Civil status

Civil Status

The Civil Registry of an Embassy or Consulate handles, just as an Italian municipality does, the registration, updating and maintenance of the Civil Registry. There are four Civil Registries: citizenship, births, marriages, and deaths. For each of these matters, the Civil Registry is authorised to issue certified copies of documents filed with it attesting to the civil status of each individual.

In particular, the consulates receive acts emitted by foreign authorities and transmit them to Italian municipalities for registration.

The Civil Status department of a Consulate, in addition to handling the four registries, helps citizens residing in its jurisdiction to complete the following procedures:

• writing of marriage bans and posting them at the consulate;
• celebration of consulate weddings, as long as there is no local law preventing it;
• transmission of requests addressed to the authorised Prefecture to change a name (considered ridiculous or embarrassing);
• reception and transmission of separation and divorce rulings for registration in the authorised municipalities

Prerequisites for claiming the right to request the registration of civil acts and/or obtain related certificates from the civil registry

In order for Italian citizens who have established their residence abroad to register births, marriages and/or deaths (and to obtain related certificates), they must first be registered in the Registry of Citizens Residing Abroad (AIRE).

_______________________

Birth

1. a parent (including adoptive) or a grandparent possesses – or must have possessed at the time of death – exclusively Italian citizenship (that is, does not and cannot have any other citizenship besides the Italian one) at the time of the minor’s birth;
2. a parent (including adoptive) who is a citizen has resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years, after acquiring Italian citizenship BUT before the birth or adoption of the minor;
3. the minor does not and cannot have any other citizenship.

1. In the first case, the following conditions must be met JOINTLY:
   o at least one of the parents is an Italian citizen by birth (even if also holding another citizenship);
   o both parents submit a declaration of intent to acquire Italian citizenship WITHIN ONE YEAR FROM THE BIRTH of the minor. The declaration of intent to acquire citizenship must be formal and made in person, at the Consular Office.
2. The second case is a TRANSITIONAL PROVISION and applies when ALL the following conditions are met:
   o the applicants are minors on the date of entry into force of the law converting Decree-Law no. 36/2025 (i.e., persons who had not yet turned 18 as of 24 May 2025);
   o the applicants are children of a citizen by birth recognized as Italian on the basis of an administrative or judicial application submitted by 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on 27 March 2025, or on the basis of an application submitted following an appointment booked by the same date;
   o the parents of the minors must submit a declaration of intent to acquire Italian citizenship by 31 May 2026. The declaration of intent to acquire citizenship must be formal and made in person, at the Consular Office.
   If the person concerned, a minor on the date of 24 May 2025, becomes of age in the meantime, the declaration must be submitted personally by him or her by the same date.

Registration of the birth of the child of an Italian citizen abroad. In order to register a birth it is necessary to bring the following documents to the Consulate:

• Birth certificate issued by the Civil Registry of the country of residence, translated into Italian by an official translator and authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of residence (for all signatories of the Hague Convention of 1961);
• Documentation proving the Italian citizenship of at least one of the parents (identity card, Italian passport, certificate of Italian citizenship).
• Application form

Marriage

Registration in Italy of the marriage abroad of Italian citizens:

• In order to have legal value in Italy a marriage celebrated abroad must be transcribed in Italian at the authorised municipality.
• An Italian citizen duly registered with AIRE will have to ask that the wedding bans be posted at the consulate and will then be able to be married either before the authorised foreign authorities or at the consulate, on the condition that there is no local law preventing this.
• The Italian citizen residing in Italy will have to request that the marriage bans be posted in the municipality of residence and can then be married before foreign authorities.
• The persons concerned are then required to bring the marriage certificate issued by the local authorities, with relative sworn translation in italian and eventual authentication, to the authorised consulate to be forwarded to the authorised Italian municipality for registration.

Civil Unions: Entry into force of the DPCM 23 July 2016, n. 144

We inform you that, pursuant to the law of 20 May 2016, n. 76 and the related regulation (DPCM 144 of 23 July 2016), it is possible to contract civil unions between people of the same sex also abroad. It should therefore be noted that:

• It is possible to present a request for the constitution of a civil union between people of the same sex abroad, of which at least one possesses Italian citizenship, at the competent consular offices, based on the residence of one of the two parties.
• In analogy to the provisions for other civil status documents, the citizen who has already contracted marriage or a civil union abroad – in conformity to local law  and even before the entry into force of law 76/2016 –  must send the relative deed to the competent consular office, for the purpose of its transcription in Italy in the provisional register of civil unions.
• For citizens who intend to contract marriage or a civil union abroad, according to local law, the cited provision enables the consular offices to issue the marriage capacity certificate. The subsequent obligation of the interested party to send the relative deed to the competent consular office for the residence, for the purpose of transcription in Italy, remains unaffected.

____________________

DIVORCE

Registration in Italy of a divorce ruling pronounced abroad: first and foremost, it is necessary to realise that a divorce ruling pronounced abroad is not automatically considered valid in Italy. The documentation required for transcription are:

• the final ruling (original or authenticated photocopy)
• official translation of the ruling
• self-certifying affidavit
• photocopies of all the documentation presented
• Application form

These documents need to be in certified copy bearing the authentic stamp of the court. If the documents are valid according to the law of the country of issue, the Consulate sends the documents to the Italian municipality for the registration of the court’s verdict.

DEATH

Registering the death of an Italian resident abroad in Italy: The death of an Italian citizen abroad has to be registered in Italy. Documents necessary for registering deaths are:

• death certificate issued by the competent registry office of the country of residence, duly translated and authenticated (in cases where this is necessary)
• documentation of the deceased’s citizenship: identity card, Italian passport or certificate of Italian citizenship.

All certificates denoting civil status issued by the local authorities have to be presented in original and, where necessary, authenticated and translated into Italian in order for the consulates to send them to the competent municipality. General Information