# American engaged to Greek/planning to move to Greece



## soryps (Jan 15, 2011)

I am an American citizen engaged to a Greek citizen and we plan to marry and live in Greece. This leads me to my two very broad and hopefully not too complicated questions. I planned to go there on my tourist visa, marry within the first month of being there, then apply for a residence permit. Since I don't know much how the process works, can someone tell me if this even seems like a plausible scenario? After looking at some websites I was under the impression that being married to a Greek makes the residence permit a lot easier to obtain (relatively speaking), but please correct me if I am wrong here. As for the marriage process, what would we need to got through for it to be valid in Greece? I am Catholic, but plan to have an Orthodox wedding/ceremony and I'm not sure if that makes any difference. Anyway, thanks in advance


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## jacquest (Aug 9, 2010)

soryps said:


> As for the marriage process, what would we need to got through for it to be valid in Greece? I am Catholic, but plan to have an Orthodox wedding/ceremony and I'm not sure if that makes any difference. Anyway, thanks in advance


Hi there!

Though I have no idea about the "residence permit" thing, I do have about the mariage process.

I got married in Greece with my Greek wife, in the orthodox church.

Despite being an atheist, I was "originally" catholic, baptised when I was a baby so I had a very convenient baptism certificate of the catholic church. 

My wife, (then my fiancée) registered our intention to marry at the archbishop's office in Central Athens (somewhere around Plaka), with here orthodox baptism certificate and my catholic baptism certificate. No problem there. The priest suggested to her strongly that she "converted" me, but no official request, just the suggestion.

We got married at a beautiful church in Athens, in a marvelous ceremony with three priests, and that was it. A few days after the marriage, we went to the "Dimos" to register the marriage with the state (the "civil marriage") but no ceremony there, just signing some papers.

After that we left for South America, so no need for any residence permit or whatever.

Good luck and congratulations on your "Greek wedding!".

jacques.


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## soryps (Jan 15, 2011)

Thanks so much for your reply! Were you living in Greece when you got married or were you living somewhere else and just did the wedding in Greece?



jacquest said:


> Though I have no idea about the "residence permit" thing, I do have about the mariage process.
> 
> I got married in Greece with my Greek wife, in the orthodox church.
> 
> Despite being an atheist, I was "originally" catholic, baptised when I was a baby so I had a very convenient baptism certificate of the catholic church.


I am not a practicing Catholic either and my fiancee isn't a practicing Christian either, but I really think the ceremony is beautiful and I know his parents and grandparents would really like if we had one.



> My wife, (then my fiancée) registered our intention to marry at the archbishop's office in Central Athens (somewhere around Plaka), with here orthodox baptism certificate and my catholic baptism certificate. No problem there. The priest suggested to her strongly that she "converted" me, but no official request, just the suggestion.


When you say register, do you mean making an advertisement in the newspaper or is that something different? Did you just contact the church you were baptised in to get the certificate? How soon before the actual wedding did you do all this?



> We got married at a beautiful church in Athens, in a marvelous ceremony with three priests, and that was it. A few days after the marriage, we went to the "Dimos" to register the marriage with the state (the "civil marriage") but no ceremony there, just signing some papers.


Are 3 priests normal in an Orthodox wedding?


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## jacquest (Aug 9, 2010)

soryps said:


> Thanks so much for your reply! Were you living in Greece when you got married or were you living somewhere else and just did the wedding in Greece?


No, I just entered Greece as a tourist, as many times before the wedding.




soryps said:


> I am not a practicing Catholic either and my fiancee isn't a practicing Christian either, but I really think the ceremony is beautiful and I know his parents and grandparents would really like if we had one.


I guess that your "practising" does not matter, what matters is your baptism certificate 



soryps said:


> When you say register, do you mean making an advertisement in the newspaper or is that something different?


I know my wife did some paperwork at the archbishop's office in central Athens, and yes, she ran an ad in Kathimerini.




soryps said:


> Did you just contact the church you were baptised in to get the certificate? How soon before the actual wedding did you do all this?


Yes, I just walked into the actual church where I was baptised and requested a copy of the baptism register, they gave me a paper that was supposed to be a "baptism certificated" copied from the book of baptisms and blah blah blah.

I don't remember the exact amount of time before the wedding, but it was something like 2 to 3 months before or so.



soryps said:


> Are 3 priests normal in an Orthodox wedding?


[/QUOTE]

Though 'normal', it's not 'usual'.

Happy wedding!

jacques.


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## hecate (Jul 12, 2010)

Good grief! Getting married is supposed to be happy and fun and an overall Good Thing. Why ruin it with all this administrative rubbish? 

For the sake of your and your fiancee's sanity, please consider having a registry marriage in the US first. You will then enter Greece with preferable legal status and can have the traditional church wedding without mega-hassles. I _strongly _urge you not to start your married life amidst endless bureacratic frustrations.
Talk to your nearest Greek Embassy!
Good luck, 
Hec


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## expat914 (Oct 9, 2009)

My husband is Greek and I am American. We were married in Greece, but our residence was in NY. The US Embassy has a website that lists what you need to do. You will have to do just about everything on here. Here are a few things I remember having to do.

Before the wedding (in the US): 
-get baptism certificate (I wasn't a practicing Lutheran, but that didn't matter)

When you arrive in Greece:
-You need the baptism certificate and your passport translated into Greek. Then you will need a lawyer to stamp the translated copies. Usually the lawyer can translate them as well. 
-We needed someone to tell a lawyer that we are a fit couple to marry. Also, I had to agree that I would bring up our children in the Greek Orthodox church. I forgot exactly what the letter said, but I had to agree in Greek. (they all laughed because I didn't have a clue....didn't matter).
-the ad in the paper was not necessary for us. 

We married in the village where my husband grew up and the priest knew us.

When you get back into the US, i suggest you have your marriage license translated into English ASAP. You can ask your Greek consulate for a list of approved translaters. 

I then went to the SS office and had my name changed. Once my knew SS card arrived, I took that card and my translated (and approved) copy of our marriage license and change my passport and driver's license.

About 6 months later, we moved to Greece. It was just a matter of some paperwork for me. It was very easy because we were married in Greece and registered with the government. (something you have to do on your own). I have a residence permit which I obtained just a little after the 3 month window. Also, being married to a Greek will allow you to file for permanent residence after 3 years if you have a child together.

By the way, the law around this seems to always change.

Congratulations! 

I'm sorry, but I can't remember anything else. I didn't have to be baptized in the Orthodox church, but it was strongly suggested.


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## stefania (Nov 29, 2009)

The information from expat914 is incorrect.

The first permit is for 5 years, then it's renewed in a permanent status for 10 years if you qualify. It's not automatic and has nothing to do with a child.

Spouses are eligible to apply for citizenship after three years of marriage if children are born, but ther's a bunch of other requirements. 

Be careful who you take advice from. Many people operate on rumor or vague recollections, which have nothing to do with current laws.


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## soryps (Jan 15, 2011)

expat914 said:


> My husband is Greek and I am American. We were married in Greece, but our residence was in NY. The US Embassy has a website that lists what you need to do. You will have to do just about everything on here. Here are a few things I remember having to do.
> 
> Before the wedding (in the US):
> -get baptism certificate (I wasn't a practicing Lutheran, but that didn't matter)
> ...


Do they really check up on if you baptize your future children Orthodox?




> When you get back into the US, i suggest you have your marriage license translated into English ASAP. You can ask your Greek consulate for a list of approved translaters.


I don't plan to go back to the US. I mean, I will probably visit occasionally, but I have no idea how soon it would be after getting married, it could even be a few years.



> I then went to the SS office and had my name changed. Once my knew SS card arrived, I took that card and my translated (and approved) copy of our marriage license and change my passport and driver's license.


Can you do this stuff while in Greece or do you have to be in the US for it? 



> About 6 months later, we moved to Greece. It was just a matter of some paperwork for me. It was very easy because we were married in Greece and registered with the government. (something you have to do on your own). I have a residence permit which I obtained just a little after the 3 month window. Also, being married to a Greek will allow you to file for permanent residence after 3 years if you have a child together.
> 
> By the way, the law around this seems to always change.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for your help!!


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## soryps (Jan 15, 2011)

stefania said:


> The information from expat914 is incorrect.
> 
> The first permit is for 5 years, then it's renewed in a permanent status for 10 years if you qualify. It's not automatic and has nothing to do with a child.
> 
> ...


Thanks, I kind of caught on that part myself and figured she just got the terminology mixed up because I knew the citizenship thing was shortened to 3 years if you had children.


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## soryps (Jan 15, 2011)

hecate said:


> Good grief! Getting married is supposed to be happy and fun and an overall Good Thing. Why ruin it with all this administrative rubbish?
> 
> For the sake of your and your fiancee's sanity, please consider having a registry marriage in the US first. You will then enter Greece with preferable legal status and can have the traditional church wedding without mega-hassles. I _strongly _urge you not to start your married life amidst endless bureacratic frustrations.
> Talk to your nearest Greek Embassy!
> ...


Hmmm maybe something to think about. I'll ask my fiancee what he thinks about it, but he is Greek and stubborn so I'm pretty sure he will still want to do the whole thing in Greece


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