With article 193 of Law 5078/2023 (Government Gazette A΄211/20.12.2023), a new type of residence permit is introduced in Greece for citizens of third countries who wish to work here. More specifically, the new provision concerns foreigners residing illegally in Greece until November 30, 2023, who continue to reside in Greece and complete at least three (3) continuous years of residence in Greece before submitting the application.
In particular, it is provided that by a decision of the Secretary of the Decentralized Administration, a residence permit is granted with the right to access dependent work and 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 dependent labor status 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) years of residence in Greece prior to submitting an application, according to certain documents chronology.
In addition to the above conditions, the following are additionally required:
a) The possession of a passport, even if it has expired.
b) The absence of reasons of public order and security.
c) The payment of a government fee of three hundred (300) euros and the cost of printing a residence permit in the form of an independent document in the amount of sixteen (16) euros.
d) The submission of an official declaration by the employer, through the Unified Digital Portal of the Public Administration (gov.gr), with which he undertakes the responsibility to employ the applicant, either in the context of dependent work, or in the context of the provision of services or work, if the third-country citizen 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. This declaration must also include the Tax Registration Number (TIN) of the prospective employer.
Citizens of third countries who meet the above conditions can apply until 31.12.2024. The application is submitted electronically to the one-stop service within the geographical boundaries of which the applicant will provide work according to the employer’s declaration.
Citizens of third countries who submit an application for the granting of the present residence permit and meet the above conditions, are granted the application submission certificate of article 8 of Law 4251/2014, after the necessary check by the competent immigration authority within forty (40) days from the submission of the application.
Within an exclusive period of sixty (60) days from receipt of the confirmation of application submission, the third country citizen who has submitted an application for the granting of the residence permit herein must submit electronically to the competent one-stop service of the Decentralized Administration, evidence of his employment (employment contract or recruitment announcement or details of the start of a business for the provision of services or work) by the employer, who submitted the responsible declaration described above. If the applicant does not submit the evidence within the exclusive period of sixty (60) days, his application is rejected.
This residence permit is granted once and has a duration of three (3) years. The holder of the residence permit may, at the end of its validity period, request a change of residence permit category in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration Code.
It is also particularly important that it is possible to grant a residence permit as a family member of a third-country citizen to the spouse-parent and the minor children of third-country citizens, provided that: a) the parent has obtained the present residence permit and b) the spouse – parent and the minor child are in Greece until November 30, 2023.
For the implementation of the new law, a joint decision of the Ministers of Immigration and Asylum, Interior and Labor and Social Security is expected to be issued soon.
*Our office has extensive experience in all kinds of immigration law and residence permit issues (issuance and renewal of residence permits, working visas, Golden Visa, legalization of illegal immigrants, acquisition of Greek citizenship, cancellation of deportations, objections to the detention of foreigners, etc.). For further legal advice or to assign your case to our office, you can contact us at tel. 2313 079293 or by email at info@siopi-law.gr. It is noted that the provision of legal advice without a corresponding fee is prohibited under the Lawyers Code (Article 57 Law 4194/2013)*
Dafni I. Siopi
Attorney at Law, LLM
52 Tsimiski Street, Thessaloniki
T. +30 2313 079293, +30 6977 568673
E. info@siopi-law.gr, dsiopi@siopi-law.gr