Greek AFM for Foreigners

The AFM every foreign national eventually needs

The Greek AFM (Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου) is the tax identification number issued by AADE, and it is open to foreign nationals of every kind — EU citizens, third-country nationals, residents and non-residents alike. It is the single reference that Greek administration attaches to a person for tax purposes, and almost every meaningful transaction in the country requires it: property, inheritance, banking, contracts and the registration of life events. Being a foreigner changes none of the eligibility — what changes is the paperwork, because your identity and civil-status documents come from another country and must be presented in a form Greek authorities accept. ELLYTIC acts as an Independent Concierge, assembling and submitting the file, and does not provide legal or tax advice.

How the process works for a foreign applicant

A foreign national who cannot attend a Greek tax office in person is registered through an authorised representative under a limited power of attorney scoped to this one task. You sign that power of attorney in your own country, join a short video identification call, and provide clear copies of your passport and a proof of address. ELLYTIC compiles the file, submits it to AADE, and returns the official AFM confirmation, usually within three business days of a complete file. Whether you hold an EU passport or a third-country one, the mechanism is the same; the differences show up only in which supporting documents apply to your particular case, not in your right to be registered.

Turning foreign documents into an accepted file

The defining feature of a foreigner's AFM file is that the source documents are not Greek, and Greek authorities accept foreign documents only as certified translations into Greek. ELLYTIC's translations are produced by sworn translators and carry a qualified electronic signature (QES), which makes them legally valid and accepted by every Greek authority with no additional stamp. A standard certified translation is delivered in one business day. Where a foreign public document — a birth or marriage certificate, a court decision — needs an apostille (the Σφραγίδα της Χάγης) before it can be translated and used, we identify that requirement early so nothing is rejected at the counter.

Where foreign files go wrong

For foreign applicants, most rejections come from the documents rather than eligibility. The frequent causes are a name transliterated inconsistently across passport, certificates and address proof; a foreign public document submitted without its required apostille; a certified translation missing entirely; or a power of attorney whose scope does not match the task. AADE assesses the file as a single whole, so any one of these resets the process. The way to keep a foreigner's AFM on the three-day track is to make the identity and civil-status documents consistent, translated and — where required — apostilled before the file ever reaches the tax office.

Which ELLYTIC service fits your situation

If you only need the tax number itself, the Starter Bundle covers the AFM registration end to end — you complete the AADE video identification yourself. If you also want a Greek bank account opened and your onboarding coordinated, the Full Service Bundle adds banking to the same file. When the task is purely document-driven — a certificate, a court decision or a power of attorney — you can order certified translations on their own. Each path leads to a clear, fixed-scope service you can compare and start whenever you are ready.

Frequently asked questions