Italian Marriage Certificate: How to Request
If you are looking for information on how to request an Italian marriage certificate, you are in the right place.
In this short guide, I will explain how to request an Italian marriage certificate.
The Italian marriage certificate is a document that attests to the marital union between two individuals.
Where to request the Italian marriage certificate?
The request for the marriage certificate must be submitted to the Civil Status Office of the Italian municipality where the marriage was celebrated. In case the marriage took place abroad and was subsequently transcribed in Italy, the request must be submitted to the Civil Status Office of the Italian municipality where the marriage was transcribed.
How many types of Italian marriage certificates are there?
- Marriage certificate: This is the simplest form, containing the spouses’ data, the date, and the place of marriage. It can be requested by anyone.
- Extract of the marriage certificate: It contains more detailed information, such as the names of the spouses’ parents and any annotations, such as the property regime chosen by the spouses. The extract of the Italian marriage can be requested by the spouses or a third party delegate.
- Multilingual marriage extract: It has similar content to the marriage extract, with the only difference being that it is issued in multilingual format, containing 10 languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, etc. It can be used in all countries that have adhered to the 1976 Vienna Convention. It can be requested only by the spouses or a third-party delegate.
- Copy of the marriage certificate: The Italian marriage certificate containing more information, as it is a complete copy extracted from the marriage register. It can be requested only by the spouses or a third-party delegate.
Distinguishing between the different types of Italian marriage certificates is crucial to avoid errors when making the request.
What information is needed to request an Italian marriage certificate?
The full names of the spouses, the date of marriage, and the city where the marriage was celebrated. If the marriage took place abroad, it is necessary to know the Italian city where the marriage was transcribed.
How to submit the request for an Italian marriage certificate?
The request can be made by contacting the Civil Status Office of the municipality where the marriage was celebrated via email or by personally visiting the office. It is always advisable to check the municipality’s website where the marriage certificate is to be requested, as not all municipalities use the same procedure.
What form should the Italian marriage certificate have?
To be valid and used in Italy, it must be issued in written form and with the handwritten signature of the Civil Status Officer who drafted the document. If the marriage certificate is to be used abroad, the country where the document is to be used must be considered.
If the document is to be used within the European Union and countries that have adhered to the 1976 Vienna Convention, the multilingual marriage extract, also known as the international marriage extract, must be requested.
If the Italian marriage certificate is to be used in one of the countries that have adhered to the 1961 Hague Convention, the marriage extract must be requested, and subsequently, the document must be apostilled at the relevant prefecture. This procedure applies to countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Venezuela, etc. You can consult all countries that have adhered to the 1961 Hague Convention in this link.
Outside the above-mentioned cases, for the Italian marriage certificate to be valid abroad, it must be legalized at the embassy of the country where the marriage certificate is to be used.
Can I request an Italian marriage certificate online if I live abroad?
The request for a certificate in PDF format is easy and can be made by anyone. In the case of requesting an apostilled marriage certificate, the situation is more complicated, as the paper document issued by the municipality must be sent to the Prefecture for the apostille. Not all municipalities and prefectures send documents abroad. The advice is to personally go to Italy or delegate a specialized professional.
Historical marriage certificates deserve a separate mention. They are generally requested to obtain recognition of Italian citizenship by descent. I recommend reading our guide on the necessary documents to obtain Italian citizenship by descent. Italian civil status offices were established in 1871, so only marriage certificates celebrated from 1871 onwards can be requested. However, some municipalities have marriage registers before 1871.
What to do if the historical Italian marriage certificate cannot be found?
You can search at the church where the marriage was celebrated. In this case, you need to know not only the municipality where the marriage took place but also the church. The search is undoubtedly more complicated.
In summary, if you live abroad and need an Italian marriage certificate, you should request:
- A multilingual marriage extract if the document is to be used within the European Union or one of the countries that have adhered to the 1976 Vienna Convention. The document must be in paper form and bear the handwritten signature of the Civil Status Officer who issued the document.
- A marriage extract with apostille if the document is to be used in one of the countries that have adhered to the 1961 Hague Convention. The document must be issued on paper.
- Finally, if the foreign country of use has not adhered to any of the above conventions, the marriage certificate must be legalized at the embassy of the foreign country where it is to be used.
It is also necessary to see if there are bilateral agreements between Italy and the country where the Italian marriage certificate is to be used. A particular case is the Italy-Argentina agreement of 1986, which stipulates that Italian certificates, to be valid in Argentina, do not need to be apostilled. Anyone requesting an Italian marriage certificate for use in Argentina can request a multilingual marriage extract. If you are looking for an Italian birth certificate instead of a marriage certificate, I recommend reading this short guide.
If you have doubts or need to conduct complex research, contact one of our lawyers specializing in Italian citizenship for legal advice.
