MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES

​How is marriage recognized in European countries? How many types of it 
how many types of certificates exist in Italy?
You have decided to get married in Italy and would like to receive more information, let us go into more detail in the following article.

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What happened in the EU?
Civil marriage is a legal status recognized in all EU countries.
National rules on marriage differ from one EU country to another, mainly about:
Rights and obligations of married couples: for instance, concerning their property or their married name
Relationship between religious and civil marriage: some EU countries recognize sacred marriage as equivalent to a civil union, while others do not. If you move to another EU country after entering into a holy marriage only, check the consequences for your marital status in the EU country that you've moved to
the possibility for same-sex couples to get married. The following EU countries grant this right: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Same-sex marriage is also possible in Iceland and Norway.
These refer to marriages involving different EU countries - for instance, you marry someone of foreign nationality or plan to go to another EU country after getting married.
WHAT TO DO BEFORE THE WEDDING?
Check which country's laws apply to your marriage and matrimonial property regime. This will have significant consequences for your rights and obligations as spouses.
If you are getting married in a different EU country from where you live, check with the authorities in both EU countries about which formalities are needed for your marriage to have full force and effect in both countries. These may include registration or publication requirements.
WHAT TO DO AFTER THE WEDDING?
In principle, your marriage will be recognized in all other EU countries - although this does not fully apply to same-sex marriages.
 If you get married in an EU country that is not your country of origin, it's good to register your marriage in your home country. This should be done following national rules in your home country. You can also check with your home country's consular office if you can register your marriage at the consular office or if you should do so in your home country.
Generally, it is not compulsory to register your marriage in your country of origin. However, suppose you want to use your marital status (for example, for inheritance or tax purposes) in your country of origin or another EU country. In that case, you may need to register it in the civil or population register to comply with national rules on marriage recognition.
In Italy, there are four different formats of marriage certificates.
Marriage certificate (Certificato di matrimonio)
The marriage certificate reports essential information, including registration information (act and registration number). It contains information about the couple's marriage (personal details, date, and place of the wedding).
Extract of marriage record (Estratto dell’atto di matrimonio)
The extract of marriage attests to the marriage event and specifies information about the date and the couple's details. It may also contain additional annotations: residence, citizenship, property regime (communion/separation of property), and divorce.
 Multilingual extract of marriage record (Estratto dell’atto di matrimonio multilingua)
The Multilanguage Marriage Certificate is a document that reports the date and place of a couple's marriage, issued in Multilanguage format to be used abroad without any translation. 
Complete copy of the marriage record (Copia integrale dell’atto di matrimonio)
The complete copy is a certified copy of the marriage record registered on the civil registry that contains the data of the spouses' names, dates and places of birth, and date of marriage. It may also include any marginal notes: name of the parish priest, church's name, residence, citizenship, property regime (communion/separation of property), divorce.
HOW TO OBTAIN A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE IN ITALY?
Under Italian law, vital records are maintained by the civil registry office (Ufficio anagrafe e stato civile) in the town hall (comune) where the event occurred. No central, regional, or provincial office is established that keeps such records. When applying for one of these certificates, the applicant must supply all relevant information and submit the request written in the Italian language.
For legal use or immigration purposes, a Marriage Certificate in the Italian language is usually required to be translated into the destination country's language. In some countries, such translations should be done by a certified translator who should then swears an oath to attest that the translation is faithfully equivalent to the original text. The certified translation in the destination country's language will need to be further legalized (apostille) to be valid abroad.
 Do you need assistance in translating your certificate? I can help you. See my website.​Translations