TN 31 (08-05)

A. Background

1. General

Mitroon arrenons are kept at the local (community) level and centrally in each Nomarchy. Entries were made in it at or near the date of birth or within 5 years of the time the area was annexed by Greece. Each individual's year of birth is shown. The month and day of birth and the date the birth was entered in this register are never shown.

2. Records for Ethnic or Foreign-Born Greeks

Provision was made for registering ethnic or foreign-born Greeks who later entered Greece. While the entries could be made in any area, normally they were made in the mitroon arrenon in the area where the individual settled. There was no time limit for registration. This is not usually pre-age 5 evidence for these individuals.

B. Definition

The mitroon arrenon is a register of males born in Greece and is kept for conscription purposes.

C. Policy

1. General

SSA accepts a mitroon arrenon certification at face value as preferred evidence of age if secured from the Nomarchy by the FBU in Athens. (See GN 00307.519C.2. for individuals born in annexed areas.)

SSA does not require a certification from the lixiarchika vivlia for a man born before 1934 unless there is a material discrepancy in the month and day of birth.

Since Nomarchies do not issue certificates to the public, any mitroon arrenon purportedly secured by the claimant from a Nomarchy must be verified by FBU.

2. Annexed Areas

The mitroon arrenon is preferred evidence of age only for men born not more than 5 years before that area was annexed by Greece (e.g. after 1941 for those born in the Dodecanese Islands). It is secondary evidence of age for men born more than 5 years before the year of annexation.

SSA accepts a mitroon arrenon secured by FBU for a man born before 1942 in the Dodecanese Islands at face value if it is in material agreement with the other evidence in file. If there is a material discrepancy, develop as explained in GN 00307.523B.2.

See GN 00307.519F. for a list of the areas annexed since 1913.

D. Procedure

DO NOT TELL ANY CLAIMANT TO GET A MITROON ARRENON FROM THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.

1. Claimant Filing for Benefits

Complete a Form SSA-1200 (Request for Examination of Greek Records), as explained in GN 00307.525, and request the FBU to secure a mitroon arrenon.

NOTE: If the FBU is unable to obtain a mitroon arrenon established before age 5, the SSA-1200 will provide sufficient information to enable it to look for other evidence of age.

2. Individual Not Now Filing for Benefits

If the individual is just inquiring as to what evidence of age he must submit, tell him to write to the American Embassy in Athens (as shown in GN 00312.158) and ask for a certificate based on the mitroon arrenon in the Nomarchy of his birth.

Tell him to include full identifying information as follows:

• full name at birth (the Greek name, not an anglicized version or a nickname);

• year of birth;

• place of birth (town and Nomarchy);

• nearest town;

• father's name; and

• Social Security Number.

E. Process

FBU asks the Nomarchy for an excerpt from its mitroon arrenon records. The FBU reviews the certification and stamps the document to show it was secured from that office by FBU. It gets additional information as follows:

FBU sends its report to the requesting office. If a claimant made the request and FBU cannot identify the FO servicing his claim, the report is sent to the PC having jurisdiction over the SSN shown.

F. List of Annexed Areas

This list shows the areas annexed by Greece and the Nomarchies in each area.