Attesting Italian Documents (FAQs)

Yes - Italy is a member of the Apostille Convention.

Italian documents can be legalized for use abroad with an Apostille Stamp when destined for other signatory countries without additional certification by the destination country.

When Italian documents are required for non-apostille countries, such as United Arab Emirates - Taiwan - Malaysia - Thailand - Qatar they need additional authentication by the embassy of the destination country.

For further information about Apostille certification in Italy, see:
Italy Apostille Services

Submission within the European Union
Certain Italian documents do not require Apostilles when they are presented to authorities of other European Union countries (the receiving authority should accept the original or a certified copy).

When applying for certain public documents, a multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by an Italian authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority to understand a public document which is in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.
See: EU Multilingual standard forms

Italian documents not requiring Apostilles include birth, death, marriage certificates, absence of a criminal record (a clean criminal record of an Italian citizen), certificates of nationality and residence:
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/1191

Other Italian documents, including academic certificates, still require Apostille certification and certified translation to be valid in other EU countries.

Civil status certificates (multilingual extracts from the civil status registers)
Italian birth, marriage and death certificates) issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status should not require Apostille Stamps when being submitted to one of the following countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cape Verde, Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

Multilingual certificates of no impediment to marriage
Italian certificates of no impediment to marriage are exempt from any formality for submission to the following countries (Munich CIEC Convention):
Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey

Apostille Stamps in Italy can be obtained to authenticate public documents, including:

• Italian birth, death and marriage certificates
• Italian Criminal Record Certificates - General Criminal Record Certificates (Certificato Generale del Casellario Giudiziale) and Certificates of Pending Charges (Certificato dei Carichi Pendenti)
• University degree certificates and course transcripts (notarized copies)
• Court documents
• Certificates of the Chamber of Commerce (Incorporation and Good Standing)
• Certificates of Origin, Free Sale and GMP Compliance
• Other documents certified in Italy by a notary.

To confirm whether your document is eligible for apostille authentication in Italy, please Contact us and we’ll check your document free of charge. For further information about our Italian apostille services and for assistance obtaining official copies of Italian documents, see:
Italy Apostille Services

Apostille stamps for Italian marriage, death and birth certificates are normally processed in 1-2 weeks (Processing times can vary depending on the Prefecture).

Apostille stamps on Criminal Record Certificates normally take 4-5 working days

Document legalization (or attestation) is a procedure which authenticates a public Italian document so that it can be submitted in another country for official or legal purposes - for example, if you need to submit an Italian birth certificate to the authority or embassy of another country, it will often need to be legalized.

Legalizing a document in Italy certifies the authenticity of the signature appearing on the document as that of an authorized public official in Italy and confirms the capacity of that official.

• Because Italy is a member of the Apostille Convention, Italian documents can be legalized by means of an Apostille Stamp when being submitted to countries that are also members of the Hague Apostille Convention
• If an Italian document is required for a country that is not a member of the Apostille Convention, it will need to be legalized both by Italian authorities and by the embassy of the recipient country (embassy in Italy or non-resident embassy accredited to Italy).
  See: Document legalization - Wikipedia

Isarey Certification Services provides a range of services in Italy including Apostille and legalization services, notarization services, certified translation services and document retrieval services.

You can see reviews from past clients who have used our attestation and apostille services:

• ISAREY reviews on Trustpilot
• ISAREY reviews on Google

Italy Apostilles follow the standard format laid down in the Apostille Convention. Some examples of Italian documents certified with Apostille stamps:

• Italian University Degree legalized with an Apostille Stamp (PDF)
• Italian Marriage Certificate with Apostille Stamp (PDF)
• Italian Birth Certificate with Apostille Stamp (PDF)
• Italian Marriage Certificate with Apostille Stamp (PDF)
• Italian Criminal Record Certificate with Apostille Stamp (PDF)

See What does an Apostille look like?

Certified copies of Italian birth, death and marriage certificates can be obtained by submitting a written request in Italian to the Civil Registry Office (in Italian) (Ufficio Anagrafe e Stato Civile) at the local town hall.

There are generally three types of certificates available: Certificates, Extracts (with additional data and annotations) and complete copies of the record (a certified copy of the original record at the registry, containing all the entries on the record).

Standard Multilingual Certificates are also available. These are issued in a standardised format according to the Vienna Convention in French, German, English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Turkish.

For additional information on Italian birth, death and marriage certificates, and on obtaining Apostille Stamps in Italy, please see:
Italian birth, death and marriage certificates

If you need assistance obtaining a certified copy of a birth, death or marriage certificate from the Civil Registry Office in Italy, please Contact us

To obtain an Italian Apostille Stamp, the original birth, death or marriage certificate issued by the Civil Registry Office must be presented to the Prefecture.

For assistance obtaining original certificates in Italy, please Contact us

Apostilles are not required when submitting Italian certificates of marital status to the authorities of another Member State of the European Union.

A multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by an Italian authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority understand the certificate when in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

Apostilles are not required when submitting Italian Multilingual certificates of no impediment to marriage issued to the authorities of a country that has acceded to the Munich CIEC Convention. Members of the Munich CIEC Convention are as follows:
Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

Apostilles are not required when submitting Italian birth, death and marriage certificates to the authorities of another Member State of the European Union. A multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by an Italian authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority understand the certificate when in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

Italian birth, marriage and death certificates (multilingual extracts from the civil status registers issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status) should not require Apostille Stamps when being submitted to countries that have acceded to the Vienna CIEC Convention. The following countries are contracting states of the Vienna Convention:
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cape Verde, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

A statement of good standing is included in the Company Certificate available from the Chamber of Commerce where the company is registered. These certificates include a declaration of validity, i.e absence of insolvency proceedings against the business concerned.

Company Certificates with incorporation data are available from the Chamber of Commerce where the company is registered. These extracts (available in Italian and English) contain data on the company name, details, contacts, address of the registered office, PEC (Certified E-mail), registered office, tax code/VAT registration number, legal form, date of foundation, corporate aim and other data.

Certificates are available online from:
Italian Business Register

The original Criminal Record Certificate issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office is required to obtain an Apostille Stamp in Italy.

Italian Criminal Record Certificates can be obtained from the Public Prosecutor's Office (Procura della Repubblica). Certificates can be collected in person or, with your authorization, by an appointed representative. Applications from abroad may be sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office by post.

Italy issues two main types of criminal record / police clearance certificate that may be required by overseas authorities in support of visa or immigration procedures:

• General Criminal Record Certificate (Certificato Generale del Casellario Giudiziale)
  This is the main certificate to prove a clean criminal record and good conduct in Italy. It can be obtained from any Public Prosecutor’s Office.
• Certificate of Pending Charges (Certificato dei Carichi Pendenti)
  This certificate may also be required for certain applications. It will list any outstanding proceedings against the applicant. It must be obtained from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the court where the applicant was last officially resident.

Isarey can obtain Italian Criminal Record Certificates for clients outside Italy requiring their authentication with an Apostille Stamp or legalization. Please Contact us for assistance. For further information on Italian Police Certificates and Apostilles, please see:
Italian Criminal Record Certificates

Italian Criminal Record Certificates are valid for six months. However, you should confirm with the authority requesting the certificate in case they require a more recent issue.

Apostilles are not required when submitting Italian Criminal Record Certificates to another Member State of the European Union when the certificate is issued to an Italian national and when the criminal record is clean (no convictions). In other cases, the recipient Member State may require an Apostille.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

To legalize Italian university degrees required for submission to the authorities of Qatar, a true copy must be made by at the Municipality or by a notary. This true copy can then be legalized by the Prefecture or Public Prosecutor's Office, and then attested by the Qatar embassy in Rome.

To legalize Italian university degrees required for submission to the authorities of the United Arab Emirates, a true copy must be made by at the Municipality or by a notary. This true copy can then be legalized by the Prefecture or Public Prosecutor's Office, and then attested by the UAE embassy in Rome

To legalize Italian university degrees required for submission to the authorities of Vietnam, a true copy must be made by at the Municipality or by a notary. This true copy can then be legalized by the Prefecture or Public Prosecutor's Office, and then attested by the Vietnamese embassy in Rome.

To legalize Italian university degrees required for submission to the authorities of Taiwan, a true copy must be made by at the Municipality or by a notary. This true copy can then be legalized by the Prefecture or Public Prosecutor's Office, and then attested by the Taipei Representative Office in Rome.

Italian university degrees required for submission to the authorities of Saudi Arabia can now be authenticated with an Apostille Stamp from the Prefecture or Public Prosecutor's Office in Italy. Attestation by the Saudi Embassy and Cultural Bureau is no longer required.

Italian university degrees required for submission to the authorities of China can now be authenticated with an Apostille Stamp from the Prefecture or Public Prosecutor's Office in Italy. Attestation by the Chinese Embassy is no longer required.

Powers of Attorney sworn before an Italian notary can be authenticated with an Apostille Stamp from the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Courts.

Sworn translations of Italian documents are certified before the court. An Apostille stamp to authenticate the translation for submission abroad can then be obtained from the Public Prosecutor's Office.