- Civil Status concerns the set of facts or declarations of intent relating to a citizen’s life: birth, marriage, death, divorce, and citizenship. The registration of such events falls under the responsibility of the Civil Status Officer, whose functions are carried out in Italy by the Municipalities and abroad by Consular Offices.
- The Civil Status Office of a diplomatic or consular Mission is responsible for:
- managing the civil status registers (four in total: citizenship, birth, marriage, and death) for records drawn up at the Consulate itself;
- receiving documents issued by foreign Authorities and forwarding them to the relevant Italian Municipalities for transcription;
- receiving judgments and measures issued abroad (e.g. divorce, adoption, etc.) and transmitting them to the competent Italian Authorities;
- forwarding applications for a change of first name or surname to the competent Prefectures;
- drafting the record of marriage banns and publishing them online on the consular notice board;
- celebrating consular marriages, provided that local laws do not prohibit it. The celebration may be refused when the parties do not reside within the consular district.
- Italian citizens are required to declare all changes in civil status (by submitting the relevant documents or other supporting documentation) that occur during their stay abroad to the Consular Office competent for the place where the event occurred.
- Civil status records relating to events that occurred abroad may be submitted by the persons concerned or by anyone with a legitimate interest either directly to the relevant Italian Municipality (see Art. 12, paragraph 11, DPR 396/2000) or to the competent Consular Office (the one of the person’s residence or the one in whose district the documents were issued).
- Documents issued by countries that have adhered to the Vienna Convention of 8 September 1976, which provides for the issuance of a multilingual form, are exempt from legalization and translation. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.
Requirements to Register Civil Status Records and/or Obtain Related Certificates from Civil Status Offices
An Italian citizen who has established residence abroad, in order to register births, marriages and/or deaths (and obtain the relevant certificates), must first register with the Registry of Italians Resident Abroad (A.I.R.E.).
CHANGES IN CIVIL STATUS
BIRTH
Birth certificates of Italian citizens born abroad must be transcribed in the Italian civil status registers.
Law No. 74 of 23 May 2025 (converting Decree-Law No. 36 of 28 March 2025) introduced limitations to the existing mechanisms for the automatic transmission of Italian citizenship, which also apply to requests for the transcription of birth certificates. For further details, please consult the Citizenship page.
A minor born abroad to an Italian citizen parent is automatically Italian if at least one of the following conditions applies:
- the minor does not have and cannot have (by birth or descent) any citizenship other than Italian;
• the minor holds another citizenship in addition to Italian, and the Italian citizen parent resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years prior to the child’s birth (residence in Italy prior to acquiring Italian citizenship is not considered, nor is the residence in Italy of the foreign parent);
• the minor holds another citizenship in addition to Italian, and one parent holds exclusively Italian citizenship (it is necessary to contact the Office to verify the required supporting documentation);
• the minor holds another citizenship in addition to Italian, and a grandparent held exclusively Italian citizenship at the time of the minor’s birth – or held it at the time of death – provided that the minor’s parent did not interrupt the chain of citizenship transmission.
If the minor does not fall within one of the above categories, it must be verified whether it is possible for the minor to acquire citizenship “by operation of law” through the appropriate declaration pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 1-bis of Law 74/2025 and Article 1, paragraph 1-ter of Decree-Law 36/2025. For further information on acquiring citizenship “by operation of law” for minors, please refer to: Citizenship by operation of law (Art. 4) (Point 2.5).
Once eligibility has been verified, in order to request the transcription in Italy of a birth that occurred in Kosovo, the following must be submitted:
- completed birth transcription request form;
- original birth certificate issued by the Kosovar Municipality, apostilled and translated into Italian;
- copy of both parents’ identity documents;
- documentation proving one of the above-mentioned conditions.
MARRIAGE
In order to be valid in Italy, a marriage celebrated abroad must be transcribed at the competent Italian Municipality.
The original marriage certificate issued by the Kosovar Civil Status Office, bearing an Apostille and translated by an official translator (whose signature must be legalized), must be submitted by the interested parties to this Embassy, which will forward it to Italy for transcription in the civil status registers of the competent Municipality (the one where the Italian citizen spouse resides). Alternatively, the document meeting the above requirements may be submitted directly to the relevant Italian Municipality (see Art. 12, paragraph 11, DPR 396/2000).
Since Kosovo has not adhered to the Munich Convention, any Italian citizen residing in Italy or registered with A.I.R.E. who intends to marry before a Kosovar Municipality must request a certificate of no impediment to marriage (Nulla Osta al matrimonio).
To obtain the Nulla Osta, the following documentation is required:
Italian prospective spouse
- two copies of a cumulative certificate, one of which must be apostilled by the competent Italian Prefecture for the Kosovar Municipality (citizenship, residence, civil status). Under civil status, the word “single” must not appear; it must specify unmarried/divorced/widowed (if divorced or widowed, the date of divorce or widowhood must also be indicated).
- one copy of the birth certificate (including parents’ details), apostilled.
These certificates must be issued by the Italian Municipality (or, if registered with A.I.R.E., by the competent Consulate) and submitted to this Embassy in original form.
Kosovar prospective spouse
- Extract from the Central Civil Status Register of the Kosovar Authorities (Ekstrakt nga regjistri qendror i gjendjes civile), in original form, apostilled and translated into Italian;
- Certificate of marital status (Certifikatë e gjendjes martesore), in original form, apostilled and translated into Italian.
Once in possession of all the required documentation, the Italian prospective spouse may book an appointment to submit the application for the issuance of the Nulla Osta directly and free of charge via the Prenot@mi website.
Access to the Consular Chancellery will only be granted if the personal details entered in Prenot@mi correspond to those of the Italian prospective spouse.
Both prospective spouses must be present on the day of the appointment.
DIVORCE
Registration in Italy of a divorce judgment issued abroad:
First of all, it must be noted that a divorce judgment issued in Kosovo is not automatically considered valid in Italy. The documents required for transcription are: the final judgment (original or certified copy), duly legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo and accompanied by an official translation carried out by a court-appointed interpreter; a sworn substitute declaration; and a photocopy of all submitted documentation.
DEATH
Registration in Italy of the death of an Italian citizen residing abroad:
The death of an Italian citizen occurring in Kosovo must be transcribed in Italy. The documents required to register the death are: the death certificate issued by the competent Civil Status Office, duly legalized by the Civil Status Department in Pristina and accompanied by a translation carried out by a court-appointed interpreter; documentation relating to the deceased’s Italian citizenship (identity card, Italian passport, or certificate of Italian citizenship).