Issue No.
13371
ARCHBISHOP Hieronymos met with some 180 immigrant children at a multicultural Christmas party organised in Athens by Solidarity
ACQUIRING Greek citizenship through the process of naturalisation is an overlong and daunting process filled with paperwork, personal interviews and a hefty and non-refundable 1,500 euro application fee. It can take up to a decade for an application to be reviewed. This will soon change.
Launching a fresh effort towards a sweeping immigration overhaul, ruling Pasok wants to make things easier. The government tabled a bill on the volatile political issue of granting Greek citizenship to foreigners.
Change in immigration and the country’s outdated citizenship policy is a personal priority for Prime Minister George Papandreou - the only politician in Greece to publicly declare he has experienced life as an immigrant. He recently told reporters: “I can easily say there is no Greek who hasn’t been either a migrant or a refugee”.
Under existing legislation, Greece is a jus sanguinis (Latin for “right of blood”) state that only recognises citizenship by blood. A person’s citizenship is determined by his or her parents’ citizenship, so only those with blood ties to Greece may be Greek citizens.
Papandreou’s push to redesign Greece’s citizenship code is aimed at finally addressing the growing number of children - an estimated quarter of a million - born in Greece to immigrant parents.
Advocates respond
A variety of groups with varying ideologies about immigration are currently studying the government’s draft to advise policymakers. Most immigration advocates and local immigrant community leaders have hailed the government’s decision to finally create a path to citizenship for the children of immigrants. However, they see one big problem with the proposed application procedure - it requires the parents to be legal and permanent residents in Greece.
Permanent residence in Greece is extremely difficult to secure. Based on interior ministry data published exclusively by the Athens News in October, an estimated 65,000 immigrants in Greece have managed to secure long-term and permanent residence permits. This is only 13 percent of the total number of immigrants holding a valid residence permit in Greece.
Public comments
The government is open to public comment on the issue of citizenship reform. The bill has been released for public consultation and can be found online (www.opengov.gr).
Individual members of the public can submit written comments directly to the interior minister. So far, the proposed law has received mixed reviews.
What the new bill says
To be eligible, immigrants must prove they have lived in Greece legally for 5 years in the 10 years preceding the date of their application. This 5-year condition, however, will not apply to European Union citizens and to immigrants who are married to a Greek and have been living in Greece for at least three years.
The Greece-born children of immigrants residing legally in Greece will be granted Greek citizenship at birth if they cannot acquire any other citizenship (that of their parents) or if one of their parents was born in Greece and lives permanently in the country. This also applies to children’s whose parent has been residing legally and permanently in Greece for at least five years. These children may also apply for citizenship just as soon as their parent completes the five years of legal and permanent residence in Greece.
Immigrant children who can prove they attended the first three years of school in Greece will be entitled to apply for citizenship within three years of turning 18. Children who have completed at least six years of schooling in Greece are also eligible to apply for citizenship, provided one of their parents is a legal and permanent resident of Greece.
The Greece-born children of immigrants may apply for citizenship within three years of turning 18.
The citizenship application fee will be reduced to 1,000 euros (non-refundable). However, those whose application has been rejected and who wish to apply again (after one year) will have to pay only 300 euros. EU nationals and those who are of Greek descent are exempt from the application fee.
What the current law says
To be eligible, immigrants must prove they have lived in Greece legally for 10 years in the 12 years preceding the date of their application. They must be over 18, and they must not have a criminal record or a deportation order issued against them.
Refugees recognised under the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees can apply after five years. Foreigners married to a Greek can acquire nationality after three years, but only if they have a child of Greek nationality while married.
The Greece-born children of immigrants may apply for Greek citizenship through the process of naturalisation on their 18th birthday.
The citizenship application fee is 1,500 euros. It is not refundable.
Lauretta Macauley. United African Women Organisation
We hope that the second generation of immigrants - all of these children - will finally secure their full rights. And we also hope the government will legalise the status of all [undocumented] migrants. The new bill presented by the government is encouraging, but only partly. There’s a problem. It only applies to the children whose parents are living legally in Greece. Not all immigrants in Greece are living here legally and many of them have children who were born here and who have grown up here in Greece. You know, it’s just like in 1998 when the government said they would legalise all undocumented migrants but the conditions did not make it possible. Even immigrants who had been here for a long time were not able to get a residence permit, mainly because of the [social insurance] stamps requirement. I fear the same will happen now. We are praying that the new year will be better for all immigrants in Greece.
Dimitra Malliou. Greek Forum of Μigrants
There is a strong sense of hopefulness now that things will finally change for the better. Immigrants are optimistic that their life will improve, because up to now it has been a constant struggle. Immigrants have spent the past ten years running from one [government] office to another and queueing from predawn hours to renew their residence permit. It’s time now for immigrants’ social integration to begin - nothing has been done in this direction. Our recent meeting with the interior minister on December 18 was also very positive. It seems that a dialogue between immigrants and the government has finally begun.
A decade of immigration policymaking
- 2001 The Pasok government passes a new immigration law, which it says will form the country’s first-ever comprehensive legislation on this issue. The new law also provides for the second legalisation of undocumented migrants in Greece. The goal is to issue residence and work permits to as many as 500,000 foreigners in Greece. Migrants hope this legalisation will correct the mistakes in the country’s first-ever drive to issue green cards in 1998. A total of 351,110 migrants apply for the initial six-month residence permit. The majority of applications (153,282) are submitted in Attica. Some 80,000 of these applicants are Albanians.
- Greece and Turkey sign a bilateral agreement that allows for the return of illegal migrants caught crossing over the Greek-Turkish border. This new readmission pact obliges both countries to take back illegal migrants.
- 2002 Foreign Minister George Papandreou meets with local immigrant community leaders. Immigrants voice their concerns over the tough legalisation process. Papandreou underscores the government’s commitment to find solutions to the problems.
- 2004 Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos passes a new citizenship code. It does not contain any sweeping changes to existing rules. He says immigrants wanting to become Greek citizens should demonstrate knowledge of the language, customs and a commitment to the country.
- 2005 Main opposition leader George Papandreou announces that immigrants will be eligible to become members of his Pasok party.
- The Central Union of Greek Municipalities and Communities (KEDKE) calls on the government to grant non-EU immigrants the right to vote in local elections.
- 2006 Greece’s new immigration law 3386/2005 comes into effect on January 1.
- Greece lifts the transitional labour market restrictions for workers from the eight mainly ex-communist countries that joined the EU two years ago.
- 2007 Parliament passes new legislation to legalise the status of undocumented migrants in Greece.
- Greece advertises a big demand for overseas workers in Greece. As many as 40,700 non-EU nationals are invited to fill labour needs.
- The Central Union of Greek Municipalities and Communities (KEDKE), which represents hundreds of mayors across the country, votes down a motion tabled to change Greek legislation that denies birth certificates to the children of immigrants born in Greece. The motion was voted down 17 to 14 by the union’s executive board. This is a decisive setback for immigration reform considering that the future of immigrant integration depends largely on the ability of mayors nationwide to take the lead.
- 2008 Local government officials gain power to refuse Greek citizenship to a child born out of wedlock to an immigrant woman and a Greek man on the suspicion that the father acknowledged his paternity after accepting a bribe and not because he is the child’s biological father.
- Archbishop Hieronymos II of Athens and All Greece meets with Deputy Foreign Minister Theodoros Kassimis to discuss the creation of a Muslim cemetery in Athens. The Church of Greece announced three years ago that it would offer three hectares of land in Schisto, near the port town of Piraeus, for the creation of the first Muslim cemetery in the Greek capital.
ATHENS NEWS 30/08/2010, page: 16-17
