According to Article 20(1) L. 344/1976, the birth of a child must be declared within 10 days to the Registry Office of the municipality where the child is born. 1289 In case of late declaration, the person liable for the declaration of the relevant civil status event has to submit, along with an application, a fee of thirty (30) euros if the declaration was made after the lapse of the ten-day deadline provided for in Article 20(1) L. 344/1976 and sixty (60) euros if the declaration is made after the lapse of ninety (90) days from the date on which the event occurred.1290 As for the birth registration, beneficiaries of international protection have reported to GCR that if they do not or cannot obtain a certified marriage certificate from their country of origin, the child is declared without a father’s name. Though the Asylum Service issues family status verifications, these state that the family status of the beneficiaries is in accordance to their declaration. This results in many such verifications not being accepted by public services (e.g., EFKA, Tax Authorities, KEP (Citizens’ Service Center), since they are perceived as solemn declarations and not as official certificates. In what regards beneficiaries subject to the ‘old procedure’, the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police does not issue, as a matter of practice, family status verifications, in breach of Article 25 Asylum Code. In 2025, GCR observed that the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police continued not to issue family status verifications. However, it did issue file progress verifications/certificates (βεβαιώσεις πορείας φακέλου), in which, if family members were included in the same file as the refugee, they were explicitly listed by name together with the phrase “the following persons are being regularised alongside him/her” (“πλησίον του/της τακτοποιούνται…”). Since this document was not formally titled a “family status certificate,” or “family status verification” it was frequently not accepted by Greek public authorities. A further challenge is that according to Greek Legislation, the father’s first name or grandfather’s first name cannot be used as the child’s surname, as per applicable practice in many of the beneficiaries’ countries of origin. This is a very common mistake made by many mothers and interferes with the namegiving (ονοματοδοσία) of the child, especially when the child’s father is not residing in Greece. In these cases, it is hard to prove that the child’s father, as declared in the child’s birth certificate, is the same person signing the authorisation held by the mother for the name-giving. Since name-giving is one of the essential rights of a legal guardian, this leads to a situation whereby a Court must first decide upon removing the parental responsibility of the parent not present/residing in Greece, before the parent residing in Greece can proceed with the name-giving. This is a lengthy and uncertain legal procedure, since the Greek Civil Code establishes strict grounds for the termination of parental responsibility. 1291 Pursuant to Ministerial Decision 9169 ΕΞ 2022-10.3.2022, the name-giving (ονοματοδοσία) can be done electronically through the Greek government’s official website. 1292 However, in order to access this website (gov.gr), beneficiaries need to verify their phone number through e-banking. The system theoretically also allows the usage of taxisnet codes (taxation/fiscal electronic codes used for the submission of tax declaration). Yet in practice, after a couple of steps, if the beneficiary’s phone number has not been verified through e-banking, the system shuts down. This means that a large number of beneficiaries are de facto unable to access this new electronic name-giving system as they do not have e-banking. A marriage must be declared within 40 days at the Registry Office of the municipality where it took place.1293 In case of late declaration, alongside an application, beneficiaries need to pay a thirty (30) euro fee if the declaration is made after the 40-days deadline has lapsed, and a sixty (60) euro fee if the declaration is made after the lapse of ninety (90) days from the date on which the event occurred. 1294 In order to get legally married in Greece, the parties must provide a birth certificate and a certificate of celibacy from their countries of origin. 1295 For recognised refugees, due to the disruption of ties with their 1289 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1295 Article 20 L. 344/1976 on Civil Registration Acts, Gov.Gazette A 143/11.6.1976. Article 49(1) L. 344/1976. Article 1532 Greek Civil Code. Ministerial Decision 9169 ΕΞ 2022-10.3.2022, Gov. Gazette Β' 1210/16.03.2022. Article 29(1) L 344/1976. Article 49(1) L. 344/1976. Article 1(3) P.D. 391/1982. 258