Marriages / Civil Unions

1. INSTRUCTIONS AND DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED.

FOR DOCUMENTS ISSUED IN TEXAS, LOUISIANA, OKLAHOMA, ARKANSAS

To register a marriage certificate in Italy, you must follow the procedure below:

1. Request a certified copy of the marriage certificate and/or marriage license from the City Hall or County Clerk. Marriage certificates that do not include complete personal information (names and surnames, date of birth, city of birth) must also be accompanied by a certified copy of the Application for Marriage License. In this case, the Application for Marriage License will also require an apostille and an Italian translation. Marriage certificates cannot be abstracts but must be long forms. If the Application for Marriage License is not available, email statocivile.houston@esteri.it
2. Request an apostille from the Secretary of State of the state that issued the certificate. The apostille legalizes the signature of the registrar referred to in point 1.
3. Italian translation of the certificate: typewritten, complete and faithful to the original, with dates indicated in day/month/year format and times indicated in 24-hour format. A list of translators is available on this Consulate’s website.
4. Complete the marriage registration request form (click here) / civil union registration form (click here);
5. Photocopy of an identity document of the applicants (identity card, Italian passport, or certificate of Italian citizenship if available, or alternatively, a foreign passport);

Marriage certificates to be registered in Italy must be submitted exclusively by appointment, which can be booked through the Prenot@mi portal.

The Consulate will forward the registration request to the municipality where the applicant is registered with AIRE. Once the documents are received from the Consulate, the municipality must complete the registration process. Processing times vary from municipality to municipality (larger municipalities such as Rome and Milan take much longer).
Confirmation of registration must always be requested from the Municipality, NOT the Consulate, since the Consulate does not know when the Municipality will complete the registration.
We recommend contacting the Registry Office/Civil Status Office of the Municipality where you registered with AIRE by email for confirmation (please write in Italian).

IF THE DOCUMENTATION IS COMPLETE AND CORRECT, THE REQUEST WILL BE PROCESSED AND THE ORIGINAL CERTIFICATES WILL NOT BE RETURNED.

FOR DOCUMENTS ISSUED IN OTHER CONSULAR JURISDICTIONS

In order to be able to register a civil status document issued in a State covered by other consular districts of the United States:

1. Visit the civil status office page of the website of the Consulate General of Italy competent for the State that issued the original document;
2. Obtain the documentation published on the website of the competent Consulate;
3. Once the completeness of the documentation has been ascertained, make an appointment with the Civil Status office via the Prenot@mi portal. Registration is by appointment only.

The Consulate sends the request for registration to the Municipality of AIRE registration of the applicant. Once the documents sent by the Consulate have been received, the Municipality must complete the registration procedure. The time required to complete the procedure varies from municipality to municipality (large municipalities such as Rome and Milan take much longer).
Confirmation of registration must always be requested from the Municipality and NOT from the Consulate, since the Consulate is not aware of when the Municipality will complete the registration.
We suggest that you contact the Registry Office/Civil Status Office of your Municipality of AIRE registration via email for confirmation (write in Italian).

IF THE DOCUMENTATION IS COMPLETE AND CORRECT, THE APPLICATION WILL BE PROCESSED AND THE ORIGINAL CERTIFICATES WILL NOT BE RETURNED.

FOR DEEDS ISSUED IN OTHER COUNTRIES

To register a civil status certificate issued outside the United States of America, it will be necessary to obtain all the documentation indicated on the web page of the competent Italian Authority for the territory where the certificate was issued.
Unless otherwise specified, the documentation required for civil status records issued outside the United States must be deemed correct and complete by the competent Italian Authority, and the Italian translation must bear the Consular stamp of the same Italian Authority BEFORE delivering, on appointment, the documentation to this Consulate General. To make an appointment with the office of Marital Status connect to the Prenot@mi portal.

2. IMPORTANT NOTES.

• PRIVACY POLICY READ CONFIRMATION: By delivering the documentation containing your personal data to this Consulate General of Italy in Houston, you confirm that you have read and understood the information contained in the document published on our website concerning the treatment of personal data provided to this office according to EU legislation (GDPR). To view the document, click here.
• Before presenting or sending a foreign certificate, please check names, dates and places of birth with the relevant foreign authorities. In case of errors, it will be necessary to request the corrections from the office that issued the deed.
• Do not ask US registrars to send certificates directly to the Consulate.