Greek Pension Life Certificate From Australia

For a Greek pension paid by e-EFKA, you fill in its two-page life certificate, have a public authority in Australia sign and stamp it, and email it to the address for your former fund. The form names authorities such as the Greek consulate, the police, your local council and the Orthodox Church. It does not name a notary.

Key takeaways

• e-EFKA, Greece's unified social security body, publishes a bilingual Greek and English life certificate. A revised version was posted in May 2026.
• The instructions say to send it once a year, in the same period. Omission or delay leads to suspension or termination of the pension.
• The signer must be a public authority of your country of residence, and must sign and stamp it.
• Named examples are an embassy or consulate, the social security institution, a city hall, the police, a hospital if you are admitted, and the Orthodox Church.
• You email it to the address for your former fund. Post is only for people without email.
• The Greek foreign ministry offers certification by video with a consular authority, through its myConsulLive service.

What is the e-EFKA life certificate?

The Πιστοποιητικό Ζωής, or life certificate, is how e-EFKA confirms that a pensioner living outside Greece is still alive. It sits on e-EFKA's page for cross-border social security matters, under the heading for pensioners who live abroad. The document has two pages. The first is an instruction sheet; the second is the certificate itself, in Greek and English side by side.

The certificate is a statement by the authority, not by you. Its opening line says, in effect, that after checking your identity, the authority certifies that you are alive. That wording explains who can sign it. It needs someone official who can verify identity and put an official stamp beside their signature.

The instructions say the certificate should be sent once a year, in the same time period each year. They also warn that false or inaccurate details, or failing to send it, or sending it late, will lead to suspension or termination of the pension. So diarise it as a yearly task. Do not rely on a reminder arriving.

Which Australian authorities can sign and stamp it?

The instructions say the competent signers are the public authorities of your country of residence. They give examples: the Greek embassy or consulate, the national social security institution, the city hall, the police, a hospital if you are hospitalised, and the Orthodox Church. The list reads "such as", so it is not closed. But every example is an institution with an official stamp, not a private professional.

Translated into Australian terms, that points to these options:

• A Greek consulate or the embassy. The most certain choice, because it is named first and knows the form.
• Services Australia. It is Australia's social security institution. Ask your local service centre whether it will sign and stamp the form before you rely on it.
• Your local council. The Australian counterpart of a city hall.
• A police station. Named on the form; call your station first.
• A hospital, while you are an inpatient. Useful if the certificate falls due during a stay.
• A Greek Orthodox parish. Named on the form, and familiar to many Greek-Australian pensioners.

Where does a notary or a JP fit in?

Neither is named. That is the honest answer, and it matters, because many Greek-Australian pensioners are told to "get it notarised". A notary can witness your signature and certify your identity. But e-EFKA's form asks for a public authority's signature and stamp confirming that you are alive, and every example it gives is an institution. A notary's certificate may well be accepted, but the form does not say so.

A Justice of the Peace is an even weaker fit. The NSW Department of Communities and Justice says NSW JPs are not authorised under NSW law to witness overseas documents, including proof of life forms for overseas pensions. And Smartraveller's notarial services page notes that DFAT cannot legalise anything a JP has certified. For this form, a named authority such as the consulate, the police or your parish is the safer path.

If none of the named authorities is practical, email e-EFKA and ask whether a notary's certificate will do, before you pay for one. As the receiving body, e-EFKA is the only one who can answer that. No apostille is mentioned anywhere on the form.

How do you fill in the form?

The certificate has more fields than most payers' forms, and several of them trip up people who have lived in Australia for decades. The instructions say names must be written in capital letters, and in Latin script for pensioners who are foreign nationals.

Field on the form	What to write	Watch for
Surname and name	As e-EFKA knows you, in capitals	A married or anglicised name may not match Greek records
Father's name and mother's name	Both parents' first names, in capitals	Required; Greek records identify people by them
AMKA and AFM	Your Greek social security number and tax number	AMKA is marked as required
Foreign social security number and country	Your number in Australia, and "Australia"	Added in the 2026 version and marked required
Former fund and insurance number	Tick IKA-ETAM, OGA, OAEE, ETAA, ETAP-MME or other; add your AM number	The fund decides which email address you use
Pension from another country	Yes or no, and the institution's name	If you receive an Australian pension, name the payer
Address, phone and email	Postal address in Latin capitals	Give an email you check
Signatures	Yours, then the authority's signature and stamp	A signature without a stamp is incomplete

The 2026 revision asks for your social security number in your country of residence. In Australia the closest match is usually your Centrelink Customer Reference Number, if you have one. If you have no Australian number, ask e-EFKA what to write rather than leaving a required field blank.

How do you send it back?

This is the part that surprises people used to posting forms overseas. The instruction sheet says to return the completed, signed certificate by email to the competent service. Only if you do not have an email address should you post it, to e-EFKA's pension payments directorate in Athens.

The email address depends on your former fund. The instruction sheet lists separate addresses for former IKA-ETAM pensioners, for the former funds of DEH, OTE and the banks, for OGA, for OAEE, and for ETAA and ETAP-MME. Use the one printed on the current form. Scan the signed certificate page clearly, including the stamp, and keep the signed original in a safe place in case e-EFKA asks for it.

Can the consulate certify you by video?

Yes, according to the form. It points pensioners to myConsulLive, a Greek foreign ministry service for certification through a video conference with a consular authority. For a pensioner far from a Greek consulate, this may be simpler than travelling. Check the current requirements on the Greek government's service page before booking.

What if someone in Greece holds your power of attorney?

The instructions have a specific rule for former IKA-ETAM pensioners with a proxy. If you have appointed someone to act for you in Greece, the certificate goes to the local e-EFKA office for the area where your proxy lives, not to the central email address. The form links to e-EFKA's office finder for this.

A Greek power of attorney made in Australia is a separate document with its own formalities, often signed at a Greek consulate or before a notary and then apostilled. Greece's position under the Apostille Convention should be checked on the HCCH status table on the day. Our guide to powers of attorney for use overseas explains the usual steps, and a solicitor should advise on what it lets your proxy do.

How do you complete the e-EFKA life certificate in Australia?

1. Get the current form. Download it from e-EFKA's cross-border page; the 2026 version adds required fields.
2. Fill in your details. Use Latin capitals and include AMKA, AFM, both parents' names and your former fund.
3. Choose a named authority. A Greek consulate, the police, your council or your Orthodox parish, or book a myConsulLive video call.
4. Sign in front of them. Bring your passport; they check your identity, then sign and stamp.
5. Scan the certificate page. Make sure the stamp is readable.
6. Email it to your fund's address. Post it only if you have no email, and diarise next year's date.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Waiting for a letter. The instructions say to send it once a year, in the same period.
• Using an old copy. The May 2026 version adds a required foreign social security number field.
• Emailing the wrong fund. Each former fund has its own address on the instruction sheet.
• A signature with no stamp. The form asks for both from the authority.
• Paying for an apostille. The form does not ask for one.
• Writing names in Greek script. Use Latin capitals as instructed.

Here is an illustration, not a real case.

Giorgos, a former OGA insurance holder who retired to Melbourne, pays a notary each year to "notarise" his Greek life certificate and posts it to Athens. This year his nephew reads the new form. It asks for a public authority's signature and stamp, and for the certificate to go by email to the OGA address. Giorgos takes the 2026 form to his parish priest, who signs and stamps it after checking his passport. His nephew scans the certificate and emails it the same afternoon, and adds the date to next year's calendar.

In short

e-EFKA's life certificate is a two-page Greek and English form, sent once a year. A public authority in Australia signs and stamps it, such as a Greek consulate, the police, your council or the Orthodox Church. You email it to your former fund's address. A notary is not named on the form, so ask e-EFKA before relying on one. If you need other Greek paperwork notarised, such as a power of attorney, our power of attorney and declarations page explains how a notary helps.

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