issued, including not only his parents but also his siblings, even though it is not provided for in P.D. 131/2006. The family was reunited in July 2023.

Case of recognised refugee from DRC: After 5 years the family reunification decision was issued and after 6 years, in October 2023, the family was reunited.

Three family reunification cases have been brought before the ECtHR in 2023. The first one concerns a stateless Rohingya unable to obtain travel documents (ECtHR, Suji v. Greece, communicated case – 13250/23). The second one concerns a case of an Afghan national, unable to obtain family reunification documents other than those issued by Taliban regime, which are not recognised by the Greek State and are not certified by the competent Greek Consulate (ECtHR, Dotani v. Greece, communicated case – 31077/23). The third case concerns the family reunification of a refugee from Burundi with his family members who are asylum seekers in South Africa. As a result, they cannot obtain travel documents required by law (ECtHR, Ndikumana v. Greece – 41855/23). All the aforementioned cases were prioritized by the Court as pilot cases of exceptional importance and the first two have been communicated to the Greek Government.

Furthermore, a damages action (αγωγή αποζημίωσης) for a recognised refugee from DRC regarding the delay of the enforcement of the family reunification decision for more than 6 years from its issuance was submitted before the Administrative Court of Athens in December 2023, which is still pending.

A Joint Ministerial Decision was issued in August 2018 on the requirements regarding the issuance of visas for family members in the context of family reunification with refugees.^[10] Among other provisions, this Decision sets out a DNA test procedure in order to prove family links and foresees interviews of the family members by the competent Greek Consulate. The entire procedure is described in detail in the relevant handbook of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.^[11] According to the Ministerial Decision, the refugee must pay €120 per DNA sample but until today the electronic fee (e-paravolo) is not available and thus the payment of the fee is not possible. In addition, the DNA kit must be sent from the Forensic Science Department (Διεύθυνση Εγκληματολογικών Ερευνών) that will conduct the test, to the Greek Consulate in the diplomatic post of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is a procedure which can be very lengthy. According to GCR’s experience, even an urgent DNA test may last up to three months.

In response to GCR’s request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January 2024, the latter replied that “In 2023, in only one case a DNA test was carried out to prove the family link in a family reunification case in 2022. It should be noted that it is not always possible to carry out a DNA test to prove the family link.”^[12]

The family reunification procedure following the issuance of the family reunification decision is set out briefly and schematically in the table below.

Refugee family members who enter Greece after a successful family reunification cannot apply for the renewal of their residence permit if they reach the age of majority (18).^[13] P.D. 131/2006 provides for a special one-year residence permit until they reach the age of 21.^[14] However, they still need a valid residence permit in order to apply for the said one-year residence permit before the competent Decentralised Administration of their place of residence.

It is noted that, during 2023, Palestinian and Sudanese family members of recognised refugees in Greece are unable to obtain family reunification documents due to the armed conflict and no alternative solution is provided to be reunited in Greece. Yemeni refugees’ family members are also unable to satisfy the conditions set by law regarding family reunification procedure because they cannot reach the competent Greek Consulate in Riyadh due to armed conflict between the two countries.

In addition, refugees’ family members face many obstacles for the certification of the required family reunification documents and the issuance of visas by the Greek Consulates, which set their own requirements, impossible sometimes to be met. Based on GCR’s experience:

1. The Greek Consulate in Cairo requires recent family certificates for issuance of visas of Palestinian and Sudanese refugees’ family members, despite JMD provisions and armed conflict in Gaza and Sudan and refuses certifying copies of travel documents.
2. The Greek Consulate in Kinshasa requires additional documentation for the issuance of visas in breach of JMD and delays excessively (years) scheduling appointments for certification of documents and issuance of visas.
3. The Greek Consulate in Islamabad refuses certifying family reunification documents for Pakistani refugees’ family members and for Afghan nationals (non-recognition of Taliban regime).
4. The Greek Consulate in Abuja set unrealistic requirements with a five-stage-indefinite-duration- procedure for the certification of family reunification documents. The certification procedure is impossible for all nationals of Cameroon since family reunification documents must be submitted to the Greek Consulate within a month of their issuance.

According to the H2 Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “As for the possibility of certifying the required family reunification supporting documents by the Honorary Consulates, in the process of family reunification, we cite article 307 of the Regulation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (L. 4781/2021 Gov. Gazette 31/A/28.2.2021): “The Honorary Consulates perform the same tasks as the Consulates except for the issuance of passports and visas”. Ιn particular, and for the completeness of your information, it is noted that exception to certification by the Honorary Consulates is made for public documents issued by Ethiopia, Algeria, Afghanistan, Ghana, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Mali, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Tunisia, the certification of which can be done solely through the competent Greek Consulates. (for more information, you may visit the link: http://www.mfa.gr/kep-politon-kai-apodimon-ellinon.html). We add, however, that in several of the aforementioned countries, there are no Honorary Consulates anyway, while in other cases, such as those of the Honorary Consulates in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan (which are two hours by airplane and four hours by road respectively from our Embassy in Islamabad), which do not process requests for the certification of foreign certificates, no difficulty has been observed by the interested parties of moving to the Consulate, and therefore, the Honorary Consuls are not involved in the process of receiving and sending relevant documents to the Consulates”.[15]

Nevertheless, certain good practices followed by Greek Consulates should be mentioned:

1. The Greek Consulate in Nairobi certifies family reunification documents and issues visas in due time. The same applies to Greek Consulate in Istanbul but only for Turkish nationals.
2. The Greek Consulate in Jerusalem certified and even translated family reunification documents and was the only Greek Consulate accepting documents by post to facilitate Palestinian refugees’ family members trapped in Gaza Strip.
3. The Honorary Greek Consulate in Luanda certifies family reunification documents.

According to the data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – G04 Department, during 2023, out of 206 applications for issuance of family reunification visas, 194 were granted.

However, data was not provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning:

• the number of family members of recognized refugees who arrived in Greece during the year 2023
• the reason(s) for the delays observed in practice with regard to the granting of visas,
• the number of interviews conducted by the competent diplomatic authority to refugees’ family members in 2023^[16]
• the number of family reunification cases, where the Consulates requested the submission of recent documents proving family link, for the issuance of family reunification visas, apart from the required documents provided for in Article 5 of JMD 47094/2018 (Gov. Gazette B 3678/28.08.18).

^[1] Article 14(1) PD 131/2006.

[2] Decisions 59/2018 and 861/2022 of the Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens. See AIDA, Country Report: Greece, 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3PUOVk9.  

[3] Reply of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H2 Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to GCR’s request for information for the preparation of the updated Annual Report on Greece for 2023 in the framework of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) project, prot. no. Α.Π.Φ 171/ΣΗΔΕ 11295, 23 February 2024.

^[4] Article 14(3) PD 131/2006, citing Article 14(1)(d).

^[5] Article 14(3) PD 131/2006, citing Article 14(1)(d).

^[6] Article 12 (1) P.D.131/2006. For recognised refugees for whom the Asylum Service is the competent authority for the submission of their family reunification applications, their appeals are submitted before the Head of the Regional Asylum Office. For recognised refugees for whom the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police is the competent authority for the submission of their family reunification applications, their appeals are submitted before the Head of the Aliens and Border Protection Department.

^[7] Article 46 (1) P.D. 18/1989.

^[8] Article 15 (2) P.D. 131/2006.

[9] See previous updates of the AIDA, Country Report: Greece, available at: https://bit.ly/45vXAir.

^[10] JMD 47094/2018, Gov. Gazette B/3678/28.08.2018.

^[11] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Immigration Code Handbook, 2019, 123-127.

[12] Reply of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H2 Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to GCR’s request for information for the preparation of the updated Annual Report on Greece for 2023 in the framework of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) project, prot. no. Α.Π.Φ 171/ΣΗΔΕ 11295, 23 February 2024.

^[13] Article 1 Asylum Code.

^[14] Article 11 (1) P.D. 131/2006.

[15] Reply of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H2 Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to GCR’s request for information for the preparation of the updated Annual Report on Greece for 2023 in the framework of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) project, prot. no. Α.Π.Φ 171/ΣΗΔΕ 11295, 23 February 2024.

[16] In response to this question, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs simply replied that the procedure for issuing family reunification visas is that set out in JMD 47094/28.98.2018 (Β’ 3678) and Ministerial Decision Φ.3497.3/ΑΠ24245/2014 (Β΄ 1820), which provide for in-person interviews.