Greece: Citizenship by Descent

No hard generational cap. Citizenship passes from each Greek citizen parent to child at birth. In practice, each ancestor must have been registered in Greek municipal records (Dimotologio) and held citizenship at the time the next child was born. The further back, the harder the documentation, but no legal cutoff exists.

• –Dimotologio (civic registration) is central: Greek citizenship proof is tied to municipal registry records. If ancestors were not registered, proving citizenship becomes an archival challenge. Greek archives go back centuries for church records; civil registration from 1920s onwards.
• –Pre-1984 gender rule: Greece moved to equal parental transmission in 1984. Before this, citizenship was primarily paternal. Maternal transmission for pre-1984 births should be verified.
• –Out-of-wedlock paternal claims: A child born out of wedlock to a Greek father must have legal paternity established to claim through the father. Children of Greek mothers born out of wedlock qualify automatically.
• –Foreign naturalization timing: Same rule as other countries: if ancestor naturalized before child was born, chain ends there.
• –Greek Orthodox vs civil records: For ancestors pre-1920s, church records (baptism) may be the primary documentation. These are generally accepted.