Your North American Documents.
Sorted for Greece.

Yes. Tu Apostilla provides fingerprinting across Greece—including Greater Athens/Attica, Thessaloniki, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, and other regions by appointment. You do not need to fly back to North America just to be fingerprinted.

We capture biometric impressions on official FBI standard FD-258 cards or Canadian RCMP C-216C biometric forms using specialized forensic ink or electronic LiveScan capture. Our certified technicians evaluate ridge detail, delta clarity, and core patterns on-site to ensure zero rejection rates when your file enters FBI CJIS or RCMP CCRTIS automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS).

An FBI LiveScan or expedited electronic card conversion submits encrypted digital biometric files directly to FBI-approved channelers or the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division. Electronic results are generated in 24 to 48 hours (compared to 8–12 weeks for traditional mailed ink cards).

Once the electronic background summary is issued, we submit the official PDF directly to the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office in Washington, D.C. for federal Hague Apostille authentication, followed by Greek certified translation.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services (CCRTIS) requires certified biometrics taken on standard C-216C forms. Because the RCMP does not accept direct electronic submissions originating from foreign IP addresses without an accredited Canadian gateway, we capture your fingerprints in Greece, convert the biometric impressions through an accredited Canadian server, and submit directly to CCRTIS in Ottawa.

The certified criminal record certificate is then issued in Canada, routed for official Canadian apostille authentication (provincial or Global Affairs Canada), and delivered with certified Greek translation directly to your address or legal counsel in Greece.

Under the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, a competent authority may only authenticate public documents originating within its specific constitutional jurisdiction. An FBI Identity History Summary is a federal public document issued under the seal of the U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. state Secretaries of State (such as California, New York, or Florida) have no legal authority to apostille federal records.

A common mistake made by applicants is asking a local notary public to "notarize a photocopy" of an FBI report and taking that to a state Secretary of State. That produces an apostille that only certifies the notary's signature, not the federal seal. Greek immigration directorates (DAMOP) and Greek consulates routinely reject this improper pathway. Federal records must be apostilled exclusively by the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office in Washington, D.C.

State Secretary of State Apostille: Vital statistics records (birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates issued by state departments of health or county registrars), state court orders, university degrees and transcripts, state police department clearances, corporate articles of incorporation or certificates of good standing, and documents executed before a commissioned state notary public (such as private agreements or powers of attorney).

Federal U.S. Department of State Apostille (Washington, D.C.): FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) background checks, U.S. federal court judgments and bankruptcy decrees, certificate of naturalization true copies (authenticated via Form G-24), USDA certificates, and military records.

No. Neither U.S. state Secretaries of State nor Greek public authorities accept an apostille affixed to an uncertified photocopy, scan, or decorative hospital souvenir certificate. The apostille must be attached to an official certified copy recently issued by the state Department of Health, state Bureau of Vital Statistics, or County Clerk, bearing the registrar's physical raised seal, multi-colored security paper, and signature.

If you are already residing in Greece without your certified vital record, our team coordinates with the relevant state vital statistics archives to order fresh certified exemplars on your behalf before submitting them for state apostille authentication.

On January 11, 2024, Canada officially entered the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. This historic accession fundamentally streamlined cross-border legal recognition between Canada and Greece.

Prior to January 2024, Canadian documents required a slow two-step legalization chain: authentication by Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa followed by mandatory in-person consular legalization at the Greek Embassy in Ottawa or the Greek Consulates General in Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver. Today, Canadian documents receive a single Hague Apostille certificate from Canadian competent authorities. Once apostilled, the document is immediately recognized by Greek public entities without any Greek consular legalization step.

Canada has decentralized apostille authority between provincial ministries and the federal government:

Provincial Competent Authorities: Documents originating in or notarized within Ontario (Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery), Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Quebec are apostilled directly by their respective provincial ministries.

Global Affairs Canada (Ottawa): Federal documents (including RCMP certified criminal record clearances), documents issued by the Government of Canada, and documents originating in provinces or territories that have not established their own apostille offices are authenticated by Global Affairs Canada's Authentication Services Section (JLAC). We determine the exact jurisdiction to prevent administrative delays.

Under Greek administrative law (specifically Presidential Decree P.D. 169/2002 and Law 4781/2021), foreign-language public documents presented to Greek public entities—such as immigration directorates (DAMOP), tax offices (AADE), the National Social Security Institution (EFKA), civil registries (Lixiarcheio), or courts—must be translated by an officially authorized professional.

Authorized translations in Greece may only be performed by:

• Official certified translators graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpreting of the Ionian University (P.D. 169/2002).
• Certified translators registered in the Certified Translators Registry of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
• Practicing Greek attorneys licensed by a Hellenic Bar Association with certified foreign language competency.

Translations certified in other countries (such as Spanish Traducciones Juradas, UK certified translations, or generic U.S. notary translation affidavits) lack legal validity in Greece and are routinely rejected by Greek civil servants. We ensure every translation carries the required Greek legal stamps and registration credentials.

Yes. Greek administrative circulars mandate that the complete legal instrument—including the underlying document, any notary acknowledgment certificates, and the full Hague Apostille text—must be translated into Greek as one continuous, bound, and stamped translation package.

Greek civil registry clerks and immigration caseworkers cross-reference the apostille number, date of issue, and competent authority seal against the translated text to verify the full chain of custody before entering your details into Greek state databases.

Under international law, a Hague Apostille certificate itself does not expire; it remains a permanent verification that the signature and seal were authentic at the time of issuance. However, Greek receiving authorities enforce strict document "freshness" limits on the underlying certificates:

• Criminal background checks (FBI & RCMP): For Greek residence permits, Golden Visas, Digital Nomad Visas, and work authorizations, Greek immigration directorates generally require background checks to have been issued within three (3) to six (6) months prior to formal submission.
• Certificates of Non-Impediment / Celibacy: For marriages in Greece, Greek town halls (Dimarcheia) typically require marital status records to be issued within six (6) months of the wedding date.
• Vital records (Birth and Death Certificates): Valid indefinitely if issued on certified security paper, although specific regional immigration directorates may request an exemplar issued within the past 12–24 months.

If you are physically present in Greece, you can execute a Greek Power of Attorney (Plirexousio) directly before a licensed Greek Notary Public (Symvolaiografos). If you do not speak Greek fluently, a certified sworn interpreter must attend the signing. In this domestic scenario, no foreign apostille is necessary.

However, if the principal is located in the United States or Canada, the Power of Attorney must be drafted in dual Greek and English, executed before a local notary public in North America, apostilled by the competent state Secretary of State or Canadian authority, and then translated and registered in Greece. We frequently coordinate these dual-language cross-border POAs with Greek conveyancing lawyers.

No. It is essential to distinguish between document authentication and substantive educational recognition. An apostille certifies only that the signature and seal of the university registrar or notary are genuine; it does not evaluate curriculum equivalence or academic credits.

If you intend to practice a regulated profession (such as medicine, law, engineering, or psychology) or enter the Greek civil service, your apostilled degree and certified Greek translation must be submitted to the Hellenic National Academic Recognition and Information Center (DOATAP - ΔΟΑΤΑΠ) for formal academic equivalence. We provide the requisite state apostille and official certified legal translation required for your DOATAP dossier.

For U.S. state documents and Canadian provincial certificates, yes. The physical original certified document must be presented to the competent issuing authority because the apostille is physically attached (riveted, grommeted, stamped, or heat-sealed) to the underlying page. A digital printout of a state birth certificate will not be apostilled.

For FBI background checks, however, the U.S. Department of State accepts the official cryptographically secured PDF issued by the FBI, which we route directly for federal apostille. For all physical files, we manage secure, tracked courier shipments via DHL Express or FedEx between Greece and North America.

Yes. Over 60% of our casework is managed in direct collaboration with Greek legal advisers, Golden Visa law firms, and corporate global mobility teams. We review requirement checklists with your attorney, verify submission deadlines, share digital preview scans for online immigration portal filings, and dispatch final stamped paperwork directly to their law office in Greece.

Administrative rejections in Greece usually stem from four common procedural defects:

• An apostille issued on an unauthorized notary copy rather than an official vital statistics registrar.
• A state Secretary of State apostille erroneously placed on a federal FBI report.
• An expired background check that exceeds the receiving authority's 3- or 6-month window.
• A translation performed outside the scope of P.D. 169/2002, Law 4781/2021, and the Hellenic Lawyers’ Code (Law 4194/2013).

If you have received an administrative objection or rejection note, send us a clear scan of the document and the Greek clerk's notation. We will diagnose the defect within one business day and map out the fastest corrective pathway.