According to article 161 of Law 5038/2023, it is stipulated that third-country citizens who reside in Greece are granted a ten-year residence permit (residence permit type M2), which provides the right to full access to the labor market, provided that:
a) they have completed ten years of legal residence in Greece by holding a valid residence permit on the date of submission of the relevant application and meet the conditions of paragraph d of paragraph 1 of article 5A of the Greek Citizenship Code, i.e. they have smoothly integrated into the economic and social life of the Country, having made it a continuous center of their livelihood activities (It is noted that for the verification of the financial integration of the applicant, the relevant authorities take into account the existence of a stable job in the Country and his economic activity in general, as well as the continuous fulfillment of tax and insurance obligations are taken into account In order to verify the applicant’s social integration, the formation of a family bond with a Greek citizen, his familiarity with the customs and manners of Greek society, his participation in voluntary activities, sports groups, municipality activities) or
b) they were born in Greece or have successfully completed six (6) grades of a Greek school in Greece, before reaching the age of twenty-three, or
c) they are adult citizens of third countries or stateless persons who entered Greece as unaccompanied minors and have successfully completed at least three (3) grades of secondary education at a Greek school in Greece before reaching the age of twenty-three, or
d) they are family members of a Greek, who legally reside in the country with the Greek by virtue of a definitive residence permit for a continuous period of five (5) years.
The ten-year residence permit is granted by decision of the Secretary of the Decentralized Administration, following an application by the third-country citizen, as long as the applicant (a) has full coverage of medical and hospital care and b) has not been absent from the country for a period of two (2) consecutive years.
The ten-year residence permit provides full access to salaried and self-employed work and at the end of its validity period it is automatically converted into a residence permit for a long-term resident (residence permit type M.1) upon presentation of the previous residence permit without further supporting documents and provided that the periods of absence from the country are shorter than six (6) consecutive months and do not exceed a total of ten (10) months within the last five years before the expiration of its validity period. As long as the above conditions of not being absent from the country beyond the above-mentioned periods are not met, the citizen of a third country may request a change of category of residence permit in accordance with the provisions of article 12 of Law 5038/2023. What changes after Law 5038/2023 in the renewal of ten-year residence permits is that now, in order to obtain a long-term resident’s residence permit after ten years, it is not necessary to fulfill the income condition, as was the case under the previous legislative status, and the only condition that will now be considered will be the non-absence of the third country citizen for a period of time longer than the mentioned in the law.
*Our office has extensive experience in the field of Immigration Law (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. +30 2313079293 or by email at info@siopi-law.gr*
Dafni I. Siopi
Attorney at Law, LLM
52 Tsimiski Street, Thessaloniki
Tel. +30 2313079293, +30 6977568673
E. info@siopi-law.gr, dsiopi@siopi-law.gr