If you wish to get married in a foreign country, you will have to follow the legal marriage procedures of the State in question, which should provide all the information necessary.
After you are married, remember to register your marriage in the Registry of Marriages in your Municipality of residence in Italy. Registration is not only an obligation but it is also a step necessary – for citizens residing abroad – to access consular services, to have recognised your spouse’s rights (if a foreigner) pursuant to the marital status, and to complete the data recorded on your children’s files, etc.
For more information see Wedding.
Yes, although residence in the consular jurisdiction is generally a pre-requisite for at least one of the marrying couple. The head of the consular mission can refuse to celebrate the marriage if the local laws prohibit it.
For more information see Wedding.
Yes. Italian citizens residing abroad and registered with the AIRE registry can turn to the competent Italian Consulate with jurisdiction over their place of residence, to establish a same-sex civil union in compliance with Presidential Decree No. 144 of 23 July 2016.
On establishing the civil union, the two parties may eventually state their choice of a common surname and/or their choice of a matrimonial property regime.
Any civil union established at the Italian Consular Office will be registered in the ad hoc Provisional Civil Union Registry of the Municipality in which the persons concerned are listed in the AIRE registry.
For more information, consult the page How can I obtain recognition in Italy of the divorce decree obtained abroad? .
Yes. The request to register the same-sex union performed abroad in Italian Registries of Marriage, regardless of whether it is a marriage or civil union (according to local legislation), may be presented at the competent Consular Office with jurisdiction over the Italian citizen’s place of residence (if residing abroad) or at the competent Consular Office with jurisdiction over the place where the civil union/marriage was celebrated, or directly at the office of the Registry of Marriages of the relevant Municipality. Certificates issued by foreign authorities must be legalised and translated into Italian.
The obligation to register the union/marriage in Italy also includes certificates issued prior to the coming into effect of Law No. 76/2016.
The aforesaid certificates will be registered as “civil unions” under Italian law and listed in the Provisional Civil Union Registry of the relevant Municipality.
At the request of the persons concerned, the expression “civilly united” will be used in documents and deeds requiring the indication of marital status.
For more information, consult the page Civil Unions and the page Translation and legalisation of documents.
You can bring the foreign marriage certificate, duly translated in Italian and legalised by the competent local authorities, to the relevant Italian Consulate with jurisdiction over the place where the marriage took place or over your place of residence, so that it might be transmitted to your competent Italian Municipality to be registered in the Registry of Marriages.
You can also ask the Municipality concerned to register the certificate directly, which must nonetheless be first translated and legalised by the local authorities and, in Countries that have not adhered to the 1961 Hague Convention, also by the Italian Consular Office competent over the place where the marriage was celebrated.
For more information, consult the page
Marriage and the page Translation and legalisation of documents
In order to marry in Italy, foreigners whether resident in Italy or not, must submit a statement of no impediment to marry, issued by the authorities of their own country, to the Italian city in which they intend to marry.
For more information see Wedding.
In Italy, professional credentials are divided into “non-regulated” and “regulated” by law. In the former case there is no need to obtain legal recognition, but in the latter this is necessary in order to exercise the profession in Italy.
See CIMEA
Italian citizens residing abroad and enrolled in AIRE may exercise their right, in their place of residence, to absentee voting in the case of national elections, referendums on the abolition of laws and constitutional issues and for the European Parliamentary elections.
See Voto all’estero.
Passports are issued in Italy by the Police (Questura) and abroad by the Italian diplomatic mission. Application is normally made to the applicant’s jurisdictional office, either in Italy or abroad.
Italian citizens may, in any case, apply for a passport at any issuing agency in Italy or abroad, but must first obtain authorisation from the Police (Questura) or Consulate authorised for the place of residency.
If you are abroad and need more information, contact the Italian consulate with jurisdiction in your area of residence.
List of Italian embassies and Conculates Abroad
For further information on passports see Passports.
Currently only Italian consulates in the countries of the European Union and those in Switzerland, Norway, the Principality of Monaco, San Marino and the Holy See-Vatican City, are authorised to issue paper identity cards exclusively to Italian citizens residing in their consular jurisdiction and enrolled in AIRE (Anagrafe degli Italiani Residenti all’Estero).
For more information see Identity Card.
The Codice Fiscale (tax number) is issued by the tax authority (Agenzia delle Entrate). It can be requested abroad, by both Italians and foreigners, through the consulate.
For more information see Tax Number.
Legalisation has to be done by an Italian diplomatic mission. Normally, you must make an appointment with the consulate to submit the document (original) to be legalised.
For more information see Traduzione e legalizzazione documenti or contact the locally authorised consulate directly.
You will have to grant proxy to an Italian notary (or have your signature authenticated at the bottom of a privately written proxy), have it legalised by the locally authorised chief law enforcement officer (Procura della Repubblica), have it translated and send it.
After legalisation by the Procura, if the document is to have validity in a country that has not signed the Hague Apostille Convention, it must also be legalised by the foreign diplomatic mission in Italy in order to be valid in the destination country.
List of foreign embassies and consulates in Italy
For further information see Translation and legalisation of documents.
If you are an Italian citizen you can obtain power of attorney at the authorised diplomatic-consular mission, with the exception of some European countries.
Otherwise, if you are a foreign citizen you may consult a local notary.
Power of attorney issued by a local notary must always be translated into Italian and legalised. See (Translation and legalisation of documents).
For more information see Procure.
You may request a certificate of conformity from your local Italian consulate.
In order to do so you must submit the document in the original language and its translation. Consulates abroad normally have a list of official translators to recommend..
For further information see Translation and legalisation of documents.
If you are an Italian citizen you may do so at the locally authorised diplomatic-consular mission (embassy and consulate websites have forms for downloading). If you are not an Italian citizen you may do so by means of a sworn declaration with a local notary, which must then be translated and legalised for use in Italy.
For more information see Successioni.
International Private Law No. 218/1995 sets forth that, as a general rule, the divorce decrees released abroad be automatically transposed in Italy, as long as they comply with basic compatibility prerequisites with Italian law.
Foreign decrees must be registered with the relevant Italian Municipality.
In order to request the registration of the divorce decree obtained abroad, you can turn to the competent Consular Office for the Country that issued the decree or directly to your Italian Municipality of residence. In any case, it is advisable to first contact the Territorially competent Consular or Diplomatic Office in order to obtain information on any further requirement possibly provided for in bilateral or multilateral Agreements, or arising from local customs or procedures.
To register divorce decrees issued in a EU Member Country, the regulation applicable is that of Regulation (EC) 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003.
For more information, consult the page Recognition of foreign divorce decrees.
Please see Adozioni internazionali.
https://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/servizi/italiani-all-estero/Minori/SottrazioneInternazionaleMinori.htm
Please read the brochure “Bambini Contesi. Guida per i genitori“, carefully, which offers useful information regarding this painful phenomenon.
First report the theft to the local police (remember that every EU country has the dedicated phone number 112 for this purpose).
Next, you may ask the local Italian Consulate for an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) valid solely for your return trip to Italy, within the foreign country where you reside or, in exceptional cases, for a different destination.
Further information see:
Loss or Theft of Documents
Financial Assistance Abroad
If you are in a country where there is no Italian embassy or consulate, you may request consular protection from the diplomatic mission of any European Union Member State.
For more information see Consular Services.
To find out what a diplomatic mission can do to help you if you are arrested in a foreign country, see Assistance to detainees.
If you have lost your identity card, or it has been stolen, and are interested in getting it back, you should contact the consulate with jurisdiction in the place where it was lost/stolen.
It may be returned to you directly at the consulate or sent to you by mail at your expense upon request.
Recovered identity cards not claimed within a period of one year will automatically be destroyed.