Athanasios Balerbas, Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior, spoke on Voice of Greece and the programme “Our Global Voice” with Dimitris Kontogiannis about the ministerial decision that sets out the criteria and procedures for restoring Greek citizenship to expatriates who were born in Greece and adopted as young children by families in the United States and elsewhere, as well as the challenges Greek expatriates face regarding registry acts and passports.
Mr Balerbas noted that at least 50 individuals have already made use of the ministerial decision restoring Greek citizenship to those born in Greece to Greek parents. In this context, he, together with the Governor of the Bank of Greece, Yiannis Stournaras, and two others, has proposed the honorary naturalisation of Professor Gonda Van Steen, holder of the Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature and Director of the Centre for Hellenic Studies at King’s College London, whose research brought this issue to light.
The Secretary General explained that the decision concerns those adopted before the 1976 Registry Act, which made the registration of civil status acts mandatory; prior to that, it was not. Greek citizens abroad are now obliged to submit declarations of changes to their personal status—such as marriage or death—to the competent consulate in their area or to the Special Registry Office with appropriate authorisation.
Regarding the issuance or renewal of passports for expatriates living in countries served only by honorary consulates, who must travel to neighbouring states with full consulates to complete their paperwork, Mr Balerbas noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Citizen Protection are close to identifying digital solutions that will reduce both cost and processing times. He also referred to the so-called “consular” passports.
On the matter of registry acts, he said that the General Secretariat of the Ministry is examining a digital document-transfer and verification system that would allow Greek expatriates—initially in selected countries—to submit documents electronically, have them checked in Athens, and recorded in their files, with strict encryption standards applied. He estimated that the implementation of this new digital submission system will require approximately one year from the moment the technical specifications are finalised.