American citizenship and avoiding getting drafted in Greek army

[hellaslover 0]

Hello everybody,

I was born and raised in Greece, until 7 years ago when i moved to U.S. Since it's mandatory for all the young men to be drafted in the Greek army, and i'm considered greek, i will have to get drafted as well. In the summer of 2005 i was called to attend the army(with other ppl my age) while i was there for vacation. I was able to get an extension and not get drafted since i could prove that i was attending school in the U.S. Thing is, this extension has expired and the college that i go to is not recognized in Greece, unless i transfer to a State university and i can't right now, so they won't give me another extension.

I have 2 questions:

1) If i go to Greece for vacation this summer will i be in danger of getting "caught" at the airport and forced to go into the army? I have heard that i could go for less than 6 months with no problems, is that true?

2) If i get an American passport will i have any problems in Greece with the army or will they leave me alone for ever? If so, how long does it take to get a passport (and what is the process?) I live in Sacramento, CA if that helps...

I don't know if this is the right place to post but i'm new here..

If somebody can help me please do!

[zyggy 9]

Hello everybody,

I was born and raised in Greece, until 7 years ago when i moved to U.S. Since it's mandatory for all the young men to be drafted in the Greek army, and i'm considered greek, i will have to get drafted as well. In the summer of 2005 i was called to attend the army(with other ppl my age) while i was there for vacation. I was able to get an extension and not get drafted since i could prove that i was attending school in the U.S. Thing is, this extension has expired and the college that i go to is not recognized in Greece, unless i transfer to a State university and i can't right now, so they won't give me another extension.

I have 2 questions:

1) If i go to Greece for vacation this summer will i be in danger of getting "caught" at the airport and forced to go into the army? I have heard that i could go for less than 6 months with no problems, is that true?

2) If i get an American passport will i have any problems in Greece with the army or will they leave me alone for ever? If so, how long does it take to get a passport (and what is the process?) I live in Sacramento, CA if that helps...

I don't know if this is the right place to post but i'm new here..

If somebody can help me please do!

If you are a Greek citizen, you are subject to their laws and policies. Dual citizenship will not get you out of that. It is my belief that if you go to Greece and they find out that you did not perfrom your mandatory service, there is a chance they they will press you into that service. If this happens, there is nothing the US can do for you. As a Greek citizen, you are subject to their laws while you are there...Your Greek citizenship trumps any other citizenship you may have.

However, if Greece has provisions that prohibit dual citizens from serving, or that allow dual citizens to get waivers of service, it could help you..

Edited February 6, 2008 by zyggy

[lucyrich 19]

Agree with zyggy. If you want to get rid of the obligations of your Greek Citizenship, then you've got to get rid of your Greek Citizenship. Gaining US citizenship and a US passport, by itself, probably isn't enough.

See the Dual Citizenship FAQ for more info.

I have no idea about the procedure to get rid of Greek Citizenship.

As for getting a US passport, if you're already a US citizen, then go to a post office and fill out the passport request form. See travel.state.gov for more details. I hear it's fairly quick these days, though there were long backlogs last year.

If you don't yet have US Citizenship, then you probably need to file form N-400 with the USCIS to gain US citizenship. See the M-476 for details on the requirements.

A primary requirement in most situations is to hold a Green Card for a number of years before applying for US citizenship.

If you've been here since childhood, and if your parents ever became citizens, you might already be a US citizen, whether you know it or not. The rules can be complicated and have varied over the years, though.