Greek women who live and work abroad choose to build their personal and family life there. There are many Greek women who marry abroad and then have to be registered in the Greek special registry office and the Greek demotic register to which each one belongs.
It is during this registration that many problems arise, which are not dealt with immediately but later on and cause obstacles and confusion.
But let's take things from the beginning. If a Greek woman decides to marry a foreigner and the marriage takes place abroad, then she can declare in the marriage certificate there that she wishes to take her husband's surname, which is common abroad. That is, what was valid in Greece in the past is still valid in almost all European countries and so after marriage the whole family, i.e. spouses and children bear the same surname. And if the Greek woman acquires a second citizenship after marriage, she practically acquires a new passport with her husband's surname. If, subsequently, the Greek woman has children born abroad, then the surname of the Greek mother will be the surname of her husband on the children's birth certificates.
At some point, however, the time comes when the Greek wife decides to register the marriage and the births of her children in Greece. There are cases where the registrations are made at the same time and others where the registration of the marriage in the Special Registry and the Demotolos has been preceded by an attempt to register the births of the children in the Special Registry and the Demotolos.
So then it will be established that there is a problem with the surname of the Greek wife. Because, regardless of whether the marriage took place abroad and the legislation of the country of the husband's nationality and the couple's common residence applied, in Greece the registration of marriage follows the Greek legislation, which stipulates that the Greek woman, after marriage, either retains her surname or, after her declaration, ADDS her husband's surname to her own surname. The change of surname and the use of the conjugal surname has been abolished since the early 1980s.
Therefore, in the Greek marriage certificate that will be registered at the Special Registry, the Greek woman will remain with her patronymic and with her patronymic will be registered in her new family register that will be opened in the municipality where she is registered.
When she presents the birth certificate of her child, then the registration will not be made in the Special Registry because the mother's details in the child's birth certificate and in the marriage certificate will not be identified. That is, the mother of the child at birth will have a different surname from the surname of the Greek woman who married the father of the child.
So what should Greek women getting married abroad do?
The one option they have is to retain abroad the option not to change their surname after marriage and to be everywhere with their Greek patronymic.
The second is expressly declare in the foreign marriage certificate that they wish to add their husband's surname to their own surname after the marriage. Attention only here because in Greek documents the surname of the husband will follow the patronymic, therefore the same order must also apply to the foreign marriage certificate because there will still not be the identification required by the Civil Registry to register subsequent births.
The third option for wives who really wish to take the surname of their husband is to make sure, on the one hand, to declare this wish in the marriage certificate not only the foreign but also the Greek one at the Greek consulate. This wish must be declared even if the surname is not changed.
Consulates do not easily comply with this statement but are normally obliged to register this observation. So that is where the Greek woman should insist.
Subsequently, an application will have to be made to the Court in Greece to have the validity of the foreign law recognised which gives the Greek woman the right to acquire the surname of her husband. After the decision is issued, the Greek woman will be able to register her marriage at the Special Registry Office and get her husband's surname, which will be changed both on her birth certificate and in her family register. This means that both her Greek identity card and her Greek passport will be in full identity with her foreign certificates.
By Anastasia Miliou, Lawyer before the High Court
ANASTASIA CHR. APPLE
I'M GOING TO BE A LAWYER.
Ave. 403 Mesogeion Avenue, Agia Paraskevi, Agia Paraskevi
Tel. 6945-028153, 213-0338950
e-mail: natmil@otenet.gr
www.legalaction.gr, fb: Anastasia Miliou
Author of the article:
Attorney at Law & Attorney-at-Law & Attorney-at-Law
Ave. 403 Mesogeion Street, Agia Paraskevi, Agia Paraskevi, Attica
Tel. 6945-028153, 213-0338950
e-mail: natmil@otenet.gr, info@legalaction.gr
www.legalaction.gr
