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Vital Records

Vital Records

In compliance with Italian law 396/2000, all vital records certificates (birth, marriage, divorce and death)of Italian citizens issued outside of Italy must be registered in the competent Italian Municipality.

The original documents must be first legalised with “Apostille” by the local competent Authorities (the High Court in Hong Kong and the Conservatoria do Registro Civil in Macao), then presented to the Consulate which will send them to Italy for registration. Translation into Italian is provided by the Consulate free of charge.

To apply for registration of vital records in Italy, please book your appointment with the Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong via the PRENOT@MI website.

Birth certificates – Children of Italian parents

Children of Italian citizens or couples with at least one Italian parent are Italian by birth, even if born abroad and possibly in possession of another citizenship, and their birth must be registered in Italy by law.

Birth registration must be requested by one or both Italian parents through the Consulate General.

The parent or parents must present the birth certificate (or duplicate) issued by the Government of Hong Kong or, if the birth took place in Macao, by the Conservatoria do Registro Civil, legalized with an Apostille by the High Court for Hong Kong or the Department of Justice for Macau, together with an application form to register a birth and a photocopy of both parents’ passports.

The Consulate General will translate the documents and forward them to the competent Italian Municipality.

Furthermore, in the presence of unmarried parents, the Birth Certificate must be accompanied by an additional document, the “Information required for registration of birth/ re-registration of birth”, issued by the Immigration Department.

Before presenting the document to this Consulate General, the “Information required for registration of birth/ re-registration of birth” must be legalised with an Apostille and subsequently translated and certified by one of the external translators.

IMPORTANT!

Please be reminded that Italian law provides for the maximum number of three first names, and the surname of one of the parents cannot be used as part of the first name.

Parents wishing to give their children Chinese names also are advised to contact the Consulate General in advance for advice.

 

Getting Married in Italy

If you are an Italian registered in AIRE who intends to contract marriage in Italy, please contact the Consulate General for information on the correct procedure.

Marriage banns must be arranged by appointment and published in time. We recommend contacting the Consulate General at least one month before the marriage date.

Getting Married in Hong Kong or Macao

Italian citizens wishing to marry in Hong Kong do not need the marriage banns at the Consulate and can apply directly to the Hong
Kong Marriage Registry.

It is a legal requirement to register the marriage in Italy.

To do so, please present the following documents to our office during the opening hours to the public:

  • Original marriage certificate or a duplicate issued by the Hong Kong Marriage Registry or, if the marriage was celebrated in Macao, by the Civil Registry, duly apostilled;
  • A photocopy of the spouses’ passports;
  • The marriage registration request form Application form to register a marriage

Failing to update one’s marital status will result in complications and delays of consular services.

Please note that the original marriage certificate or its duplicate must be kept in the consular archives and cannot be returned. We
advise Italian nationals to request more than one copy of their marriage certificate for future use.

The Consulate General will translate the certificate and forward it to the competent Italian Municipality.

Getting married at the Consulate

It is possible for both citizens residing in the consular district and when local laws do not oppose it (please click here for more information)

Same-sex Civil Partnership (“Unione Civile”)

Italian citizens are hereby informed that, following the adoption of Law No. 76 of May 20, 2016, and Government Decree no. 144 of July 23, 2016, it is possible to enter into civil unions with persons of the same sex at consular offices abroad.

For those Italian citizens who have already contracted marriage or a civil union with persons of the same sex in a foreign country in accordance with local laws, it is mandatory to request the registration of the marriage/civil union certificate in Italy through the consular Office.

Consular Jurisdiction

Civil unions abroad are celebrated at the competent consular office where one of the two parties resides (Article 8, paragraph 1 of Government Decree no. 144/2016) and applications must be submitted there.

The Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong can celebrate civil unions only if one of the contracting parties is an Italian citizen residing in Hong Kong or Macao.

The request must be jointly submitted by both applicants (the form will be provided by the Consulate)  and each party must declare the following:

  1. Name and Surname; Date and Place of Birth; Citizenship; Place of Residence (applicants are reminded to bring a valid passport on the day of the appointment);
  2. The absence of impediments to the establishment of the union, as established by Article 1, paragraph 4 of Law No. 76 of May 20, 2016.

Italian citizens can underwrite a simple affidavit stating their personal data as indicated above, and provide a Certificate of No Marriage Records issued by either the HK SAR or The Macao SAR, legalized with apostille and translated into Italian by one of the translators listed on the website of the Consulate General of Italy in HK.

However, if one of the two parties is not Italian, he/she will also need to provide the following documents:

  1. Valid passport;
  2. Birth certificate, legalized and translated into Italian in the Country of origin of the document;
  3. Certificate of No Marriage Records issued by either the HK SAR or The Macao SAR, legalized with apostille and translated into Italian by one of the translators listed on the website of the Consulate General of Italy in HK;
  4. A Certificate issued by the Consulate of the Country of Birth stating that the person is free to marry.

Upon submission of the application form, the Consulate will verify the accuracy of the documents and a date will be set for the parties to jointly make the declaration of union, in the presence of the Consul General or the Consul and two witnesses (the Consulate does not provide witnesses).

During the ceremony, the parties can also declare their choice with regard to the adopted surname and the separate property regime (Article 1, paragraph 13 of Law 76/2016).

The certificate of the civil union will be sent by the Consular Office to the relevant Municipality in Italy for registration.

Declarations of dissolution of the civil partnership

The declaration of intention to dissolve a registered civil partnership must be addressed directly to the Municipality where the declaration of civil partnership is registered or transcribed (Art. 6 of DPCM 144/2016). The Consular Offices are not competent to receive declarations of dissolution of civil partnership.

Useful normative references:

Law No. 76 of May 20, 2016
Prime Minister’s Decree No. 144 of July 23, 2016

For further clarification and to book an appointment, please sned an email to consolare.hongkong@esteri.it

Issuance of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry or Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage

It is possible to apply to the Consular Office, where necessary, for the issuance of certificate of legal capacity to marry or certificate of no impediment to marriage for the purpose of establishment on site of civil partnerships. Applicant shall submit self-certification at the Consular Office where the Italian citizen is registered with AIRE.

How to Register a Foreign Divorce Sentence in Italy

To obtain the registration in Italy of a foreign divorce sentence, the following documentation is required:

1) Marriage certificate, if the marriage is not already registered in Italy;

2) A certified true copy of the “Decree Nisi”, signed by a judge confirming its authenticity by writing: “I certify that this is a true copy
of the original Decree Nisi”;

3) A certified true copy of the “Decree Nisi Made Absolute”, signed by a judge confirming its authenticity by writing: “I certify that this is a true copy of the original Decree Absolute”;

4) In the case of children under the age of 18, a certified true copy signed by a judge of the “Agreement for Children”;

5) If the registration is requested by the “petitioner”, the “Acknowledgement of Service” must also be provided.

The interested party must book an appointment online on Prenot@mi to present in person the divorce documents translated into Italian (please refer to the list of translators at this link) and legalised with Apostille.

Please note that the update of all vital records is required by law and a divorce issued outside Italy must be registered before contracting a new marriage.

Failing to do so will result in complications and delays of consular services as the crime of bigamy is punishable by law.

Death Certificate

The death of an Italian citizen abroad must be recorded in Italy.

For the Consulate General of Italy to be able to forward the certificate to the competent Municipality, a relative or acquaintance of the deceased must present the death certificate issued in Hong Kong or Macao legalized with Apostille together with the written request form Application form to register a death  and a photocopy of the applicant’s passport.

The Consulate General will translate the certificate into Italian and forward it to the competent Italian Municipality.