Registering a birth and acknowledging parentage of a child in Greece

Registering the birth at the maternity hospital or municipality

If your child is born in Greece, you must register the birth there. You can do this at the hospital or in the municipality where your child was born.

Both parents must be present when registering the birth. If one of the parents cannot be present, they can authorise the other parent to represent them through a power of attorney.

You can find more information about this on the Greek government website

Registering your child’s full name

If you register the birth at the hospital, only your child’s surname will be listed on the birth certificate. In order to register your child’s full name, you must go to the municipality where they were born. The municipality will issue a birth certificate bearing your child’s full name.

You can only apply for a Dutch passport or identity card for your child if your child’s full name is listed on their birth certificate.

You cannot register the birth at the embassy

It is not possible to register the birth of your child at the Dutch embassy in Athens.

If you live outside the Netherlands, you do not need to register your child’s birth with the Dutch authorities. However, you can have the Greek birth certificate converted into a Dutch birth certificate at the municipality of The Hague’s Foreign Documents Department. This is not mandatory, but it can be useful if you ever need an extract from the birth certificate in the future. Having the document converted does not take care of your child’s registration in the Non residents Records Database (RNI).

If you live in the Netherlands, you must also register the birth with the municipality where you live, using the foreign birth certificate. Do this as soon as possible once you return to the Netherlands. The municipality will then process your and your child’s details in the Personal Records Database (BRP).

If your child’s birth certificate is in Greek, you must first have the birth certificate legalised and translated. Then you can have the document converted or registered.

If the Greek birth certificate is accompanied by the EU multilingual standard form, with all details provided in the Latin alphabet, it does not need to be legalised or translated for use in the Netherlands.

If you are not married, as the child’s father you can acknowledge parentage before or after the child is born with a notarial instrument. You must be present in person to acknowledge parentage of the child and you must have permission from the child’s mother. If the child’s mother is deceased, you can acknowledge parentage unilaterally.

In Greece, acknowledging parentage of your child automatically grants you parental responsibility for your child. A family bond is created between the child and the father and his family members.

If you live in the Netherlands or if you are Dutch and live abroad, you can always acknowledge parentage in the Netherlands of your child born in Greece. You can do this at the municipality or a notary. You can also authorise someone to do this in the Netherlands on your behalf. To do this, you must get a notary to draw up a power of attorney. You cannot acknowledge parentage of your child at a Dutch embassy or consulate-general.

Acknowledging parentage does not automatically grant you parental responsibility for your child. Find out more about acknowledging parentage in the Netherlands on Government.nl.