Information based on your answers
Civil partnership in Italy
Before you start
Contact the local Italian town hall (‘comune’) to find out about local civil partnership laws, including what documents you and your partner will need.
Prove you’re free to register a civil partnership
You need to prove you’re legally allowed to register a civil partnership by getting a certificate of no impediment (CNI) and a statutory declaration.
Your partner will also need a CNI and statutory declaration if they’re British. If they’re not, the documents they need might be different.
If you’re in Italy temporarily and you do not want to return to the UK to get these documents, you can follow a different process and get a Nulla Osta in Italy instead. You need to put down your UK address on the Nulla Osta application form, not where you’re staying in Italy.
Get a CNI and a statutory declaration
You’ll need to get a CNI and a statutory declaration if you’re in the UK.
To get a CNI, make an appointment at your local register office to give notice of your civil partnership. A CNI costs £35.
Contact your local register office to find out what you need to do if you live in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey.
You’ll need to bring certain documents with you to your appointment.
Your notice will be publicly displayed in the register office for 28 days. You can collect your CNI after this if nobody registers an objection.
Your CNI won’t expire if it was issued in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. CNIs issued in Scotland expire after 3 months. Check with your local register office to find out how long a CNI is valid if you live in the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey.
A CNI is valid for 6 months under Italian law.
You’ll also need to provide more information in a ‘statutory declaration’. You need to sign it in front of a solicitor or public notary in the UK. They’ll charge you a fee.
There’s a standard template in English and Italian that you can download and use.
Get your documents translated and legalised
If you’ve got a statutory declaration and CNI, you’ll need to get them legalised (certified as genuine) by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
You’ll also need to get a certified translation of your CNI. You need to use an approved translator.
You need to get your supporting documents (for example, a decree absolute) legalised and translated if they’re not in English or Italian.
You’ll be charged fees for translating your documents.
If you’ve changed your name
If your name on any of your documents doesn’t appear exactly as it does on your birth certificate, you’ll need to give the local marriage authorities evidence of your name change (for example, a marriage certificate or deed poll). If you don’t, the authorities may refuse to allow the marriage to go ahead.
Register your civil partnership
You’ll need to give your CNI and statutory declaration to the registrar at the comune (town hall).
After you register your civil partnership
Your civil partnership will be recognised in the UK if:
- you follow the correct process according to the law in Italy
- it would be allowed under UK law
You won’t need to register your civil partnership in the UK.
If you need extra copies of your civil partnership certificate, you can apply for them at the local comune.
If your partner isn’t a British citizen, they can apply for British citizenship once they’ve lived in the UK for 3 years.
Your answers
- Is your partner of the opposite sex, or the same sex?
- Same sex
- Change Is your partner of the opposite sex, or the same sex?