The Foreign Ministry’s translation office checked out of its dilapidated downtown office in 2002 and transferred all services to Psyrri. The new four-story building is located at 10 Arionos St in Psyrri.

Offices on the first floor assist those seeking to translate documents from Albanian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Croatian, Moldovan, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russia, Serbian, Slovakian and Czech into Greek and visa versa.

The entire second floor caters to those wishing to translate documents from English into Greek and visa versa.

The third floor handles translations from Arabic, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish and Finnish into Greek and visa versa. The department that certifies documents is also on the third floor.

The office is open to the public on weekdays between 8:30am and 1pm.

The procedure

Step 1: Make sure you have with you the original document or a certified photocopy. Documents issued abroad must be certified by the embassy. Documents issued in Greece can be certified at your local police station or at one of the Interior Ministry’s Citizens’ Information Centers – Kentro Enimerosis Politon – (call 1564 for details)

Step 2: Fill in an application form available at the translation office. The application is in Greek, English, Russian and Albanian. You are required to indicate the language of the document, the language of the translation, the applicant’s name and telephone number, as well as the number of your Greek identification card or passport.

Step 3: Submit all documents. Employees will issue a protocol number which indicates the date you should return to pick up the translation. Do not lose this slip.

Step 4: Pay the full price of the translation or a deposit upon submission and the rest when you pick up the translation.

Translation fee

Different fees apply for different documents to be translated. A birth certificate cost 7 euros (issued in five working days) or 10.50 euros (issued in three working days). A university diploma cost 8 euros (issued in five days) or 12 euros (issued in three days).

• People who do not live in Athens may mail the document they wish to have translated to the translation office. In this case they must pay by a postal check (tachydromiki epitagi)

For more information, contact the translation office at tel 210 328 5713.