Certificate of identification from the Greek Consulate
By Christos ILIOPOULOS*
Many people
of Greek origin, born outside of Greece, start the process of applying for the
Greek citizenship, either through the Consulate of Greece near their residence,
or by retaining a Greek attorney directly in Greece. While handling the
paperwork, making translations and obtaining Apostilles and / or other
certifications, bureaucratic or other more substantial problems may arise and
jeopardize your goal to obtain the citizenship.
One of the
most common problems is the possibility that your name or the name of the same
person in your family tree may appear in different versions in various
certificates. Your father was born in Greece as ILIAS Koufopoulos, but he
appears in his marriage certificate in Australia as Louis Koufopoulos. If you
show to the Greek administration the birth certificate from Greece, which says
ILIAS Koufopoulos and the marriage certificate from Australia, which states
Louis Koufopoulos, the civil servant handling your citizenship application will
tell you that these two names represent two different people and that there is
no proof that these two certificates refer to the same person.
Your mother
may have been born in Greece as Chryssoula, but she was married in the USA by
the name Chryssa, and then when you were born in the USA, your mother’s name
appears as Chrysavgi. Three different versions of the name for the same person
in three different official certificates. The Greek administration will want
proof that all these names belong to the same person, otherwise your
citizenship application will not make sense, as it will not be based on an
unbreakable chain of events, birth, marriage, birth, marriage etc.
Is there
any solution to this problem? Usually, there is. It is called Identification
certificate or Pistopiitiko Taftoprosopias, in Greek. It is usually issued by
the Consulate of Greece, but sometimes it is also issued by a municipality in
Greece. The goal is the certificate to state that Chryssoula Diamantopoulou,
who was born in Greece in the year …, and Chryssa Diamantis, who was married in
the USA … and Chrysavgi Diamantis who gave birth to her child on …, is one and
the same person.
The
Consulate in order to issue such a certificate, stating that the two or three
versions of a name belong to the same person, may want either an affidavit by
two persons, who will sign a text stating the same thing, or two different
means of identification, with photo, which will have the two versions of the
name of the same person. For example, it may require a passport (which
definitely has a photo) which has the name Chryssoula and another photo id
(like a driver’s license) stating the name Chryssa. Having two different types
of identification documents with photos and the two different versions of the
name of the same person may be hard to accomplish. But it is what the
Consulates sometimes request in order to issue the identification certificate,
which will help you overcome the problem of the name changes of your Greek
ancestor.
To have
more chances of finding solutions to problems similar to those described above,
it is advisable to present your citizenship certificates and other evidence to
the Consulate of Greece near your residence, or directly to a specialized
attorney in Greece. By examining the documents of your Greek citizenship file with
an expert before actually starting off the application process ensures that any
potential problems will be identified from the beginning and you will have the
chance to work on solutions at an early stage.
*Christos ILIOPOULOS, attorney at
the Supreme Court of Greece , LL.M.
e-mail: ktimatologiolaw@yahoo.gr
bm-bioxoi@otenet.gr
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