Where can I do an official (certified) translation in Greece?

(This post is about translations for domestic use)

It is widely known that bureaucracy plagues investment initiatives and obstructs daily business operations. The legislation around official translations is no exception to this. The issue has definitely puzzled every business operating or wishing to operate in Greece at some point. Whether you need to incorporate your business, obtain a licence or file your tax statements, sooner or later comes a moment when you need to submit official translations to the public authorities. And there begins the chaos!

The main problem in Greece is that the public sector has not adopted a uniform legal framework governing the status of official translations in a consistent way for all its departments. What is more, civil servants are often only partially informed and instead of presenting you all the available options, they persistently stick just to the one they happen to know or they have been told by a colleague or supervisor. And this is what creates all the confusion. Don’t worry though. As a Greek business owner I have trained myself to overcome such bureaucratic obstacles over the years and I can help you out of this.

In Greece there are 3 parallel systems in force with regard to official translations. These are approved by the vast majority of public authorities, so we could say that this norm is considered more or less common ground. The current systems providing official translations are:

• The Translation Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Actually, this service was abolished by Law 4781/2021 in September 2021 and it is now replaced by the Certified Translators Registry-Μητρώο Πιστοποιημένων Μεταφραστών, formed by former Translation Service employees.
• Graduate Translators of the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpreting of the Ionian University
• Greek lawyers who fulfil the conditions set out in Article 36 of Law 4194/2013 of the Lawyers’ Code

These 3 systems are equivalent and can be used interchangeably. Should you come across a civil servant, who persistently guides you only towards one direction and rejects the other two options, it is likely that this person is not fully informed about the pertinent legal framework. What can you do in this case?

Check the instructions of the central administration entities

Such instructions are usually included in circulars, decisions, guides or official websites. Central administration entities are hierarchically higher bodies and their instructions are binding for every subordinate department. When, for example, the Ministry of Interior publishes a guideline mentioning all 3 systems, as presented above, in its official website or issues a relevant circular, every public sector belonging to the Ministry of Interior is obliged to apply this guideline. So, when you have to deal with ignorant civil servants, just point out the official guiding source or legislation and remind them that any attempt to act differently is arbitrary. In most cases this approach works.

Many persons may try to promote only specific solutions, either due to ignorance or even because the promoted option serves better their personal interests. We believe that the business interest is to be informed of all the available options and chose the one that fits best their needs.

This post is basically focused on businesses. However, we should also highlight that the same rules apply also for citizens and digital nomads.

Translation Embassy provides official translations in cooperation with Graduate Translators of the Ionian University and lawyers. We support businesses of every branch in their transactions with Greek public authorities and help them overcome bureaucratic obstacles.

To request our services get in touch at info@translationembassy.com and ask for a free consultation and quote.