Public Consultation on the Draft Bill of the 'Migration and Asylum' Ministry.
The Ministry of Migration and Asylum's draft bill entitled "Reform of the framework and procedures for the return of third-country nationals" is open for public consultation.
Public Consultation on the Draft Bill of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum titled "Reform of the Framework and Procedures for the Return of Third-Country Nationals".
The consultation was supposed to end on Thursday, July 31, 2025, at 14:00 o'clock, but has now been extended until Monday, August 4, at 22:00 o'clock.
Main Points of the Draft Bill
Additional countries included for return:
a) The country of habitual residence, b) The safe third country, as defined in Article 91 of Law 4939/2022 (A’ 111), due to which the asylum application was rejected as inadmissible, and c) The first country of asylum due to which the asylum application was rejected as inadmissible.
Additional risk criteria for flight:
a) Lack of residence or known place of stay,b) The departure or change of place of residence or known stay without prior notice to the competent authorities, andc) Refusal to undergo identification through biometric or other means.
Shortening of deadlines for voluntary departure from 25 days to 14 days and for extension of the voluntary departure deadline for exceptional reasons (from 120 days to 60 days).
Imposition of electronic monitoring as a restrictive measure during the voluntary departure deadline.
The risk to public order, national security, and public health is set as a mandatory reason for the prohibition of entry of third-country nationals.
Also:
- Extension of the entry ban period (from 5 years to 10 years), with the possibility of an extension for up to 5 years.
- If the foreign national’s application for legal residence documents is rejected and the administrative procedure is completed, in case the foreign national remains in Greece, they will face imprisonment for at least three (3) years and a fine of ten thousand (10,000) euros, without the possibility of converting or suspending the sentence, i.e., they will be sent to prison.
ONLY IF they declare that they will voluntarily leave Greece, the execution of their sentence will be suspended, and they will not be imprisoned. Suspension starts with their departure from Greece.
- Expansion of detention reasons to include security matters.
Detention WILL NOT be suspended if objections are filed. The duration of the detention, including possible extensions, is increased from eighteen (18) months to twenty-four (24) months, with re-evaluation of detention conditions every six months.
- Increase in the monetary fine for those who re-enter the country illegally, from three thousand (3,000) to ten thousand (10,000) euros (that is the fine today), to ten thousand (10,000) to thirty thousand (30,000) euros.
- Increased penalties for those who enter the country illegally, from three (3) months to -at least- two (2) years, with aggravating circumstances increasing the penalty from six (6) months to -at least- three (3) years.
- Increase in the monetary fine from 1,500 to 5,000 euros, and in cases of aggravating circumstances from 3,000 to 10,000 euros.
-From the second subsequent application for international protection (asylum), the public fee to be paid increases to three hundred (300) euros per person (from 100 euros per person as it is now).
- The granting of residence permits is abolished for those who have resided illegally in the country for seven (7) years.
