Apostille vs. Embassy legalisation for Greece
Greece does not require embassy legalisation for an Italian document. A Messina apostille for Greece replaces that older chain entirely: one certificate from the Prefettura stands in place of a notary step, a ministry step and a consulate step. Countries left outside the Hague Convention still need all three. Greece is not one of them. Document legalisation for Greece, once the apostille is attached, needs nothing further from an Italian office or a Greek embassy.
Greece's Hague status & what it means
Italy signed the Hague Convention in 1978. Greece signed in 1985. Both countries have belonged to it for decades, so an apostille from Italy to Greece is a routine, well-understood certificate on either side of the border. A Greek office reading the stamp recognises it immediately; there is no need to explain what it means or where it came from. The apostille confirms one thing only: the signature on the underlying paper is genuine. It says nothing about what the paper contains.
The Messina → Greece route step by step
Administrative and civil documents go to Prefettura di Messina, Ufficio Legalizzazioni, on Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia. Judicial and notarial papers follow a separate path to the Procura della Repubblica, because the Prefettura's remit stops at administrative records. An apostille issued in Messina for use in Greece is attached directly to the document, or to a certified copy where the original needs to stay with its owner. Once stamped, the paper is complete and ready to travel; no further Italian office needs to see it.
Cost & timing for this route
An apostille for Greece carries a tax-stamp fee of 16 euros per document. Some document categories are exempt from that fee entirely, so it is worth checking the exemption list against the specific paper in hand. Turnaround runs 2-10 business days, and the figure varies by Prefettura depending on how busy the office is that week. A birth certificate and a company record move through the same queue at the same pace. Planning around the longer end of that window avoids surprises.
Destination-specific requirements
What you need for an apostille for Greece starts on the Italian side: the correct document, the tax stamp where one applies, and the right office for its category. A Greek receiving office may want the underlying text in Greek. Tribunale di Messina – Ufficio Asseverazioni, on Piazza Maurolico, and Giudice di Pace di Messina, on Via Malvizzi, both handle the sworn-translation oath known locally as asseverazione. That oath is a separate step from the apostille and follows a different queue. Neither office issues the apostille itself; that stays with the Prefettura or the Procura, depending on the document.