The Greek parliament has adopted a new law on emigration. It corrects several points on residence permits for third-country nationals.

Who will be affected by the amendments? The corrections will affect:

1) children of migrants who were born and raised in Greece,
2) those who want to enter the country in order to work.

What is the essence of the changes?

Children of migrants born and raised in Greece will be able to obtain a residence permit for 10 years—previously, the document was issued for 5 years. At the same time, people who have become adults during their stay in Greece will receive such a residence permit, provided that they finish three years of school by the age of 23 and are admitted to vocational training or to university to continue their studies. Previously, it was necessary to finish six years of school at the same age.

Another change applies to non-EU citizens who want to get a job in Greece. In order to combat the shortage of human resources in the country, Greece will allow certain groups of workers living in the country to change their place of residence.

An important point. Although the new law is officially adopted, it will not come into force until January 2024. 

At present, about 750,000 citizens of other countries legally reside in Greece; only in 2022 Greece had issued more than 150,000 residence permits to foreigners. This data is shared by the country's Ministry of Migration and Asylum.