Greek citizens will now automatically obtain a personal number, without needing any action on their part, but also without being able to select its first two digits.
Citizens who are registered in the National Register of Communications (EMEp – emep.gov.gr) and have given their consent to be contacted, they will be informed through the Citizen Box on gov.gr and Gov.gr Wallet, as well as via email.
Five million citizens already received a personal number in this way. Another 2,651,632 citizens took advantage of the opportunity they had from June 3 to November 5 to issue a personal number by selecting its first two digits. It is recalled that the personal number consists of the VAT number of each citizen, with three alphanumeric characters in front. It acts as a single identification number for all citizens’ transactions for the Government, eliminating the need to use multiple numbers.
The goal is to complete the transition to a single identification system for citizens’ transactions with the State and to improve their service. Already, the issuing process led to the identification of 839,115 differences in the registration of citizens’ data between key State registers132,647 instances of multiple entries and 11,426 instances of blank or invalid values. In cooperation with the competent bodies, the process of correcting them is underway, in order to achieve the consistency of the data in all the basic registers.
What about the new identities?
The personal number will also be written on the new type of identity cards, with 601 thousand citizens having already taken the necessary actions. Those who had issued a new identity card before obtaining a personal number do not need to change their identity card again, as it will continue to be valid until its mandatory renewal date (ten years after issuance).
However, those who have not proceeded to replace the old type of identity with a new one, should hurry to change it at the first opportunity. Based on European regulation, then from August 3, 2026, old-style IDs will not have legal validity, that do not have a machine readable zone (MRZ).
The appointment for the issuance of a new identity card can be booked online, at id.gov.gr. However, the process is taking place with obstaclessince in the big urban centers appointments at police stations are insufficient to meet demand.
See the procedure for issuing a new ID, step by step: