Certification

Birth certificates, Marriage certificates, Drivers licenses, Death certificates need to be certified to be usable in Greece or the US. We can help you by providing you with the proper certification for your documents.

Where do I get an Apostille in Greece or in the US

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In Greece, you can get the Apostille from the government office that issued the certificate.

In United States, each state issues its own Apostille. The office of the Secretary of State will verify original documents that have been issued by a State agency as to its validity.

An Apostille can also verify the signature of a Notary Public for declarations, affidavits, sworn statements (υπεύθυνη δήλωση), Power of Attorney documents (πληρεξούσια – plirexoysio or plerexousio), authorizations (εξουσιοδότηση – exousiodotisi), wills, etc.

What is an Apostille (Επισημείωση) certification

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Image of Apostille
Click for a full view of the Apostille

After WWII, countries around the world came together to decide on a uniform document certification that they could all accept as official. The result was the Convention of October 5, 1961 under the formal name “Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents”. This convention brought about a basic simplification of the series of formalities which complicated the utilization of public documents outside of the countries from which they issued.

The Apostille certification basically certifies a document for international use. It certifies the document as valid to be used by other government agencies. It is issued for the specific document it is attached to and has a serial number.

You can read more about it on the official Hague Conference on Private International Law website.

Want to get married in Greece?

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We can help!

At greektranslations.com, we offer a document translation service specifically for people getting married in Greece. We can also help you find a wedding planner in Santorini, Mykonos, Tinos or several of the Islands and in Athens.

Here’s a list of the documents we will need to make your marriage arrangements more convenient.

Documents are required for all marriages (civil or religious):   

  • Original birth certificates (issued from vital statistics office in your county/state) for both parties.
  • Sworn statement indicating freedom to marry (Pistopoiitiko Eleftherogamias – Πιστοποιητικό ελευθερογαμίας).
  • Copy of divorce certificate* or divorce decree or death certificate (if applicable).

Documents required for Catholic marriages in Greece:

  • Baptism certificates for both parties.
  • Confirmation certificates for both parties.
  • Church certificates stating that both parties are free to marry (Pistopoiitiko Eleftherogamias – Πιστοποιητικό ελευθερογαμίας).

Documents required for Greek Orthodox Marriages in Greece:

  • One of the parties must be Greek Orthodox.
  • Both parties must supply baptism certificates stamped by the Diocese of the local Church.
  • Church certificate indicating freedom to marry (Pistopoiitiko Eleftherogamias – Πιστοποιητικό ελευθερογαμίας).