If you already have your Greek Citizenship, owning a Greek ID card is extremely helpful and useful. The new Greek ID card is digitized and scans at governmental security checkpoints in all EU member countries, which means shorter lines at airports and being considered an EU passport holder entering your home country for all member states.
Of course, you can also use it as a form of ID anywhere in Greece, which is good because it never hurts to have the authorities view you as more of a local and not as a tourist. Oh, and rental car companies will treat you better, too.
Now that we’ve established how convenient it is, here is what you will be asked and what you should do to make the process go as smoothly as it possibly can in Greece.
How to get your Greek ID card
Step one: Get your Greek Citizenship. That’s a topic for a whole different article, and fortunately, that article has already been made. You can get the inside look into how to (really) get your Greek Citizenship here.
Getting your ID card is like going to the DMV in America and getting a driver’s license, minus the driving test. All you’ve got to do is fill out some paperwork – pretty simple. However, there is still a right way and a wrong way to go about it in Greece.
Once you’ve got your citizenship, step two is to bring your American passport – or some other valid form of identification – to a local municipal office in Greece. It is also beneficial to bring some type of Greek identification, such as a digital voter registry card, along with you to the municipal office (it’s always best to have too much identification than not enough). From there, you’ll answer some basic preliminary questions depending on who is behind the desk that day.
Luckily, it is possible to get your ID from a village that isn’t your own (or where your ancestors are from), which brings us to our next major tip: get your Greek ID at a village or small island where there aren’t long wait times and a thousand other Diaspora Greeks seeking the same thing at the same exact time. That means no Athens, no Thessaloniki, no Larissa, etc.
There at the local municipal office, you’ll need to get two taxis forms – two separate administrative fees – which you will pay at any Greek bank by showing the teller the email confirmation or receipt the municipal office gave you. The two exact forms are named and priced as follows:
0,50 € (Τύπος Παραβόλου: [2043]
10,00€ (Τύπος Παραβόλου: [1894]
You’ll then take the payment confirmation records to the local police station, who will view your taxis confirmations, take your ID photo and send you on your merry way. Greek ID’s typically take one week to arrive at the police station, so plan accordingly.
Alternatively, it is possible to have a Greek local help you get your taxis documents using the government website e-Paravolo to acquire your taxis forms, in which case you can skip visiting a local municipal office altogether. The reason a Greek local has to do it for you is because it is an official government registry and Diaspora Greeks are usually not in the system.
A police station in Symi, Greece.
Inside tip number two: you have to bring a witness to the police station, who will verify to the police that you are who you say you are. Village-style identification, as it’s called. So, here is the real key: your witness should be someone with social capital, someone who is well-known, in the village or island where you are attempting to get your ID card. We’re talking about a family member, or someone local who can break the ice a bit for you.
When KTE’s founders acquired their own ID cards, they brought with them a local merchant who vouched for their authenticity before the authorities. Funnily enough, we had also met all of the police officers at the local panagiri just the night before, which also didn’t hurt. Greece is simply the best.
Additionally, make sure to bring your American passport and form of Greek identification along with you to the police station.
Our third and final tip: for Greek Americans, your American passports will have your anglicized name. For example: John Alexander Benis. Constantine Papathanasiou. But when you get your ID card, the police will ask you how you want your name written, and you should absolutely tell them to write your authentic Greek name. For example, if you go by Dean or Constantine in America, you should put down “Constantinos” on your ID card.
If you do choose to go with your authentic Greek name, it is important to have consistency across your legal documents. This can be obtained by petitioning to add an AKA (also known as) on your American passport, which any American embassy can help you acquire.
The last part to be aware of is the Greek authorities are going to ask you the names of your family members – parents, grandparents, etc. – to try and get your family tree verified and figured out. As a consequence, we advise you to be somewhat well-versed on your family tree when you go to the police station.
And that’s it! Having a Greek ID is a wonderful thing, and it will open doors for you in the rest of Europe. Because it’s Greece, there’s always a chance one person will tell you one thing and another person in a seat of authority will tell you another, but in general, this is how it’s done. We wish all Greek Diasporans good luck in getting their Greek ID’s!