34 Years of Waiting: The Bureaucracy of Citizenship

A podcast about waiting, claiming rights, and the invisible side of naturalization in Greece

Listen here (in Greek):

What does it mean to live in Greece for 34 years without being recognized as a citizen?
The podcast “34 Years of Waiting: The Bureaucracy of Citizenship” documents the story of Tsigerenda, a woman who came to Greece in the 1990s and has been fighting to acquire Greek citizenship.

Through her testimony, the podcast sheds light on the institutional and social framework of naturalization for non-Greek foreigners in Greece, as well as the role that bureaucracy plays in the daily lives of applicants—highlighting the human dimension of a process that is often depersonalized and reduced to documents and paperwork.

The new reality of naturalization

In recent years, obtaining Greek citizenship has become a process defined by strict prerequisites and quantified criteria.
From the Certificate of Adequate Knowledge for Naturalization, established in 2020, to the determination of the minimum sufficient income in 2021, applications are now assessed based on objective—but often inflexible—evidence that disregards social and economic realities, excluding many people who have lived and worked in Greece for decades.
Furthermore, the retroactive implementation of the new criteria has led to mass rejections of naturalization applications, even for those who had already passed the exams.

Tsigerenda’s story

Tsigerenda speaks about her life in Greece—her efforts to collect documents, follow the frequent legal changes, meet administrative demands, and endure the relentless “document chase.”
When her application for Greek citizenship is rejected, she does not give up. She appeals to the courts, claiming not only a legal status but recognition as an active, equal citizen.

Her narrative reveals how bureaucracy generates constant insecurity and the daily struggle to comply with the state’s shifting requirements, bringing to the forefront the frustration, anger, and sense of exclusion felt by those who, despite years of residence and deep ties to Greece and its people, remain unrecognized by the state.

Production & Scientific Supervision

This podcast was created as part of the research project “Bureaucracies of Naturalization: Exploring the Processes of Acquiring Citizenship in Greece (NatBureau)”, conducted at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (2023–2025) under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0”, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, and implemented by H.F.R.I. (Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation).
(Project Number: H.F.R.I. 15160)

Research & Scientific Supervision: Katerina Rozakou & Lambrini Styliou
Production: Generation 2.0 RED
Recording – Studio: The Press Project
Acknowledgments: Kostas Farmakidis, Vera Karanika

About NatBureau

The NatBureau project explores the social life of citizenship acquisition, focusing on the various actors involved, the processes through which new Greek citizens are constituted, and the socio-political implications these processes have for the meaning and substance of citizenship.