Your Guide to Power of Attorney signing with an Interpreter at the Greek Consulate

Your appointment will not be at the Greek Embassy, but the Greek Consulate (right-side entrance). The Consulate deals with this type of administrative issues. The Embassy is the diplomatic sector. They are at the same address, but different entrances.

I am a professional, qualified, and certified interpreter, registered with the Greek Consulate, specialising in POAs. I will enhance communication between all parties involved during the appointment, meaning you and the Consulate officials, accurately, impartially, and fully.

This type of job requires me to arrive earlier than the appointment time to ensure everything starts on time. We are allowed in only 10 minutes before the appointment time. This is to reduce the amount of people in the waiting area. Only the required individuals will be allowed in the building for the appointment.

You need to fill this form in advance. Please download it and fill it in. You can email it to me to fill in in Greek after you’ve filled it in in English. I can then print it and bring it along. Please do not sign or date the form. This needs to be done on the day.

The Consulate will need to have your final, most up to date POA in advance of the appointment so that the Consular officer can edit the file. Please ensure this is emailed to them in advance. You can also email them the above form. This is very important.

You will not be signing the document you email to them, but the edited version that the Consulate will produce and prepare on the day and during the appointment. The contents of the POA should not be amended materially by the Consulate. The Consulate inserts the introduction and closing statements to the document from a template. These are standardised typical clauses.

Once we walk in the appointment, I will sight translate from written legal Greek (POA) into spoken/oral legal English in real time. This task takes energy and requires great attention. Please try to minimise noise during this time. Ensure you listen to everything carefully and that your personal data is correct.

Please note appointments don’t usually last 45', they last at least one hour. There can also be a backlog on the day and waiting times vary.

My personal data will be included in your POA as your interpreter on the day and I am required to co-sign the document and all its pages with you. This means I will sign every page and the end of the POA, next to your signature. The Consulate official will be editing your POA to include my details. If you decide to book me, please email the Consulate and tell them that I am your interpreter.

For Consular fees please see here. The word ‘sheet’ refers to one double-sided page. Please note fees can change anytime. Furthermore, the number of pages may change on the day of your appointment. For the latest fees, please ensure you have checked the Consulate’s website. I am registered with the Consulate. I do not work for the Consulate. My fee is paid separately in advance.

Overall, this type of appointments requires me to be away from my desk for you roughly 4 hours on the day which include travel and time spent at the Consulate in addition to the time spent preparing for the appointment. The quote reflects that as well as the accumulated experience in executing the job smoothly without issues.

You will not receive an English Power of Attorney written document. If you want to have one for your records, please email me the final, signed Greek Power of Attorney (you can scan the copy you take away with you on the day of your appointment and email it to me) and I will quote you for translating that into English. This is so that you can have a record of what you’ve signed for future purposes if you wish.

To receive a quote, please email your POA draft, the date and time of your appointment.

There are many useful articles on the blog answering your most common questions. Please see below.