Client story
Client's Story
Where they started
The family chose Greece for obvious reasons: the Golden Visa here provides a residence permit through real estate investment, without requiring permanent residence in the country, with access to the Schengen area and a pathway to permanent residence and citizenship. They were ready to make the investment; the goal was to secure European status for the entire family.
Why the standard route did not work
The family consisted of spouses, a biological child, and an adopted child. For the parents, there were no differences between the children, but the program looks at documents: a child is included as a dependent if under 21 years old and their relation to the applicant is confirmed. For the adoptive child, this meant demonstrating recognition of the adoption.
What BRIDGES had to solve
Greek rules include children under 21 years old in the family, including stepchildren and adopted children - meaning the adoptive child has full rights to status on equal terms with biological children. The issue was not about rights but about documents: the adoption must be legally formalized and recognized to prevent verification questions.
Why a standard answer would not do
The family came to BRIDGES to avoid a situation where the biological child receives a residence permit while the adopted child does not due to formalities. Our task was to confirm the adoption and include both children equally.
Both children are equally ours, and the thought that the adoptive child might not be included in the residence permit due to paperwork was unbearable. Anna immediately reassured us: under Greek law, an adopted child is included on equal terms with a biological child; we only needed to properly confirm the adoption. The team collected all documents and formalized the recognition correctly. As a result, all four of us received a residence permit. No difference between the children - exactly as it should be.
