Birth Allowance

What is the Birth Benefit, and how much is paid?

The Birth Benefit is a government measure to support Greek families and to develop and implement demographic policy measures. Introduced on 1 January 2020, the benefit strengthens family and social cohesion.
The Birth Benefit increases for each child born, according to the number of dependent children in the family after the birth, as follows:

• 1 child: 2,400
• 2 children: 2,700
• 3 children: 3,000
• 4 or more children: 3,500

The benefit is paid in two equal instalments.
The first instalment is paid in the month after the child’s birth, provided that the application is submitted and approved during the month of birth. The second instalment is paid five months after the month of birth.

Can I be a beneficiary of the benefit?

Yes, if you are the MOTHER and have not lost custody of the child.

Who submits the application for the Birth Benefit?

The child’s mother.

When should I submit the application for the Birth Benefit?

The application must be submitted within three months of the child’s birth. For children born between 1 January and 18 February 2020, the application must be submitted within three months of 18 February 2020.

Where should I submit the application for the Birth Benefit?

The application is submitted:

(a) through OPEKA’s Childbirth Benefit application, operated by IDIKA S.A.;

or (b) through the Citizens Register Information System subsystem for declaring the child’s birth, if the birth takes place in a public or private maternity hospital or a maternity clinic/department of a hospital (this option will become available at a later date).

What are the eligibility requirements for the Birth Benefit?

The child must have been born alive in Greece on or after 1 January 2020; annual equivalised family income must not exceed €40,000; and the child’s mother or the person with custody must reside permanently and legally in Greece and be a Greek citizen, a person of Greek origin, an EU citizen, a citizen of an EEA country, or a third-country national who has resided continuously in Greece since 2012. An application must also be submitted within three months of the birth. From 2024 onward, a third-country national must have resided legally and permanently in Greece for the previous 12 years.

How is permanent residence in Greece proven?

By filing the beneficiary’s E1 income tax return for the tax year preceding the child’s birth and the corresponding Administrative/Corrective Tax Assessment. This does not apply if, when the benefit application is submitted, the applicant’s Tax Register information shows a change of residence after that tax return was filed.

How is the income requirement proven?

By filing the beneficiary’s E1 income tax return for the tax year preceding the child’s birth and the corresponding Administrative/Corrective Tax Assessment.

I did not file an income tax return for tax year 2018 because I was not required to. Am I eligible for the Birth Benefit?

For births where the tax return for tax year 2018 is checked, beneficiaries who were not required to file a return for that tax year may file one from 18 February 2020 until they submit their application for the benefit.

How does a third-country national prove permanent residence in Greece for the Birth Benefit?

By filing an income tax return for each tax year, either by the beneficiaries or their spouses, or, if they were not required to file, by the tax return in which they appear as dependent family members.

I have lived legally and permanently in Greece since 2012, but I did not file tax returns for every year. Can I file them late now?

No. The E1 income tax return must have been submitted during the year in which the filing deadline fell, not at a later date.

I am a third-country national and have not lived continuously and legally in Greece since 2012. The child’s father is Greek and resides legally and permanently in Greece. Am I eligible for the Birth Benefit?

Yes, provided that the other requirements are also met.

I am a third-country national and have not lived continuously and legally in Greece since 2012. The child’s father is also a third-country national and has lived continuously and legally in Greece since 2012. Am I eligible for the Birth Benefit?

Yes, provided that the other requirements are also met.

The three-month deadline for submitting an application for the Birth Benefit is about to expire, but I cannot yet submit the E1 return for the tax year preceding the child’s birth. What happens in this case?

In this case, the E1 return and the resulting Administrative/Corrective Income Tax Assessment are checked for the tax year before the year preceding the child’s birth.

Can the Birth Benefit be seized?

It cannot be seized or offset against confirmed debts (Article 10 of Law 4659/2020, Government Gazette 21/A).

If the mother dies or abandons the child through her own fault, who is entitled to the benefit?

The benefit is paid to the child’s father if he resides permanently and legally in Greece, has custody of the child and submits an application. In all cases, it is paid to the person who resides legally and permanently in Greece and has custody of the child.

The mother died after her application was approved, but the benefit was not paid to her while she was alive. Who is now entitled to it, and what is the procedure?

The benefit is paid to the child’s father if he resides permanently and legally in Greece and has custody of the child. In all cases, it is paid to the person who resides legally and permanently in Greece and has custody. To receive it, the person with custody must submit the IBAN of a bank account of which they are the account holder or a joint account holder.

I submitted an application for the Child Benefit and was told that it is pending. What should I do?

In this case, within two months of receiving the notice, you must submit to a Community Centre of your choice the documents required to establish that you meet the benefit requirements.

Instructions for using the application:

1) Two-month deadline:

Under Joint Ministerial Decision No. D11/oik. 13242/461 (Government Gazette 1039/B) on the Birth Benefit, and specifically Chapter C:

When the citizen submits the application themselves, they are informed by the OPEKA Childbirth Benefit application, operated by IDIKA S.A., of the specific reason why their application is pending. The application directs them to a Community Centre or municipality of their choice to complete the process, which requires supporting documents proving that the eligibility requirements for the benefit are met.

When the application has been submitted through the Citizens Register Information System subsystem for declaring the child’s birth, the applicant is notified by text message to the mobile phone number (sms) or by email to the email address (email)provided in the birth declaration, and is asked to access OPEKA’s Childbirth Benefit application to check the status of the application as described above. Until electronic submission of supporting documents is available, the documents must be submitted in paper form through authorised users at Community Centres or municipalities.

In either of the above cases, the interested person must submit the required documents within two months of receiving the notice described above, through an authorised user at a Community Centre or municipality.

2) Cases where an application is not approved :

Community Centre users are authorised to reject the supporting documents submitted if the citizen does not meet the requirements.

If not all required fields in the application have been completed and the application contains notices that constitute a “Reason for non-approval”, the user rejects the declared information in the notices table and then definitively submits the application by selecting the corresponding “Submit Application Definitively” button.

Immediately afterwards, the application rejects the citizen’s application and displays “Not Approved”. The “Not Approved” decision is printed in duplicate and signed by the citizen (the same procedure as for an Approval decision).

The citizen may file an administrative appeal against the “Not Approved” decision within three months, in accordance with Article 46 of Law 4520/2018 (Government Gazette 30/A).

Here are links to two subpages under the Birth Benefit. They contain questions and answers about the benefit and explain how to submit applications at Community Centres.

Related pages

Legislation documents