New Residence Permit

On December 20, 2023, provision 193 of Law 5078/2023 was published in the Government Gazette (Government Gazette A 211/20-12-2023), which concerns the granting of a new type of residence permit for work to citizens of third countries.

This new procedure is based on the Community system and consists of providing rights and legalization to citizens of third countries who lived and worked in our country illegally.

1. By decision of the Secretary of the Decentralized Administration, a residence permit is granted with the right of access to dependent work and to the provision of services or work to citizens of third countries who: 

a) have a declaration of a job offer from an employer in Greece for their employment under the status of dependent work or provision of services or work, b) resided in Greece until November 30, 2023 without a residence permit, c) continue to reside in Greece and d) complete at least three (3) continuous years of residence in Greece prior to submitting an application, according to documents of certain date. 

2. In addition to the conditions of par. 1, for the granting of the present residence permit, the following are required: 

a) The possession of a passport, even if it has expired. A residence permit is also granted in cases where it is established that it is objectively impossible to provide the interested party with a passport, following a documented application of the interested party and the opinion of the competent Immigration Committee.  b) The absence of reasons of public order and security. c) The payment of a fee of three hundred (300) euros and the cost of printing a residence permit in the form of an independent document of sixteen (16) euros. d) The submission of a responsible declaration by the employer, through the Unified Digital Portal of the Public Administration (gov.gr - ΕΣΤ), with which he undertakes to employ the applicant, either in the context of dependent work, or in the context of the provision of services or work, if the a citizen of a third country submits a request for the granting of a residence permit and receives the certificate of application submission pursuant to Article 8 of Law 4251/2014 (A' 80). The responsible declaration also includes the Tax Registration Number (TIN) of the candidate employer." With the new law, the family members of the third-country citizen are also protected, and in particular paragraph 3 states that “M"By decision of the Secretary of the Decentralized Administration, a residence permit is granted, as a family member of a third-country citizen, to the spouse - parent and minors children of third country citizens, as long as:  a) the parent has received the residence permit of the present and  b) the spouse – parent and the minor child are in Greece until November 30, 2023.  This regulation applies to the spouse – parent, as long as he or she does not have the possibility of belonging to par. 1 and 2. The residence permit of the family members is aligned, in terms of its duration, with the residence permit of the applicant of par. 1.” Further according to paragraph 7 The residence permit of the family members is aligned, in terms of its duration, with the residence permit of the applicant of par. 1.” Further according to paragraph 7 "The residence permit of par. 1 and 3 is granted once. The validity of the residence permit of par. 1 refers to the date of submission of the relevant application and has a duration of three (3) years. The holder of the residence permit of par. 1 at the end of its validity may request a change of residence permit category in accordance with article 12 of the Immigration Code."  It becomes clear that this provision is an innovation in immigration law and is based on altruism and fundamental human rights principles. Many immigrants who were working illegally in our country will be able to be subject to rights in legal work, insurance and generally in their legal residence in the country without the fear of exploitation and persecution as illegal immigrants. On the other hand, it ensures a check on the part of the state regarding both the suppression of the exploitation of immigrants at work by employers and the easier detection of illegal aliens who endanger the safety of citizens.