According to Article 2 of the Greek Citizenship Code:
A foreign child born out of wedlock, who is legally recognized by a Greek national either voluntarily or by full judicial acknowledgment, becomes a Greek citizen if acknowledgment is made while the foreign child is a minor (under the age of 18).
*No changes were made to this Article with the new Greek Citizenship Code of 2010.
Requirements
A sworn statement by the father or mother is typically not enough. The Greek citizen must formally register the child in the oikogeneiaki merida (family record) before he/she turned 18 and establish that there is an ongoing relationship, unless the parent is deceased. A list of documents necessary to stake a claim and the process itself can be found at: “Greek citizenship by claim of ancestry, origin or descent.”
*Article last updated January 4, 2013
In the news
“Greek authorities target fake fathers to root out bribes” (link broken) — Athens News
Related posts
“Greek citizenship by claim of Greek ancestry, origin or descent”
“Greek citizenship by naturalization”
“Ways to get Greek citizenship”
Kat Reply:
May 11th, 2011 at 01:48
Should you claim Greek citizenship, get a Greek passport OR come to live/work in Greece, then you will be asked to serve Greek military duty if between the ages of 19-45. As long as none of these things is true and you remain a permanent resident outside Greece, the most they could ask you to provide is a ‘permanent resident abroad’ certificate from the Greek consulate/embassy nearest you.
When your father registers you in his oikogeneiaki merida, he’s establishing an official record of your familial link. He is required to do this; you need this as an official record, also. The papers you acquired in your current country are fine, but what authorities will make you do is have them translated to Greek and then register them in your dad’s oikogeneiaki merida. So same result, but more work. There’s no way around it unless you don’t want to be officially recognized as his son, though it’s a bit late for that because you’ve already done it. Therefore, you are technically a Greek national; you just don’t have Greek citizenship.
As I said in the first sentence, you will be required to serve Greek military if you come to live/work in Greece. Why? Because you are of Greek origin/descent/ancestry. Whether you have Greek citizenship is irrelevant, as explained in “Mandatory Greek military duty.”
A potential employer will also see your Greek name and ask for proof of completed military obligations before hiring you, as I say in “Examples of jobs and salaries in Greece.”
If you’re trying to figure out how to live and work in Greece without serving Greek military as a man of Greek ancestry with a Greek surname, try a Greek military forum (in Greek only) and good luck. I cannot help you with this because all the men in my life served military.
Note: The answer above has been revised to reflect the additional information you gave.