How can I marry an Italian citizen while I'm in Italy on a tourist visa?

Question

I have a tourist Schengen visa and I intend to my fiancé in Italy and get married while I am there.

What do we need to do, and what papers are required?

I am not a EU citizen, and she is a student living with her mother. My Schengen visa was issued by the French Consulate and is valid for 90 days.

Answer 1

Under Italian civil law, for a foreign citizen to marry an Italian, you would need:

• valid passport/international identity card
• a copy of your birth certificate from your country of origin, translated into Italian and certified at the Italian embassy/consulate in your country of origin
• an affidavit (Dichiarazione Giurata) from your country of origin stating that there is no legal impediment to marriage; the certificate must also be both translated and certified at an Italian Embassy/Consulate in your country of origin.

As appropriate, you may require evidence of the termination of any previous marriage/s (e.g., final divorce decree, annulment decree, or death certificate of former spouse). Those, too, would require translation and certification at an Italian Embassy/Consulate in order to have them accepted by the Ufficiale di Stato Civile.

You present all documents to the Ufficio Matrimoni where the marriage will be take place, and make a Dichiarazione di Matrimonio before a registrar (ufficiale di stato civile).

The banns of marriage are then published, compulsory in Italy, after which there is at least a 10-day waiting period before the marriage can take place, a period which must include two Sundays.