Nulla Osta for Marriage in Italy: How to Get Your Certificate of No Impediment
Your home country's consulate must certify you're free to marry before Italian city hall will process your banns. Here's how to get the document, have it legalised, and avoid costly mistakes.
In a nutshell
The nulla osta (certificate of no impediment to marriage) is an official document issued by your home country's Consulate or Embassy in Italy confirming that, under your country's law, you are free to marry. Italian Comune (city hall / municipality) offices require it before they can post the marriage banns — without it the whole process comes to a standstill.
At a glance
| Cost | Consular fee: €20–€150 depending on the country. Legalisation / apostille: €16 (marca da bollo — revenue stamp). Sworn translation: €40–€100. |
| Timeline | Consulate: 1 week (fast EU countries) to 2–3 months (some Asian and African countries). Prefettura legalisation: 7–15 days. Sworn translation: 3–10 days. |
| Where in Rome | Your country's Consulate; Prefettura di Roma — Via IV Novembre 119/A; Tribunale Ordinario di Roma — Piazza Cavour. |
| Documents needed | Passport, birth certificate, civil-status certificate, plus any divorce decree or death certificate of a previous spouse. |
Why city hall requires it
Article 116 of the Italian Civil Code requires any foreign national wishing to marry in Italy to present the civil registrar (Ufficiale di Stato Civile) with a declaration from the competent authority of their country confirming there are no obstacles to the marriage. The reason is straightforward: Italian authorities have no access to foreign civil registries and cannot independently verify whether you are already married or have any other legal impediment. The nulla osta solves that problem formally.
The document goes by different names depending on your country: certificato di capacità matrimoniale under the 1980 Munich Convention, certificate of no impediment or certificate of freedom to marry in English-speaking countries, soltería or estado civil libre in Spanish-speaking ones. The content is the same.
What the document contains and how long it lasts
The nulla osta states your full personal details, nationality, and current civil status (single, divorced, widowed), followed by the formal declaration that nothing prevents the marriage. It is signed by a consular official and bears the official stamp.
Validity is generally 6 months from the date of issue (some countries set it at 3 months). Present the document to city hall before that deadline — if it expires you have to start over.
How to apply at the Consulate
Book an appointment at your country's Consulate or Embassy in Italy. Each mission has its own booking system; check the official website or call directly.
Bring:
- Valid passport (original and copy)
- Birth certificate (multilingual version or translated)
- Residence certificate (Italian or from your home country)
- Civil-status certificate from your home country
- If divorced: divorce decree or dissolution order
- If widowed: death certificate of the previous spouse
- Passport-size photos (1–2, depending on what the Consulate asks for)
Pay the consular fee (€20–€150) and wait for the document.
Rough timelines by region:
- Fast EU countries (Romania, Poland, Bulgaria): 1–7 days
- South America (Brazil, Argentina, Peru): 1–3 weeks
- Asia (China, India, Bangladesh, Philippines): 2–8 weeks
- North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt): 2–6 weeks, often requiring documents obtained in your home country first
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 4–12 weeks
Start the process at least 3 months before your target wedding date. Consulates such as those of the Philippines, Bangladesh, and India can take 2–3 months.
You can locate the competent Consulate on the MAECI website — Foreign Embassies in Italy.
Legalisation: three routes depending on your country
Once you have the nulla osta you need to make it legally valid for use in Italy. The path depends on which country issued your citizenship.
1980 Munich Convention — If you are from Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, or Turkey, the Consulate issues the certificate of no impediment in a standard multilingual format. Neither legalisation nor translation is required; you hand it directly to city hall.
Apostille (1961 Hague Convention) — If you are from a country that has signed the Hague Convention (USA, UK, Argentina, Brazil, India, Albania, and many others), a nulla osta issued by the Consulate in Italy is already a legalised document. You only need to add a sworn translation into Italian. If the document was issued in your home country, it must be apostilled by the relevant authority there before bringing it to Italy.
Legalisation at the Prefettura (countries not in the Hague Convention) — For countries such as Morocco, China, Egypt, Vietnam, and Ethiopia the process is longer. If the document was issued in your home country, it must be legalised by the Italian Embassy there before you leave. If it was issued by the Consulate in Italy, the consul's signature must be legalised by the Prefettura di Roma (regional state-government office representing the central state), located at Via IV Novembre 119/A — tel. 06 67291 — Prefettura legalisation page. Bring a €16 marca da bollo.
Sworn translation into Italian
The nulla osta is almost always written in your home country's language. To use it at city hall you need a sworn (asseverata) translation into Italian.
The translation must be done by a translator registered on the Tribunal's court-expert list (Albo CTU). The translator then appears at the certification office of the Tribunale Ordinario di Roma (Piazza Cavour — counter hours: Mon–Fri 9:00–13:00), swears to the accuracy of the translation before the court clerk, and a notarised transcript (verbale di asseverazione) is issued that binds the translation to the original. The cost is €16 in marca da bollo per 4 pages, plus €3.84 for the transcript.
Exception: if the Consulate has already issued the document in two languages (original + Italian) or with an official translation incorporated, the sworn translation is not required.
Mistakes to avoid
- Starting too late. Consular timelines are unpredictable and stack on top of legalisation and translation delays. If you start 30 days before the wedding you are likely to miss the date.
- Skipping legalisation. City hall rejects any foreign document that has not been legalised (or apostilled). Don't assume a document is valid just because it's already been translated if it hasn't been properly sworn in.
- Presenting an expired nulla osta. Once the 6-month validity is up, the whole procedure must be restarted from scratch. Align the document's expiry with your wedding date.
- Confusing apostille and legalisation. These are two distinct procedures; which one applies depends on the country and where the document was issued. Verify case by case.
- Trusting agencies that promise fast nulla osta. Only your home country's Consulate is the competent authority. Anyone else offering this service for a fee is wasting your time and money.
Special cases
Refugees and stateless persons cannot turn to the authorities of their country of origin. Instead of a nulla osta, refugees submit a declaration from UNHCR or a decree from an Italian court that substitutes for the document. Stateless persons apply to the Ministry of the Interior or the court. Reference: Circolare Ministero Interno 6 August 2014.
Country of origin that does not issue the nulla osta: if your Consulate refuses or has no procedure for issuing the document, you can apply to the Tribunale Ordinario di Roma for a dispensation (provvedimento di dispensa o surroga). You must attach the consular refusal letter, your birth certificate, and a substitute declaration of free status (dichiarazione sostitutiva di stato libero). The court reviews the case and, if there are no impediments, authorises the marriage. Costs include court fees and, often, legal representation (€500–€1,500).
Countries in conflict or with no functioning Consulate: same procedure as above.
Dual nationality: only one nulla osta is needed, your choice of which citizenship to use. City hall may indicate which nationality to consider primary (usually the one matching your actual country of residence).
EU citizens resident in Italy: in many cases the nulla osta is not required because city hall can retrieve the relevant information through the national civil registry ANPR (Anagrafe Nazionale — national civil registry database) or via the European multilingual certificate provided for by EU Regulation 2016/1191.
Total costs
| Item | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| Consular fee | €20–€150 |
| Marca da bollo for apostille / legalisation | €16 |
| Sworn translation | €40–€100 per document |
| Marca da bollo for sworn translation (per 4 pages) | €16 |
| Foreign birth certificate (if required separately) | €10–€80 |
| Court dispensation (exceptional cases) | €500–€1,500 |
The typical total falls between €100 and €400 for countries with a straightforward procedure. For countries not in the Hague Convention that require additional documents, the total can exceed €500.
Official sources
- MAECI — Marriage in Italy for foreigners
- MAECI — Foreign Embassies in Italy
- Ministry of the Interior — Civil status
- Prefettura Roma — Legalisation
- Roma Capitale — Marriage banns
- Normattiva — DPR 396/2000
- Normattiva — Legge 218/1995
Legal references: Codice Civile art. 116; DPR 396/2000 art. 51; Legge 218/1995 art. 27; Munich Convention 05/09/1980; Hague Convention 05/10/1961; EU Regulation 2016/1191; Ministry of the Interior Circular 06/08/2014.