Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-04-09
CONTENTS
[01] Bill released for consultation tries to settle Greek citizenship
issue for immigrant children
[01] Bill released for consultation tries to settle Greek citizenship
issue for immigrant children
ANA-MPA - Legal residence in Greece of one parent for at least five
years before a child's birth and the enrollment of that child in first
grade during the citizenship application year are the main requirements
for immigrant children to acquire Greek citizenship, according to an
interior ministry draft bill which has been released for consultation
as of Thursday (today).
According to the draft bill, if a child is born before a legally-residing
parent has completed five consecutive years of life in Greece, then the
required number of residency years jumps to ten.
Children with at least one parent who has a long-term or such residence
permit are eligible to acquire Greek citizenship immediately.
The bill seeks to resolve an issue related to a Council of State decision
annulling a regulation in Law 3838/2010. According to the annulled clause,
a child could acquire Greek citizenship at birth as long as both parents
had been legal residents for the last five years. The new bill puts the
weight on the child's enrollment in school.
The draft law retains all other alternatives for acquiring citizenship
for older children, affecting children who have graduated from Greek
high schools and are studying at higher institutions in Greece (academic
or technical universities), children who have completed the nine years
of obligatory schooling (as stipulated by the Greek constitution),
or childen who have completed high school (grade 12) in Greece.
Emphasis has been place on granting Greek citizenship to immigrant
children because social conscience and therefore national identity is
formed during a person's childhood, an interior ministry official said.
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