Marriages between Italians and foreigners contracted abroad have immediate validity and relevance in the Italian juridical system. According to national laws, they must be transcribed in the Registers of Civil Status of the Italian Municipality of interest (Office of transcription of weddings celebrated abroad). At least one of the spouses must be an Italian citizen and reside in the Municipality where the transcription must be registered. Transcription of the act of marriage has certification and publicity purposes. Same-sex marriages or civil unions celebrated abroad, can be registered in the Registers of Civil Unions established in each Municipality according to Royal Decree July 9, 1939, no. 1238, as subsequently amended.
Just send an email to info@vademecumitalia.com. We will then ask you for the few documents we need in order to submit the request to the municipality (“Comune”) of interest. After we receive your documents, our lawyer will present the request at the municipality right away and, therefore, your marriage should be officially transcribed in the Registers of the municipality of interest within thirty days.
Very simple, efficient, and at a low cost!!
1) Transcription of marriages celebrated abroad in the Italian Registers of Civil Status
Under the following provisions, it is possible to transcribe marriages celebrated abroad in the Italian Registers of Civil Status.
According to national laws, as subsequently confirmed by the Italian Supreme Court, marriages between Italians and foreigners contracted abroad have immediate validity and relevance in the Italian juridical system.
As a matter of fact, pursuant to Presidential Decree dated November 3, 2000, no. 396, art. 16 (D.p.r. 396/2000) marriages between two Italian citizens or between an Italian citizen and a foreigner, can be celebrated abroad before the competent diplomatic or consular authority or before the local authority according to domestic laws.
The marriage is considered valid as far as its form goes if it is considered so by the law of the place of celebration, or the national law of at least one of the spouses at the time of celebration, or the law of the State of common residence at that time (Law 218/1995, art. 28).n1
In compliance with art. 63, par.2 , lett. c) of the aforementioned Presidential Decree, marriages celebrated abroad must be transcribed in the Registers of Civil Status of the Italian Municipality of interest (Rome, Milan, Florence, Turin, Palermo, etc.).
Pursuant to D.p.r. 396/2000, art. 12, par. 11, individuals who are entitled to request the transcription by the competent Office of Civil Status of the Municipality (of interest) – Office of transcription of weddings celebrated abroad (Stato Civile del Comune – Ufficio trascrizione matrimoni esteri) are:
the interested party/ies;
anyone who has an interest;
the diplomatic or consular authorities.
Documents to be submitted (generally) are:
certificate of marriage (original) including an official translation (performed by an official translator enlisted in specific registers at Italian court houses) and notarization/legalization provided by the consulate (which concerns the certificate and also the signature of the translator).
If the act was drawn up in a country party to the Hague Convention dated October 5, 1961, notarization/legalization is not required but the act must carry the stamp “Apostille”, which can be requested by the interested party from the competent internal authority designated by each State, which is usually the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When the “Apostille” is affixed to the certificate this can be regularly recognized in Italy.n2
If the marriage has been celebrated in a State party to the Vienna Convention dated September 8, 1976, the act of marriage can be drawn-up on the international multilingual form. In this case, no translation nor notarization/legalization are required.n3
Request for transcription by the applicant which must be addressed to the Mayor of the Municipality of interest, to which a € 16 stamp duty must be attached.
Copy of the identity document of the applicant.
Having verified that, with reference to the Italian Law, all conditions and requirements have been met and there is no impediment (minor age of the spouses, prior marriages, etc.), all documents submitted are complete and correct, the competent official will transcribe the marriage contracted abroad into the Register of Civil Status and perform the consequent fulfillment, after which it will be possible to obtain the certificate of marriage.
Alternatively to the above-mentioned procedure, the interested party/ies can ask the Italian Consulate to provide assistance in the transcription of the act of marriage. In this case, the applicant must provide the Italian Consulate with the original of the certificate of marriage issued by the Office of Civil Status of the foreign country where the wedding took place, officially translated (the Consulate should translate the act for the applicant, if needed), together with a copy of his identity document. The Consulate, after verifying that the marriage is valid according to the law of the State of celebration, that every formality has been completed (i.e. notarization/legalization if required, documents, etc), will then send all acts and documents to the competent Municipality where the applicant resides or intends to reside for the transcription of the act of marriage into the Italian Register of Civil Status.
It is important to understand that the formality of transcription is intended to make public that the citizen in question has contracted a marriage abroad that is considered valid by the foreign local authority, and therefore also by the Italian authority in compliance with the above. Therefore, the lack of transcription of the act of marriage does not affect the principle of immediate validity of a marriage celebrated abroad in the Italian system. Transcription has in fact certification and publicity purposes of an act which is in itself already valid (Cass. Civ. Sect. VI, July 18, 2013, no. 17620).n4
The only limit to the transcription of an act of marriage contracted abroad is the required compliance with public policy. As a matter of fact, art. 18 of D.p.r. 396 /2000, establishes that acts drawn up abroad cannot be transcribed in Italy if they are contrary to public policy.
In case the Official of Civil Status refuses the transcription of the act, the applicant should request a written copy of the denial containing the reasons for the refusal to proceed with the transcription, so that, pursuant to art. 95 of Presidential Decree 396/2000, the act can be appealed by the applicant before the competent court located in the same district of the Office of Civil Status in which the transcription was requested.
2) Transcription of same-sex marriages or civil unions celebrated abroad in the Italian Registers of Civil Status
Many European countries have adopted laws which recognize (or tend to recognize) a substantial equation of marriages contracted between heterosexuals with the ones contracted between homosexuals (Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Denmark, France, and the United Kingdom).
In Italy the recognition of same-sex marriages has been an important and controversial social and political issue in the past years, which to date has found its first regulatory solution with Law 20 May, 2016, no. 76 (“Regolamentazione delle unioni civili tra persone dello stesso sesso e disciplina delle convivenze“) better known as “Legge sulle unioni civili” (Law on civil unions) or “Legge Cirinnà” (Cirinnà Law). Technically, this law, that entered into force on June 5, 2016, refers to and regulates same-sex “civil unions” but not same-sex “marriages”.n5
Subsequently, in accordance with article 1, paragraph 28, of Law 76/2016, Legislative Decrees January 19, 2017, no. 5, 6, and 7 were issued. These decrees entered into force on February 11, 2017.
As a consequence of the aforementioned decrees, same-sex marriages, or civil unions, “celebrated” abroad will produce the same effects of a civil union “celebrated” in Italy (Law 218/1995, art. 32-bis and 32-quinquies, as amended by Legislative Decree January 19, 2017, no. 7).
Moreover, under art. 134-bis, paragraph 3, letter a) of Royal Decree July 9, 1939, no. 1238 (as amended by Legislative Decree 5/2017) civil unions and marriages between persons of the same sex “celebrated” abroad must be transcribed in the second part of the Register of Civil Unions (established by art. 14 of the aforementioned Royal Decree no. 1238/1939).n6
The interested party can request the transcription of the certificate of marriage into the Register of Civil Unions of the Italian municipality of interest (Rome, Milan, Florence, Turin, Palermo, etc.), through the Italian diplomatic authority located in the country where the marriage was celebrated. Otherwise, the transcription can be requested in person at the competent office of the Central Registry (Anagrafe Centrale) of the municipality of interest. The certificate of marriage must be officially translated and authenticated according to applicable legislation and international conventions.
David
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Kimbra, we do our best to guarantee quality! Every post is written by a professional. In this specific case the post was written by an Italian lawyer, considering that, as you know, it is not easy to understand how to (technically) transcribe marriages celebrated abroad. Thanks a lot for your comment. VI
I found all the information I have been looking for in this article, thanks.
Thank you very much, ALI. This is our goal!! VI
Very useful for someone trying to understand this difficult process. Thank you!
How many days does it take for the copy of the marriage certificate to be released in Italy after submitting the requirements in the Italian Consulate?
Dear Kathleen,
It varies from municipality to municipality. Generally, it may take a few days or weeks from when the municipality receives the request. Very large municipalities are a little slow when requests come from Consulates. For our customers, we always contact the municipality of interest to make sure they have received the request and will execute it quickly. Please email us at assistance@vademecumitalia.com if you need assistance.
Thanks for contacting us.
Regards, VI.
After attempting to register our marriage via the official Consulate route unsuccessfully a few times in three different European countries we decided to hire the services of Vademecum Italia. We couldn’t be happier, our marriage has been registered directly in Italy in just a few weeks and we already have our italian marriage certificate in hand. In hindsight we should have contacted VI years ago.
Dear Mariano,
Thank you for your kind message.
Should you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us.
Thank you,
VI.
I have been in contact with VI and they have been a huge help in assisting me in gathering information for my trip to Italy. They are very responsive and professional. They have gone above and beyond to gather information for me and I would highly recommend if you need assistance.
Dear Doug,
Thank you for your kind message.
Please feel free to get back to us should you need further assistance.
Thank you,
David.
After a couple of frustrating attempts over 9 months and from overseas to get my foreign marriage transcribed in the Rome Commune without success I turned to David at Vademecum Italia. Within a couple of weeks I had the transcribed document in hand! I could have saved myself months of wondering what Rome was up to and many sleepless nights if I had used Vademecum earlier. It turns out Rome was in no hurry to deal with overseas marriage transcription requests and given that we also found out that my consulate had sent illegible documents I might have ended up months later no further ahead. When David got involved with his intimate knowledge of the processes and limitations locally the task came to a conclusion smoothly. Thanks David and Vademecum!
Hello,
I just found this site and it seems like the right place for information that is indeed valid and productive. How do I locate information as to where to request my certificate of marriage registered in Rome. Where do we email? is there a website or contact number? My consulate is no help. They actually will respond: “we cannot help you. look on our website.” yet they want me to get the certificate to submit to them for my husband’s citizenship aplication.
Thank you for any information you can provide.
Monica
Dear Monica,
Thank you for your message.
In your case, it seems that you will need an estratto per riassunto dell’atto di matrimonio, provided that your act of marriage has been properly transcribed.
We can verify if your act of marriage has been transcribed but, in order to protect your privacy, we will get back to you via email.
Thank you,
David.
Yes please, thank you for your response.
Monica
Hello,
In Rome trying so subscribe our marriage that took place abroad (I am a resident in Rome and my wife non EU).
We went to Stato Civile del Comune in Rome but nobody seems to be able to help us. Do you have more details on where to find Ufficio trascrizione matrimoni esterI that you mention in your post?
Thank You
Dear D,
There are a lot of offices of the Comune in Rome, and you didn’t say which office you went to. However, in every single office you should find someone who can tell you where you need to go. You do not need to pay anything to request the transcription.
If you need my assistance, please send an email to assistance@vademecumitalia.com
Thank you,
David.
What is the cost?
David has been extremely helpful and efficient with verifying our daughter’s act of birth with the Comune’s office in Rome and with the transcription of our marriage. After several failed attempts to obtain information from our local Consulate in the US, I found David very responsive and proactive. I strongly recommend him for the services he lists on his web page and look forward to continue working with him on other Italian citizenship issues for me and my family.
I used Vademecum Italia for the transcription of my same-sex marriage celebrated abroad and also for the transcription of my son birth certificate in Italy and have to say that I was happy with the service. David was very knowledgeable and kept in contact during the process letting me know what was going on.
Happy to suggest this service to anyone else.
David guided is through the process of registering our marriage in Italy. David was knowledgeable, responsive and followed-up often. It was honestly a pleasure to work with him and I highly recommend his service.
Cecilia,
I am very happy that we were able to solve your problem.
I have to say that the Comune di Roma was pretty responsive.
Please let me know if you need my assistance with the Italian citizenship application.
Thank you,
D.
I found Vademecum and David via this guide online. In May 2018, I submitted our marriage documents at the US embassy of Italy for transcription at the Rome commune. Fast forward many months, and following up with the embassy was not yielding any results as to status. After contacting David, he was able to determine, immediately, that my marriage was not transcribed yet in the Rome commune, 12 months after submission. He followed up with the Roma Comune and pushed them to transcribe our marriage – they had received the documents but had not followed through. Doing so required a couple of in-person trips and several email / phone follow ups. After three weeks (and it only took that long due to Rome Commune having a backlog for in-person appointments), I had my estratto in hand and proof that my marriage was registered. My only regret is not having contacted David sooner or just done the entire process through him from the beginning. He is prompt, extremely trustworthy and went out of his way to deliver results. Rome Commune, especially, is severely backlogged and having someone local that can go deal with the authorities in person is absolutely essential to expediting any sort of transcription.I would not hesitate to recommend him and Vademecum for interfacing with Italian authorities.
Miguel,
Thank you for your wonderful comment.
All the best,
D.
Please let me know if you need assistance with the Italian citizenship application process, as I said in my email.
D.
After several attempts trying to verify if our marriage certificate was transcribed in the Roma Commune via the Consulate, and not getting any results, we decided to hire the services of Vademecum Italia. David found out immediately that our certificate was not registered, so he helped us with the process. After around two weeks of the submission of our documents, we had our certificate already registered in the Commune. David is knowledgeable, proactive, and the communication with him was very efficient and fluid. I really appreciate his services. I strongly recommend him.
A few weeks ago David helped me with the registration of my marriage in the Commune of Rome. Then he was able to collect the certificate in a matter of days. He is very responsive and proactive. With no doubt I will contact him again for my future needs.
I couldn’t recommend David’s services highly enough! We had tried to register our children’s acts of birth through our respective Consulate. After many submissions and silence I admitted defeat, and hired a lawyer in Rome (that came highly recommended to us) to assist us in this matter, three months later they only succeeded in billing me and then told me there was nothing they could do.
After two years of frustration we were lucky to find Vademecum Italia. David managed to solve this problem for us in a matter of 4 weeks by reaching directly to our Comune in Italy, helping us obtain and submit all the required documents, something our previous lawyer told us could not be done! David is extremely professional and kept us updated at each step. We’re very grateful!
i need help how to get my transcription marriage in italy , i did the transcription at the italian consular im the usa . i need help to get it in italy thank you
Dear Sisa,
Did you send us an email yesterday?
I received a similar request.
Please let me know.
Thank you,
D.