ATHENS — A draft presidential decree which outlines updated requirements for issuing and renewing Greek passports was submitted to the Council of State for legislative review on Monday.

Specifically, citizens may not be granted a new or renewed passport if they have ever been convicted of having acquired a false certificate of any type, given a false testimony, used or possessed a genuine passport illegally, or have been convicted for illegal trafficking of third-country nationals.

Other criminal offences that block the issuing of passports include forgery of documents, travel bans, or cases where a final conviction is pending, among others.

Passports may also be issued now for people in pending court cases, when hospitalization abroad is necessary or a spouse or up to second-degree relative living abroad has died.