Greeks Abroad Are Getting Their Greek Affairs in Order. You Should Too.

15 hours ago

10 min read

Greeks abroad are sorting out their affairs in Greece in growing numbers, and the timing is no accident. Rules are tightening, and more of each process now runs online. Greece's latest tax bill, posted for public consultation on October 18 and open for comments until November 1, proposes a 15% transfer tax on homes bought by people who are tax residents outside the EU and the European Economic Area, for final contracts signed from July 1, 2027. It is still a draft that Parliament can change, but it shows the direction things are moving.

Old stone houses with tiled roofs and climbing vines in the village of Thalames, Mani, in the Peloponnese, Greece

Waiting has its own cost. A family house can sit for years in the name of a relative who died long ago. Tax years go unfiled and penalties pile up. Passports and certificates expire just when you need them. The good news is that most of this no longer takes a plane ticket. More and more of the diaspora now handle all of it from home, through a power of attorney given to someone they trust in Greece. Here is a practical checklist. If you prefer assistance with any of the services below, call GetGreece today at 1-833-694-7332.

Citizenship: Register Through Your Greek Parent or Grandparent

For most Greeks abroad, citizenship is the step everything else rests on. If one of your parents is Greek, you are already Greek under the law. The state only recognizes it, though, once you are entered in the municipal registry (dimotologio) of a Greek town. Until that registration is done, you cannot get a Greek ID card or passport.

The route depends on how far back the Greek link goes. If your parent was registered in Greece when you were born, you usually declare your birth through the Greek consulate. When the claim runs through a grandparent, the usual path is to register the living parent first, then the child. When that chain can't be completed, people of Greek descent abroad can apply for naturalization under Article 10 of the Greek Citizenship Code, which adds proof of Greek origin and an interview at the consulate.

Citizenship comes first because it unlocks the rest. Once registered, you have a Greek identity on paper, which makes it simpler to get a tax number, accept an inheritance, buy or sell property and register your children. It also brings the right to live and work anywhere in the EU.

The most common problem is documents that don't line up. Names were often changed after emigration, so a Papadopoulos on a Greek record can become a Pappas on an American one, and every link has to be proven. Many families are also surprised that their parents' marriage certificate matters. Another mistake is waiting until the relative who knew where the papers were is no longer around.

Claims through a great-grandparent are possible today, but they need a documented line through every generation, often using old records such as the male registry (Mitroo Arrenon). Greece is currently working to make these and other descent claims easier. The Ministry of Interior says it is simplifying citizenship procedures for descendants of Greeks together with the consulates, and a new civil registry law meant to make Greek citizenship easier to prove is expected to go to Parliament in the coming months. Until that happens, the current rules and paperwork still apply.

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Inheritance: Don't Let Family Property Slip Away

For many families abroad, the house in the village is more than property. It's where a grandmother cooked every summer, and it's the last physical tie to a place that shaped who they are. In Greece, though, that tie isn't automatic. Heirs have to formally accept an inheritance before a notary, file an inheritance tax return, and hold a Greek tax number (AFM) to do either.

Waiting is where most of the trouble starts. Property left for years in a dead relative's name builds up unpaid ENFIA, and sometimes it was never registered at all. Siblings and cousins end up in different countries with different ideas about what to do. Each year that passes makes the paperwork harder to rebuild and the family conversation harder to have.

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The first step in any inheritance is to find out exactly what you're dealing with. A property analysis does that. The property is researched at the public offices, its documents are pulled, and any outstanding taxes or debts are checked, so the family can see whether everything is in order. The findings are then explained on a call, along with the detailed steps to complete the inheritance, so the family knows where it stands before anything is signed. All of it can be done remotely through a limited power of attorney, with no trip to Greece.

👉 Let GetGreece help you claim yo ur Greek property inheritance correctly. Booking a property analysis report is easy, and you can do it here.

GetGreece has helped families across the diaspora find lost deeds, settle property that sat unresolved for years, and put it in the right names, all without a trip to Greece. With lawyers and accountants on one team and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, families get one point of contact from the first document to the final deed.

Whatever the outcome, the property analysis report brings peace of mind. If the inheritance can go ahead, you'll know for certain and have the exact steps to complete it. If it can't, you finally get closure, instead of spending time, money and effort trying again every few years.

Taxes: Get Your AFM and File Every Year

The AFM (Arithmos Forologikou Mitroou) is your Greek tax number, and almost nothing happens without it. You need one to accept an inheritance, buy or sell property, open a Greek bank account, sign a utility contract or start a business. People who live abroad can now apply for one online through AADE's myAADE portal, with their identity checked over a video call, so in many cases there is no need to visit a tax office.

Getting the number is only the start. As a rule, once you own anything in Greece, even a share of a village house that brings in no rent, you should file a Greek tax return every year. Returns are filed online each spring.

Skipping years catches up with people. Late filing brings fines, unpaid property tax collects interest, and old debts can block the tax clearance needed to sell or transfer property.

This is where a tax representative helps. A tax representative is a person or firm in Greece, registered with the tax authority, who receives your official notices and handles your filings for you. Depending on where you live, Greek rules may require you to appoint one, and even when they don't, it is usually the easiest way to keep things in order. You stay compliant from abroad, filing dates don't slip by, you avoid penalties, and there's no need to travel.

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Property Taxes: ENFIA, Records and the Cadastre

ENFIA is Greece's yearly property tax. It is charged on what you own on January 1 of each year, based on the property details in your E9 declaration held by AADE. The bill is usually issued in spring, can be paid in installments, and is posted to your online tax account, which is easy to overlook from abroad.

Keeping the records right matters as much as paying. Your E9 should show the right size, owners and shares. When a parent dies, or a property is divided or sold, the records need to change too, or bills end up in the wrong name or arrive later for past years.

Greece's national land registry, the Hellenic Cadastre (Ktimatologio), records who owns each property and maps its boundaries. Errors from the first registration, such as a wrong owner or missing plot, are common, and a family field that nobody declared can end up listed with an unknown owner. Fixing that later can mean a court case. It is worth checking the cadastre's records against your family's deeds now.

The proposed transfer tax change belongs here too. Today, the tax on buying a home is generally 3% of its taxable value. Under Article 16 of the draft bill, it would rise to 15% for individuals who are tax residents outside the EU and EEA. The draft ties the higher rate to tax residence, not citizenship. In September, a deputy finance minister said Greeks of the diaspora would be exempt, but the consultation text does not spell out such an exemption, so the final wording will matter.

👉 GetGreece can help you with ENFIA and property taxes.

Buying or Selling Property in Greece

Whether you are buying or selling, the groundwork is the same. You need an AFM, and on the property side you need a clear title: a deed that shows who owns it, a matching registration in the cadastre, no unexpected mortgages or claims, and an engineer's certificate confirming there are no illegal building works. An energy performance certificate is also standard.

For buyers, a Greek lawyer checks the title, past transfers, debts and disputes before any money changes hands. For sellers who inherited the property, the inheritance has to be fully completed and registered before the home can be sold.

Both sides of a sale can be handled by power of attorney. You sign it at a Greek consulate, or before a local notary with an apostille, and your lawyer in Greece signs before the Greek notary on your behalf. It has to clearly cover the property and every act needed, or the notary can refuse it.

If you are a tax resident outside the EU and EEA and plan to buy a home, the proposed 15% rate is a reason to plan ahead. As drafted, it depends on the date of the final contract, not on when the deal was agreed, so a purchase that drags past July 1, 2027 could cost far more. Don't rush a purchase before the checks are done, but don't let a planned one drift either.

👉 Let GetGreece help you with buying or selling property in Greece.

Translations and Apostilles: The Paperwork Behind Every Step

Almost every step above runs on documents from abroad: birth, marriage and death certificates, divorce decrees and powers of attorney. Greek offices need them in Greek, and they need to know the originals are genuine.

That second part is the job of the apostille, a certificate added by the country that issued the document, under the 1961 Hague Convention, confirming that it is authentic. In the United States it usually comes from the Secretary of State of the state that issued the document. Countries outside the convention use a longer process called consular legalization.

Then comes the translation. Greek offices generally accept official translations made by the Translation Service of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by a Greek lawyer, or by translators recognized in Greece. A translation by an ordinary translator abroad is often turned down, even if it is accurate.

The usual mistakes are small but costly. People translate a document before the apostille is added, then find the apostille needs translating too. They send a short-form certificate when the long form is required. Spellings should also match across every translation, because a single different letter in a name can hold up a whole case.

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Starting a Business in Greece From Abroad

Some Greeks abroad want more than a summer house: a rental business, a small guesthouse, or a Greek base for work they already do. You can set one up without living in Greece. The two most common choices are registering as a sole trader or forming a company, most often a private company (IKE), which has a very low minimum capital.

Companies are formed online through Greece's one-stop service and recorded in the General Commercial Registry (GEMI), while sole traders register with AADE. From abroad, you will need an AFM, a business address in Greece and a power of attorney for whoever handles the registration. A Greek business bank account usually comes next, and it can take the longest, since banks run their own checks on owners who live elsewhere.

The common mistakes come from rushing: picking a business form before thinking about tax and social insurance, forgetting that a Greek accountant has to keep the books from day one, or starting an activity, such as short-term rentals, that needs its own license first.

👉 Let GetGreece help you with starting a business in Greece.

Visas for Spouses, Partners and Friends

EU citizens don't need a visa to live in Greece. Many families, though, include a spouse, partner or friend from outside Europe. If you are a Greek citizen, a spouse from outside the EU can usually apply for residence as the family member of a Greek, so that is worth checking first. For everyone else, three options come up most often.

The Golden Visa is a residence permit for people who invest in Greece, most often by buying property. It can cover close family, is renewable while the investment is kept, and doesn't require living in Greece. It does not by itself allow taking a job in Greece, and the property can't be let out as a short-term rental. Minimum amounts depend on the area and have gone up in recent years, so check current figures first.

The FIP (Financially Independent Person) visa is for people who live on pensions, savings or investment income, such as retirees. Applicants show a steady income from outside Greece and health insurance, and may not take paid work in Greece.

The digital nomad visa is for people who work remotely for employers or clients outside Greece. It requires a minimum monthly income from that work and can lead to a longer residence permit.

Put simply, the Golden Visa suits investors who want to come and go freely, the FIP visa suits people living on income they already have, and the digital nomad visa suits people working from Greece for a company elsewhere. With all three, think about tax early: spending more than 183 days a year in Greece can make someone a Greek tax resident, which changes how their worldwide income is taxed.

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Where to Start

If this list feels long, start with two things: citizenship and the AFM. Registering as a Greek citizen gives you the identity every other office will ask for, and the tax number opens the door to everything from inheritance to buying a home. With those in place, the rest can follow: settle the inheritance, bring tax filings up to date, check the cadastre, and plan any purchase or sale around the proposed tax change. If you would rather have one team handle it from start to finish, GetGreece is here to help.

Check out Greece's 15% Property Tax on Non-EU Buyers: What Greeks Abroad Need to Know.