Marriage

PUBLICATION OF NOTICE, CELEBRATION AND REGISTRATION

• CONSULAR MARRIAGE

Where both prospective spouses are Italian citizens, or where one is an Italian citizen and the other is a foreign national, the marriage abroad may be celebrated before the competent Italian Consular Authority.

Both prospective spouses are required to submit a specific application for the celebration of a consular marriage to the Consular Chancellery of the Embassy of Italy in Kuwait.

The relevant application form is available in the Forms (Modulistica) section of the website or at the following link.

The celebration of the marriage may be refused when it is incompatible with local legislation or in case the prospective spouses are not resident within the Consular district of jurisdiction.

Following the acceptance of the application, the parties must proceed with the request for marriage publication of notice, which are mandatory for Italian citizens intending to be marry by Italian Authorities.

Marriage publication of notice shall be requested from the Civil Status Officer of the place of residence of one of the prospective spouses, either from the competent Municipality in Italy or from the Italian Consular Authority abroad, and shall be published in the respective places of residence of both parties, where different.

The request for marriage publication of notice may be submitted in person or by means of a special delegation, drawn up on plain paper and accompanied by valid identity documents of both prospective spouses. Non-EU citizens who are not resident in Italy are required to have their signature duly authenticated.

To request the publication of marriage publication of notice, applicants are required to send an email to consolare.alkuwait@esteri.it. The relevant application form will be provided by the Office. Prior to submission, applicants are invited to consult the following section.

Marriage publication of notice shall remain posted on the Consular Notice Board for eight full days. The marriage may be celebrated within 180 days starting from the fourth day following the completion of the posting period.

WHERE TO REQUEST MARRIAGE PUBLICATION OF NOTICE

In the case of a consular marriage:

• Where both prospective spouses (Italian or foreign nationals) are resident in Italy, marriage publication of notice must be requested from the Civil Status Officer of the Municipality in which one of the spouses is resident. Where the parties are resident in different Municipalities, the Municipality receiving the request shall arrange for publication also in the other Municipality. (It is recalled that, in the absence of residence within the consular district, the celebration of the marriage may be refused.)
• Where one of the prospective spouses (Italian or foreign national) is resident in Italy and the other (Italian citizen) is resident abroad, marriage publication of notice may be requested either from the Municipality of residence in Italy or from the competent Italian Consular Authority abroad. The Office receiving the request shall arrange for publication with the other competent Office. Marriage publication of notice shall be published in both places of residence.
• Where the Italian prospective spouse is resident in Italy and the other prospective spouse (foreign national) is resident abroad, marriage publication of notice must be requested from and published by the Italian Municipality of residence of the Italian citizen.
• Where both prospective spouses (Italian citizens) are resident abroad, marriage publication of notice must be requested from and published by the Italian Consular Authorities competent for their respective places of residence.

In the case of a marriage celebrated in Italy:

• Italian citizens resident abroad must request marriage publication of notice from the Italian Consular Authorities competent for their place of residence. Where the parties are resident in different consular districts, the Consular Authority receiving the request shall arrange for publication with the other competent Consular Authority.

In the case of a marriage before a foreign local authority:

• An Italian citizen contracting marriage before a foreign local authority is not subject to the requirement of marriage publication of notice, unless expressly requested by the legislation of the State in which the marriage is celebrated.

• MARRIAGE OF A FOREIGN NATIONAL

Pursuant to Article 116 of the Italian Civil Code, a foreign national, in order to be admitted to marriage, is required to submit a certificate of no impediment (nulla osta) issued by the competent authorities of the country of nationality, certifying the absence of impediments to marriage.

• MARRIAGE BEFORE FOREIGN AUTHORITIES

Italian citizens contracting marriage abroad before foreign local authorities are not subject to the requirement of marriage publication of notice, unless such requirement is imposed by the relevant foreign legislation.

The diplomatic-consular representation may issue the required certificate only upon completion of the prescribed checks and following the acquisition, ex officio, of the documentation required by law and of any additional documents deemed necessary to establish the absence of impediments.

• REGISTRATION OF THE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE

In order for a marriage celebrated abroad to have legal effect in Italy, it must be registered with the competent Italian Municipality.

The original marriage certificate issued by the foreign Civil Status Office, duly legalized and translated, must be submitted by the interested parties to the competent Italian diplomatic-consular representation, which shall arrange for its transmission to Italy for registration in the civil status registers of the competent Municipality.

Alternatively, the duly legalized and translated marriage certificate may be submitted directly to the relevant Italian Municipality.