Article 3: adoption by a Greek citizen before majority

Review adoption by a Greek citizen before majority, the citizenship date, foreign-order recognition, and municipal registration.

When should Article 3 be reviewed?

Use this guide where a Greek citizen adopted a foreign child before the child reached majority. Article 3 is an adoption route, not proof of biological descent and not a general route for adult adoptees.

Confirm four points before treating it as a candidate:

1. the adopter was Greek when the adoption became legally effective
2. the adopted person was still a minor on that date
3. the order created the parent-child relationship recognised by Greek law
4. no annulment, competing order, loss event, or record conflict changes the chronology

An adoption application filed before majority but completed afterward is not safely classified from the filing date alone.

Greek and foreign orders

For a Greek order, obtain the complete decision and finality evidence rather than relying only on an amended birth act. For a foreign order, determine whether and how Greece recognises it, whether notice and consent requirements were met, and what parent-child effect the applicable law gives it.

Guardianship, fostering, kafala, custody, a step-parent relationship, or an adult adoption should not be relabelled as Article 3. A foreign certificate naming the adopter may be evidence, but it is not the recognition analysis.

Citizenship date and later generations

For a qualifying case, Article 3 connects citizenship to the effective adoption date. That date matters when reviewing whether the adopted person could later transmit Greek citizenship to a child.

Do not backdate status to birth without an official basis. Keep the adoption decision, any Greek recognition act, civil-event transcription, citizenship determination, and municipal family-share registration as separate checklist items.

Documents to prepare

• the full adoption petition, decision, and finality certificate
• the adopted person’s original and amended birth records
• the adopter’s nationality certificate and municipal family-share record showing status at adoption
• consent, notice, custody, and prior-parental-rights records
• any Greek recognition or registration decision for a foreign order
• records of annulment, later adoption, name change, or competing parentage
• accepted Greek translations and required Apostille or legalisation

If the adoption file is sealed, ask the competent authority or qualified adviser what certified substitute can be used. Do not infer missing facts from the amended civil act.

Procedure and authority

The nationality side is handled by the competent Greek nationality authority, with a consulate able to receive defined overseas material under current instructions. Civil transcription and municipal registration may be separate steps.

Ask the authority to confirm the current Article 3 procedure, the foreign-order recognition step, the required form, and whether the applicant or adoptive parent must appear.

Manual-review stops

Manual review is mandatory for a foreign order, adult or borderline-age adoption, uncertain effective date, missing consent or finality, guardianship or kafala, competing parentage, same-sex or second-parent adoption, surrogacy, annulment, loss, conflicting records, refusal, or deadline.

The safe result is “Article 3 candidate” or “manual review required,” never an automated citizenship or eligibility finding.

Sources checked: 8 September 2026. FEK and the law effective on the adoption date control. Recheck the live procedure when filing.