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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 REGRISTRY

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)

 

CHANGES IN CIVIL STATUS

BIRTH – Registration of the birth of the child of an Italian citizen abroad

Children of parents of whom at least one is an Italian citizen, even if they are born abroad and have citizenship in another country, are Italian citizens and, consequently, their births must be registered in Italy. 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).

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 translation and eventual authentication, to the authorised consulate to be forwarded to the authorised Italian municipality for registration.

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

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.

 

Pursuant to Presidential Decree no. 396/2000, Italian citizens are required to declare all changes in their marital status (birth, marriage, death, divorce) that occur during their stay abroad.

The consular offices receive the documents issued by the foreign authorities and transmit them to the Italian municipalities for transcription. It should be noted that the transcription of changes in marital status (birth of minor children, marriages, divorces, widowhood) is a prerequisite for the issue of any certificate, attestation, identity document in favour of an Italian citizen residing in Sweden. In case of registry irregularities, it will be necessary to register the changes before proceeding with the release of what has been requested.

The Italian citizen who has established his residence abroad, in order to request the transcription of the civil status documents, must first register in the Registry of Italians Residing Abroad (A.I.R.E.).
Check the individual items in the menu on the left.

 

Requests for the transcription of civil status documents, complete and correct, must be sent by post to the following address:

Italienska Ambassaden
“Stato Civile”
Djurgårdsvägen 174
115 21 Stockholm

FORMS

Birth

Marriage

Divorce