When a British National resident in the UK is marrying a foreign national (Italian or otherwise)
With effect from 1st March 2013, the procedure for British nationals, resident in the UK, planning to marry in Italy are as follows (if you are marrying an Irish national and you are resident in England and Wales, please see Scenario five listed on this website. If you are a British national UK resident marrying another British national UK resident please see Scenario one. If you are resident in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man please contact the Consular Section of the
British Embassy in Rome)
You cannot start the documentation process more than 6 months before your wedding date, or 3 months if you are resident in Scotland.
The foreign national should separately contact their Embassy to understand the procedures they need to follow in order to marry in Italy.
There are 4 simple steps that each British national, resident in the UK, must follow to get the right paperwork for marrying in Italy.
Step 1 – Certificate of No Impediment
You need to obtain what’s called a Certificate of No Impediment, which is issued in the UK.
To do this you must give notice of marriage to your local registry office. After your notice has been posted for the required period you will be issued with a ‘Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage’, signed and dated by your local Registrar.
It is essential that the names you give to the Registrar, which will appear on your Certificates of No Impediment, are exactly the same as written in your passports. For example, Jim Harris on the Certificate, and James Harris-Ford on your passport might mean that the Italian authorities will reject your paperwork and refuse to allow the marriage to go ahead. Please take your passport with you to the Registry Office, just to be absolutely certain.
Step 2 – The Statutory Declaration
While you are waiting for your Certificate of No Impediment you should make a statutory declaration before a solicitor or public notary in the UK. You can
download the bi-lingual statutory declaration here.
The declaration is required by the Italian authorities and gives additional information that isn’t detailed on your Certificate of No Impediment. The solicitor or public notary will charge a fee for this service. Fees will vary so it might be worth shopping around.
Step 3 – Legalising your documents for the Italian authorities
When you have your Certificate of No Impediment and you have made your Statutory
Declaration, you need to send them both to the FCO Legalisation Office in Milton Keynes for each to be legalised with a Hague Apostille. The Legalisation Office will charge for this – please check the current charges and procedure on the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office website.
Step 4 – Translation of your Certificate of No Impediment (CNI)
Once both these documents have been legalised, you will then need to have the legalised Certificate of No Impediment translated. As it will become an Italian legal document it should be translated by a translator based in Italy and sworn before the Italian courts or an Italian Justice of the Peace. (Please note that Italian Town halls may also accept other types of official translation not covered in this guidance). The Italian wedding planner offer this service. A fee will be charged – fees vary depending on the translator. They will also charge a delivery fee to have the translation couriered back to you or to your wedding planner. The Statutory Declaration does not need to be translated since it is already in both languages.
The British national resident in the UK should have:
- A Certificate of No Impediment – issued in the UK, legalised in the UK and then translated officially in Italy
- A bilingual Statutory Declaration legalised in the UK
- Passport
- Any further documents specifically requested by yourComune of marriage.
Once all of these documents have been prepared, they should be sent direct to either your wedding planner or to the town hall where you intend to get married. There is no longer any requirement for wedding documentation for British Nationals resident in the UK to be sent to any British Consular Section in Italy for further processing.
It is always advisable for you, or your wedding agent, to check with the Town Hall where you intend to marry regarding extra documentation, for example photocopies of the passports of your witnesses, or how many days prior to the wedding you need to visit their offices.
Please note, under Italian law, a woman who has been divorced or widowed and wishes to re-marry in Italy cannot do so until 300 days have passed from the date of her divorce/death of husband. It is possible, however, to apply for a dispensation to this through the Civil Law Courts (Tribunale Civile). Further information should be obtained from the town hall (Comune) of the area where the marriage is to take place and you will probably need to appoint a lawyer.
Remember to ask the Comune to issue a multilingual marriage certificate for you after the ceremony if this is available. If not, the certificate will have to be translated into English.
Finally please note that your Certificate of No Impediment will be valid for six months from the date on your English, Welsh or Northern Irish CNI or three months if presenting a Scottish CNI.
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