Civil Ceremony Documentation

Civil Ceremony Documentation

Foreign citizens can marry in Italy either with an Italian civil ceremony or with a religious ceremony valid for civil purposes, according to the cults admitted by the State.

As the bureaucracy is not so easy to manage, which is why Vania Weddings will assist you step by step, even for those documents you need to request in your home country.
However, if you prefer to proceed independently, here are some very useful guidelines:

METHOD OF REQUEST

If the foreigner is a resident or domiciled in Italy, Wedding Banns are required.
If they are both foreigners, not residents or domiciled in Italy, rather than applying for Wedding Banns, they must sign a report stating that there are no impediments of kinship, affinity, adoption or affiliation between them, other impediments within the meaning of art. 85, 86, 87 and 88 of the Civil Code. The Report is signed, by appointment with the Registry Office, at least three days before the wedding presenting the necessary documents.
Foreign citizens who do not speak and understand the Italian language must be assisted, both for the declaration of absence of impediments, and during the celebration of the marriage itself, by an interpreter who knows the Italian language well, who will be sworn in by the Registrar. The presence of the interpreter is necessary even if the witnesses do not know the Italian language.
Since the conditions to contract marriage are governed by the national law of the country of origin, the fundamental document for the celebration of the marriage of the foreigner in Italy is the Certificate of No Impediment (CNI), or the Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry issued by the competent Authority of the country of origin.

The Certificate of No Impediment (CNI) may be issued by:

The Embassy or Consulate of the State of origin in Italy, whose signature must be legalised in the Prefecture for States that have not adhered to the Conventions providing for the exemption. Documents issued in the member countries of the European Union and in the following States are exempt from legalisation: Great Britain, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Norway, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey. (London Convention of 7 June 1968).
From the competent Authority of the State of origin, in the case that the regulations of the foreign State allow it (check the competence by contacting the Consulate or the Embassy in Italy). Documents issued abroad must be translated into Italian and legalised by the Italian Authority in the same foreign State (Consulate or consular registry of the Italian Embassy) or by apostille from the Designated Authority of the countries adhering to the Aja Convention of 5/10/1961, unless otherwise provided. If the translation is done abroad, the translator’s signature must also be legalised in the forms described. Countries that provide for this are: Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

DOCUMENTATION TO BE SUBMITTED

Valid Passport;
CNI or replacement certification according to conventions/agreements between States;
Copy of the interpreter’s document (if necessary);
All documents must be provided in original.

Documents generated abroad must be translated into Italian (or written on multilingual models provided by special conventions) and legalised.

For the verification of the data it is necessary to send at least two weeks before the wedding, a copy of all the documentation, also by email.

RULES FOR CERTAIN COUNTRIES

Citizens of AUSTRIA, GERMANY, LUXEMBOURG, MOLDOVA, NETHERLANDS, PORTUGAL, SPAIN, SWITZERLAND, TURKEY and GREECE parties to the Munich Convention of 05/09/1980, MUST NOT produce the CNI but must produce the “Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry”
For the other States that are not party to the 1980 Munich Convention, there is no “Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry”, but a “Certificate of No Impediment to Marry”.
Citizens of the USA or AUSTRALIA must provide only: 1 )The Sworn Declaration (also known as Statutory Declaration), made before the Consul of the United States of America or Australia in Italy. The signature of the Consul must be legalised at the Prefecture
2) The Act of Notoriety drawn up before the competent Italian Authority.
Citizens of the UK are free to choose: a) Wedding Banns in the UK and obtaining the CNI, alongside with the “Statuatory Declaration” This certificate of non impediment, which is apostilled and duly translated, shall be submitted, together with the Bilingual Statuatory Declaration, which shall also be legalised, to the competent registry office for the purpose of the celebration of the marriage. b) Apply to the UK Consulate in Italy for consular clearance.