LEGALIZED AND CERTIFIED DOCUMENTS

​Documents issued by foreign authorities must be legalized and translated to be enforceable in Italy. Here’s how to do it.

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In Italy, acts and documents issued by foreign authorities (the act of marriage/civil union, birth/death/citizenship certificate, etc.) must be “legalized” by the Italian diplomatic-consular authorities abroad.

These acts and documents must also be translated into Italian unless they are drawn up in multilingual forms (see below).


Translations must bear the stamp “per traduzione conforme“. In countries where the local judicial system officially recognizes professional translators, the translator can attest to this conformity, whose signature is then legalized by the consular office.
In countries where this professional figure is not recognized, a “certification of conformity” (certificazione di conformità) must be affixed to the document by the consular office.

HOW TO REQUEST LEGALIZATION AND CERTIFICATION OF CONFORMITY?

To obtain the legalization of the document, the applicant must present himself, after making an appointment through the website or contact centre, at the consular office with the original act to be legalized.

To obtain the certification of conformity of the translation, the applicant must present himself, after making an appointment through the website or contact centre, at the consular office with the original document in the foreign language and its translation.
The legalization above and certification are subject to the payment of fees under the currently existing Consular Fee (Tariffa consolare).
APOSTILLE 

Legalization is not required if the act was drawn up in a country party to the Hague Convention dated October 5, 1961. Still, the show must carry the stamp “Apostille”, which the interested party can request from the competent internal authority designated by each State, usually the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When the “Apostille” is affixed to the certificate, this can be regularly recognized in Italy.

Please consider that the apostille must be affixed to both the act and its translation. If, for example, you intend to transcribe a foreign show, such as an act of marriage celebrated abroad, into the registers of an Italian Comune, you will need to have the Apostilled affixed to both your documents (act of marriage and its translation).
Translation and legalization or apostille are required in many cases, including, for example, to request the Transcription of marriages celebrated abroad in the Italian Registers of Civil Status. 

MULTILINGUAL FORMS

Having said the above, the easiest and fastest way to recognize your document in Italy is to use the international multilingual form. If you have this document, no legalization, translation or Apostille is required. If the act originated in a State party to the Vienna Convention dated September 8, 1976, the action in question can be drawn up on the international multilingual form.
Therefore, if, for example, you would like to transcribe your marriage certificate at the Comune di Roma to file your request, you will only need to deposit the multilingual form and a copy of your identity documents and fill in the required format in front of the employee.
To have your document drawn up in a multilingual form, the only thing you have to do is the following. When you request your local (foreign) authority for an official act (an act of birth/marriage etc.), you should ask that your show is drawn up in a multilingual form instead of the traditional monolingual one.

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Translations​