Frequently Asked Questions

Eligible applicants are ethnic Greeks who are members of the Greek minority in Albania, have reached age 67 and do not receive a pension greater thanEUR 418.95per month, provided their annual individual taxable income is up to EUR 4,320. For married applicants or those in a civil partnership, annual family taxable income must not exceed EUR 8,640. The objective value of their immovable property must not exceed EUR 90,000, and the presumed expenditure for their movable property (private cars, commercial vehicles or motorcycles) must not exceed EUR 6,000.

Membership of the Greek minority in Albania can be proven with either the Special Identity Card for Expatriate Greeks or the naturalisation decision as published in the Government Gazette.

No. Payment of the full allowance is no longer linked to the beneficiary’s years of residence in Greece.

For people living in Greece, apply through the online platform available on gov.gr athttps://anasfalistoi-ellinikimeionotita.gr/. On gov.gr, follow: Home > Health and Welfare > Benefits > Social Solidarity Allowance for Uninsured Older People who are members of the Greek minority in Albania.

All citizens may contact the Community Centre of their municipality to submit an application.

To apply, you must: 1) have a Social Security Registration Number (AMKA); 2) have a Tax Identification Number (AFM); 3) provide the details of a bank account held at a bank in Greece in which you are an account holder or joint account holder (IBAN); 4) provide your mobile phone number; and 5) provide a valid email address.

After you enter your AFM, AMKA and IBAN, the online platform is designed to retrieve all required information through system interoperability. If a document cannot be retrieved this way, you will be notified to upload it to the platform or submit it to the Community Centre.

Anyone may apply, provided they have a Special Identity Card for Expatriate Greeks or a Government Gazette issue containing their naturalisation decision dated no later than 31 December 2022. If approved for the new amount, their existing benefit will stop immediately and they will receive the new benefit amount.

You must submit: a) a Special Identity Card for Expatriate Greeks, certified by a Greek public authority, or the Government Gazette issue publishing your naturalisation decision dated no later than 31 December 2022. For online applications, these are retrieved automatically where possible; upload them only if they cannot be retrieved. b) A recent certificate or confirmation from an Albanian authority showing the pension you receive, issued within the six months before the online application. c) If your family status is not recorded in Greece, a recent family status certificate from Albania, issued within the six months before the online application.

Documents from Albania, whether issued by an Albanian authority or electronically through e-Albania, must bear an Apostille stamp and be officially translated before submission.

Yes. You may submit a new application while OPEKA’s competent services continue processing the application you have already submitted.

The IBAN you provide must be active, and you must be listed as an account holder or joint account holder.

You can edit an application if you created it yourself. Applications created at a Municipality or Community Centre cannot be edited by the applicant. In that case, contact a Municipality or Community Centre to edit and submit the application.

Each upload field is separate and accepts only one file, up to 3 GB. If one file contains information for more than one section (for example, an Albanian pension and a Government Gazette document), create two separate files and upload each to its corresponding field. A Community Centre user will then verify the information in each section based on the uploaded documents. For more information, consult the User Guide (Information – Application guide).

System interoperability allows the application to retrieve both your current Greek identity card details and the details of your former EDTO. If information is found for both, the system displays it in the relevant sections. The EDTO expiry date does not affect retrieval; the only criterion is that it was acquired or issued by 31 December 2022.

The ‘Government Gazette / Naturalisation Decision’ section appears only when the EDTO fields in the ‘Greek Minority Details’ section are blank. If those fields are filled in, your status has already been verified, so no further document is required and the Government Gazette section is not displayed.

Sometimes the system does not display a person’s EDTO details even though a card was issued. This may be due to spelling or other differences in the person’s details (name, surname, etc.) between databases. In that case, a ‘Government Gazette / Naturalisation Decision’ section appears so you can upload proof of your Greek minority status. A Community Centre user will then verify the details based on the uploaded document. For more information, consult the User Guide (Information – Application guide).

The system may be unable to verify a person’s family status because of spelling or other differences in their details (name, surname, etc.) between databases. The ‘unknown family status’ field will then be selected, and you will be asked to upload a document proving your family status. A Community Centre user will verify the details based on that document.

You can change your family status in the application only if the ‘unknown family status’ field is selected. Otherwise, the details were filled in automatically through system interoperability with another body’s database and cannot be changed in the application.

You may submit the application once all required fields have been completed. However, it is recommended that you do not submit it if a ‘reason for rejection’ notice is displayed.