Marrying a foreign citizen in Italy: nulla osta, documents and sworn translations

In short

• To marry a foreign citizen in Italy, the key document is the nulla osta al matrimonio, also called the certificate of capacity to marry: it is issued by the authority of the country of origin or by its consulate in Italy, and states that there is no impediment to the marriage under the law of that country (art. 116 of the Italian civil code).
• Like other foreign records, the nulla osta has to be legalised or apostilled and translated into Italian, except where international conventions and, for European Union countries, Regulation EU 2016/1191 provide an exemption.
• Before the ceremony come the marriage banns, posted at the town hall. The exact list of documents is set by the civil status office: ask them first, before spending anything.
• If the marriage takes place abroad, the route is different: the record has to be registered in Italy afterwards.
• With us a sworn translation costs 30 euros per page, as a signed and stamped PDF by email in 24 to 48 working hours.

Marrying someone of another nationality is not complicated: it is simply a procedure involving more offices than usual. The part that eats time is not the ceremony, it is the foreign spouse's documents, which come from another administration, in another language, and have to be made readable and verifiable for the Italian registrar. This guide lines them up, explains which ones need translating and flags the points where files get stuck.

First question: where are you getting married?

The whole route depends on this choice.

• In Italy: you need the banns at the town hall and, for the foreign spouse, the nulla osta al matrimonio. That is the case covered in this guide.
• Abroad: the marriage follows the law of the place, and then has to be registered in the Italian records so that it produces effects in Italy. The route is explained in our guide to registering a foreign record in Italy.

A frequent mistake is to prepare the documents for one and then marry under the other: the documents are not interchangeable, and neither are the translations. Decide on the place before ordering anything.

The nulla osta al matrimonio, the central document

Article 116 of the civil code provides that a foreign national who wishes to marry in Italy must submit to the registrar a declaration from the competent authority of their own country stating that, under the laws to which they are subject, there is no impediment to the marriage. In practice it is a certificate saying: this person is free to marry.

Who issues it

Usually the consulate or embassy of the country of origin in Italy, or the competent authority in that country. Practice varies a great deal: some consulates issue it the same day, others ask for documents from the home country and weeks of waiting. Ask the consulate for the list and the timing as your first step, even before going to the town hall.

Legalisation and translation

If the nulla osta is issued by a foreign authority abroad, it follows the rules of other foreign records:

• European Union country: Regulation EU 2016/1191 exempts civil status records from legalisation and allows the multilingual standard form, which in many cases also removes the translation;
• some countries are party to international conventions providing for a certificate of capacity to marry on a multilingual form, exempt from legalisation and translation: ask for it explicitly, it saves time and money;
• in all other cases you need the apostille or consular legalisation, and then a sworn translation into Italian. If your document does not fit our standard categories, use the sworn translation of another document page.

The order matters: the apostille goes on the original before the translation, because it gets translated too. Our guide on apostille and sworn translation explains where it is requested, country by country.

If the country of origin does not issue one

It happens: some states do not issue a nulla osta, or refuse it on grounds Italian law does not recognise. In that case the route goes through the court, with an application for authorisation to proceed anyway. It is a matter for a lawyer, and it has to be set in motion early because it adds months.

The foreign spouse's other documents

Besides the nulla osta, the civil status office usually asks for:

• the passport or identity document, translated if it is not also drawn up in a language the office accepts;
• the birth certificate in full form, legalised or apostilled and translated;
• the certificate of free status, when the nulla osta does not already cover it;
• where a previous marriage has been dissolved, the divorce judgment or the death certificate of the previous spouse, also translated;
• sometimes the residence certificate or the family status certificate.

All these documents are collected, with price and turnaround, in the civil status documents collection.

One useful point: the Italian Constitutional Court, in judgment no. 245 of 2011, struck down the rule that made a foreign national's marriage in Italy conditional on producing a document attesting lawful stay. The right to marry does not depend on a residence permit. If an office asks for it as a condition, that is a practice to challenge, calmly and with the judgment in hand.

The marriage banns

The banns are the public notice that precedes the ceremony: the registrar posts them at the town hall for eight consecutive days, the marriage cannot be celebrated before the fourth day after they expire, and the banns lapse after 180 days. In practice this means at least two weeks between the request and the ceremony, and that there is no point in doing them too far ahead.

They are requested at the town hall of residence of either spouse to be. If one of them lives elsewhere, they are done in both town halls. If the foreign spouse does not live in Italy, the office will explain how to proceed: practice varies and it is best to ask first.

A realistic timeline

1. Ask the town hall for the list of documents. It is free, takes ten minutes, and it is the only list that counts. Each office has its own habits.
2. Ask the consulate for the nulla osta and its timing. This is the slowest step.
3. Obtain the foreign records in full form and ask, if the country is in the European Union, for the multilingual standard form.
4. Have the apostille or legalisation affixed to the originals.
5. Order the sworn translations: at this point, and not before.
6. Book the banns, then the date of the ceremony.

What the translations cost

With us the price is 30 euros per page, as a signed and stamped PDF by email in 24 to 48 working hours: the quantity to enter in the order is the number of pages of the document. A nulla osta and a birth certificate usually fit on one page each; a divorce judgment runs to several. Our translators are sworn before the competent courts of appeal.

All prices are on the prices page, and the guide on how much a sworn translation costs explains the items that come on top elsewhere in the procedure, such as duty stamps and apostilles. If the town hall wants the translation on paper in the file, add the paper copy by post; the guide on when the PDF is enough helps you decide. As always, the receiving office decides what it accepts: ask before ordering.

And after the wedding?

Two things change, and it is worth knowing in advance.

The residence permit. The foreign spouse of an Italian citizen, or of a lawfully resident foreign national, follows a route of their own, with documents to translate: our guide to the residence permit lists the ones the Questura most often asks for, and the guide to family reunification applies when the spouse is still abroad.

Citizenship by marriage. After the wedding, subject to conditions of time and residence, the route to Italian citizenship by marriage opens. The documents needed, and the mistakes that get applications refused, are in our guide to the documents for Italian citizenship; the most requested are gathered in the documents for Italian citizenship collection, starting with the criminal record certificate.

Frequently asked questions

Does the nulla osta expire?

Usually yes, and quickly: many consulates issue it with a validity of a few months. Ask for it when the date of the ceremony is already realistic, not a year ahead.

Do you need a residence permit to marry in Italy?

No. The Constitutional Court settled this in judgment no. 245 of 2011. A residence permit obviously still matters for the stay, not for the right to marry.

Can I translate my husband's or wife's documents myself?

No. The translator must be unconnected with the document, and a spouse is not. Our guide on who can do a sworn translation in Italy explains the rule and where it comes from.

My future spouse is French: do I have to translate everything?

Probably not. France is in the European Union: civil status records are exempt from legalisation, and the multilingual standard form of Regulation EU 2016/1191 removes the translation in many cases. Ask the French authority issuing the record.

How far ahead of the ceremony should I start?

Count on at least two or three months if a nulla osta from a non-EU country is involved, because the bottleneck is the consulate. The translations, for their part, take 24 to 48 working hours.

The town hall is asking for a translation sworn before a court: can you do it?

We can arrange it on quote. Write to us before ordering, with the office's request in front of you, and we will check together whether it is really needed or whether the sworn translation as a PDF is enough.

Which languages do you translate?

Italian to and from English, Spanish, French, German, Romanian and Arabic, and between these six languages. For another language write to us for a quote. The full route is on the how it works page, and further answers in our frequently asked questions.

Sources: Italian civil code, arts. 93-101 (marriage banns) and art. 116 (marriage of a foreign national in Italy); Constitutional Court, judgment no. 245 of 2011; Presidential Decree 396 of 3 November 2000, civil status regulation; Presidential Decree 445 of 28 December 2000, art. 33; Regulation EU 2016/1191 on the free movement of public documents.