According to Article 7 par. 2 of No. 4000/1/113-a’ Joint Ministerial Decree, the rejection of the application for the (initial) issuance or the renewal of the residence permit or the revocation of the approval decision and the removal of the residence permit are taken place by the competent police issuance Authorities with a reasoned decision, which shall be notified by in accordance with Article 30 of the Directive 2004/38/EC and includes a return decision, according to Article 21(1) of Greek Law 3907/2011, provided that the legal conditions are met for this purpose.
Against this decision, the person concerned is entitled, within twenty (20) days from the date of the notification, to lodge an (administrative) appeal in accordance with the provisions of Article 31 of the Directive 2004/38/EC to the Aliens Divisions of Attica and Thessaloniki for the residents in Attica and Thessaloniki or to the local Police Directorates, in which the competent police issuance Authorities belong to, for the residents for the rest of Greece (for example, if the Larissa Sub-Directorate of Crime Investigation and Prosecution makes a negative decision, the person concerned lodges his/her appeal at the Larissa Police Directorate). The aforementioned Authorities make a decision within thirty (30) days. The lawful lodging of an appeal within the prescribed period, as well as the deadline for lodging it, suspends the enforcement of the return decision, provided that it is included. In case of approval of the appeal, the case is returned to the competent police issuance Authority in order to proceed to the issuance of the residence permit, while in case of rejection, a reasoned decision is issued and notified to the person concerned and the enforcement of the return decision is ordered, provided that the legal conditions are met for this purpose.
In addition to that, according to Article 7 par. 3 of No. 4000/1/113-a’ Joint Ministerial Decree, against the negative decision of the appeal, as well as against the negative decision for the issuance, revocation or non renewal of the residence permit, an application for annulment pursuant to Article 15 of Greek Law 3068/2002 to the local Three-Member Administrative Court of First Instance may be enforced by the person concerned within a period of sixty (60) days , which begins the next day from the date of the notification of the contested decisions.
It should be noted that in the cases mentioned above, the applicant may, under certain conditions, be granted a Special Certificate of Legal Residence pursuant to Article 8 of Article 4000/1/113-a΄ Joint Ministerial Decree. For more information on the certificate, please visit the dedicated page.
