The Florence → Greece route step by step
Two countries inside the European Union get one extra option a corridor outside it does not: under EU Regulation 2016/1191, a handful of public-document categories — birth and marriage records among the main ones — cross between Italy and Greece with no apostille and no mandatory translation, using a standard multilingual form issued alongside the record itself. That form is requested from the same office that issued the underlying record, at the same time, rather than through any separate certification process.
Anything outside that narrow list follows the ordinary path. An apostille issued in Florence for use in Greece comes from the Prefettura di Firenze for administrative and civil papers, or from the Procura della Repubblica when the document is judicial or notarial, and each office checks the signature against records it already holds before attaching the certificate. Once that stamp is on the page, the document is complete for Greek purposes and no further Italian step remains outstanding.
Apostille vs. Embassy legalisation for Greece
Greece has recognised the apostille since 1985, which is long enough that the older embassy-countersignature model most people picture when they hear document legalisation for Greece has not applied on this corridor for decades. One certificate from the right Florence office, and nothing further from any Greek consulate, is the complete process today. The older two-visit routine survives mainly as an assumption travellers carry over from countries where it is still required, not as anything the Greek side still asks for.
Greece's Hague status & what it means
That 1985 accession means an apostille from Italy to Greece is treated by a Greek authority purely as proof that the signature and seal on the original are genuine — nothing about the document's content is being judged or re-approved at that stage. The certificate answers one question only, and Greek receiving offices are set up to read it exactly that way, without treating it as a review of what the underlying paper says.
Cost & timing for this route
For documents on the apostille route, the fee is a €16 tax stamp per paper, with some categories exempt. The Prefettura's turnaround sits at 2-10 business days and tracks its own queue rather than anything happening on the Greek side, since no further certification step waits at the other end. Where the EU exemption applies instead, neither the fee nor that turnaround window comes into it, because no apostille is issued for that record. A judicial or notarial paper going through the Procura della Repubblica sits in that office's own queue instead, which can land anywhere inside the same range depending on how many filings are ahead of it that week.
Destination-specific requirements
Figuring out what you need for an apostille for Greece is mostly a matter of sorting the document first: check the EU list for an exemption, and if it is not on that list, match the paper's category to the Prefettura or the Procura before requesting anything. Company records and most academic documents sit outside the EU regulation's scope and take the ordinary route regardless of how routine the underlying transaction is. Typical examples on this corridor include diplomas for study or work recognition in Greece, and civil-status papers for family or property matters that fall outside the exempt list, each one needing the matching Florence office's own stamp before it is ready.
A specific Greek receiving office may still want the document translated even when the apostille itself is in hand — that request comes from the institution, not from the apostille process, and the translation is arranged and sworn as a separate document that travels alongside the certified original. Keeping both papers together, in the order the receiving desk expects, is what keeps a straightforward filing from turning into a second visit.