Government aims to replace old IDs within three years
The Greek government aims to replace the old identity cards with the new, upgraded ones within three years, Citizen Protection Minister Giannis Oikonomou said on Saturday.
“We are moving forward smoothly, with the big goal, in 2.5-3 years from today, to have replaced all of the population’s police identification cards,” he told private broadcaster Skai, adding that the public is responding positively to the change.
Out of approximately 99,000 available appointments, 62,000-63,000 have been booked so farm he said, adding that available appointments in Athens, Thessaloniki and other large cities will be doubled for October and November.
“We want to make a process for citizens which will not have problems, it will be simple and they will get a completely secure identity card, and it will allow them to travel abroad according to the specifications and regulations of the European Union, according to the VISA specifications and in addition they will have a document that will not be forged,” he said.
The long-delayed change is necessary under EU Regulation 2019/1157, which requires member states to issue new identity cards with upgraded security features. ID cards, such as the present Greek one that were first issued in 1961, do not have a machine-readable zone (which are also contained on passports) and will cease to be valid on August 3, 2026.
