Guidance

Greece: notarial and documentary services

How someone in Greece can get documents legalised, witnessed or certified, take an oath of British citizenship and obtain informative notes.

The British Embassy Athens premises and British Vice Consulates premises around Greece are open to the public by appointment only.

Contact us on +30 210 7272 600, email Information.Athens@fcdo.gov.uk or use our contact form for consular enquiries.

Documentary services for UK nationals wishing to marry in Greece are offered by appointment only at the Athens offices and our Consular network around Greece. Other documentary services (certified copies of British passports and issue of Informative Notes/ standard letters) are still available online. Find out more information.

Overview

The British consulate can provide a range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in Greece.

Where local notaries can provide services, the British consulate will not provide them. In many cases local notaries or lawyers can provide services more cheaply, quickly and conveniently.

Some services may be available by post. You must make an appointment for each service that requires your personal attendance. Use the links after each service to make a reservation. A member of staff will contact you to confirm your appointment.

Before booking, make sure you have selected the correct service and that the document will be accepted by the relevant authority. This could be the local town hall, registry office, tax authorities, immigration office or another authority either in Greece, the UK or a third country.

Services we provide in Greece

  • make a certified copy of a British passport
  • various informative notes and letters

For information about documents relating to marriage, such as a certificate of no impediment (CNI) and affirmations or affidavits of marital status, see getting married abroad.

If you can’t find the service you are looking for on this page, see other services provided by the British embassy in Greece

What to bring to your appointment

See the individual services below for details of supporting documents to bring. Make sure you have acceptable proof of address and identity, and payment for any fees. See the full list of consular fees

Payment

We accept payment by credit card and cash.

Proof of address and identity

For all appointments for notarial services you will need to bring acceptable proof of your identity and address.

We accept passports or national identity cards as proof of identity.

As proof of your address you will be expected to provide a recent original of either:

  • tax certificate: Greek tax certificate [εκκαθαριστικό] in your name issued within the last 3 months

  • utility bills (not ones printed off the internet): Greek water / electric / telephone landline bill [but NOT mobile phone bill] in your name issued within the last 3 months

  • bank/building society/credit card statement (not ones printed off the internet): recent letter from Greek bank or printed bank statement issued within the last 3 months

Make a certified copy of a British passport

This service is for customers who need certified photocopies of British passports.

You can request for it to be issued and sent to you by post and pay the fee/ postal costs by credit card. To make a request, use our contact form for consular enquiries.

Alternatively, you can book an appointment in the British Embassy in Athens.

What you will need to bring with you:

  • British passport that you need a certified copy of
  • correct fee – see the list of fees and by cash or Mastercard/Visa debit/credit card
  • proof of address

Prepare a document in English

This service is for customers who require a signed and stamped version of one of our standard letters.

Please note that you do not have to travel to the British Embassy in Athens for this service – you can request for the certificate to be issued and sent to you by post and pay the fee/ postal costs by credit card. To make a request, use our contact form for consular enquiries.

UK Driving Licences letter (ODT, 59.3 KB)

HM Revenue and Customs letter (ODT, 58.8 KB)

UK Watersports Diplomas letter (ODT, 59.2 KB)

International Certificate for Operators of Pleasure Craft [ICC] (ODT, 61.2 KB)

Change of name in the UK letter (English version) (ODT, 61 KB)

Military service in the UK letter (English and Greek versions) (ODT, 59 KB)

Family certificate and Civil Status letter (English and Greek versions) (ODT, 59.2 KB)

Marriage: recognition or validity letter (English version) (ODT, 59.2 KB)

If you wish to come by the Embassy for the above mentioned documents, you will need to:

Services provided elsewhere

We no longer witness life certificates for British nationals claiming a British pension abroad. Please refer to the list of people working in a recognised profession who can do this for you.

Services we cannot provide

  • legalise a UK document

Legalisation is the official confirmation that a signature, seal or stamp on an official public document is genuine. It does not certify the authenticity of a document or give approval of its content. UK public documents such as birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates can be legalised by the UK government in the UK. This is also known as an Apostille.

The Legalisation Office in the UK can legalise UK public documents and you can find information on how to do this here. The British Embassy and Consulates in Greece are unable to legalise UK public documents.

Data protection

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office holds and uses data for purposes notified to the Information Commissioner under the Data Protection Act 1998. Such personal data may be disclosed to other UK government departments and public authorities.

Disclaimer

This information is provided as a general guide and is based upon information provided to the embassy / consulate by the relevant authorities and may be subject to change at any time with little or no notice. Accordingly the FCDO and the British embassy / consulate will not be liable for any inaccuracies in this information. For all notarial and legalisation services it is the responsibility of the customer to ascertain the precise requirements of the person requesting the notarial or legalisation service and to satisfy themselves that the service provided by the embassy/consulate will be accepted.

Published 22 April 2013
Last updated 18 March 2022 + show all updates
  1. Added new Information note, titled 'International Certificate for Operators of pleasure craft'

  2. Updated information regarding proof of address.

  3. informative notes in accessible format

  4. Amended proof of address and identity

  5. Updated 19 July 2018

  6. Added two informative notes about changes to notarial services

  7. Updated guidance on certifying copies of UK driving licences

  8. Updated information on life certificates for UK state pensions.

  9. correct typo

  10. First published.