Third country nationals – family members of Greek citizens.
The lawyer Kasatkina-Kouskou Svetlana gives advice on completing the necessary documents in accordance with the law to those who apply for a residence permit as family members of a Greek citizen.
According to paragraph 2 of Presidential Decree 106/2007, by saying “members of the family of a Greek citizen, we mean:
• The spouse, regardless of ethnicity.
• The children regardless of nationality, specifically:
- the common children of the spouses, under the age of 21 years,
- other children of the spouse regardless of the age if they are dependent,
- the children of one of the spouses with the above mentioned distinction of age,
- children who have been adopted with the above distinction as well.
• The direct descendants of the citizens of the union and those of his/her spouse if they are dependents, no matter their nationality is.
Third country nationals who are members of the family of a Greek citizen and apply for a residence permit, according to Decree 539/2001, must be accompanied by a Greek and have a Schengen Visa.
The visa may be granted not only in the Greek consulate in the country of residence of the person concerned, but also in any other country participating in the Schengen Agreement, provide that the validity of the visa after the first entry in the Schengen area has not expired.
Also for the legal entry is not required that it is mentioned to the visa that the person concerned is a family member of a Greek citizen. If in some cases it is mentioned that the visa holder is a member of the family of a Greek citizen, this is just further evidence for the effective verification, to the relevant consular authority, of the control of the family ties and other necessary conditions that will be checked by the competent immigration department on the issue of residence permits for third country nationals who are members of Greek citizens.
In cases where family members live with the Greek citizen in an another EU country and have a residence permit as a family member of an EU citizen, they are exempted of the visa requirement, due to the free movement of persons.
With the right to stay and with a five years residence permit, family members of Greek citizens enjoy equal rights with the Greek citizens and have the same possibilities with them to access the labor market.
Marriage between a Greek and a third country citizen that enjoys legal residence must be confirmed for the third country national in Greece.
A third country national lawfully resides in Greece if his visa is valid, or there is an evidence for the granting or renewal of the residence permit, or any other document of legal residence or common residence.
In case of marriage the third country national must apply for a residence permit within the period that his visa is valid.
If the marriage occurred before the date of arrival in the country, the third country national - member of the family of a Greek citizen, right after the arrival in Greece has the right to apply for a residence permit and a visa but before the end of the year otherwise an administrative fine is imposed.
