How U.S. Citizens Can Obtain the Atto Notorio for a Civil Wedding in Italy
In this guide, we explain how to:
✔ Obtain the Atto Notorio in Italy hassle-free
✔ Navigate the Atto Notorio process efficiently
✔ Ensure full compliance with Italian Law
✔ Where the Atto Notorio should be obtained to makes things easier
About the Author
Alessandro Pirrò is a former Italian lawyer specializing in international civil marriages in Italy and consular affairs. He assists foreign couples throughout the marriage process, including procedures before Italian municipalities, consulates, courts, and prefectures, as well as the international recognition of Italian civil marriages abroad and matrimonial property regime matters.
The Atto Notorio can be obtained either at the Italian Consulate in the United States that is competent for the area where the Italian spouse resides, or directly at the Courthouse in Italy.
In practice, obtaining the Atto Notorio through the Italian Consulate in the United States is often more time-consuming and document-intensive.
Generally, the Italian Consulate will require a birth certificate that has been apostilled by the competent Secretary of State.
The document must then be translated into Italian.
The translation may be prepared by any person, who must subsequently appear before an Italian consular officer and formally declare that the translation is accurate. This declaration is made under the legal responsibility of the person who prepared the translation.
If the American citizen is divorced or widowed, the same procedure usually applies to the divorce decree or the death certificate of the former spouse, both of which must generally be apostilled and translated into Italian.
How Many Witnesses Are Required for the Atto Notorio: Two or Four?
An important point that is often misunderstood concerns who determines the number of witnesses required for the Atto Notorio.
Contrary to what is sometimes stated, the Italian court does not necessarily have the final say on whether two or four witnesses are sufficient.
Although the Atto Notorio may be executed before an Italian court, it is ultimately the Italian Civil Registry Office (Ufficio dello Stato Civile) responsible for processing the marriage that must assess whether the document is suitable for its intended purpose.
Italian legal provisions and administrative procedures allow for different requirements depending on the type of declaration and the applicable legal framework. Consequently, some Civil Registry Offices accept an Atto Notorioexecuted with two witnesses, while others may require four.
For this reason, before scheduling your Atto Notorio appointment, it’s strongly recommended contacting:
- The Italian Town Hall (Comune) where you intend to marry, if your marriage documentation will be processed directly in Italy.
- The Italian Consulate responsible for your marriage banns (pubblicazioni di matrimonio), if you are required to initiate that procedure abroad.
In conclusion we advise to ask the relevant office to confirm whether your Atto Notorio must be executed with two or four witnesses.
This preliminary verification is particularly important because an Atto Notorio issued by an Italian court is not automatically guaranteed to meet the documentary requirements of the Civil Registry Office handling your marriage.
Confirming the requirements beforehand can help avoid unnecessary expenses, delays, or the need to execute the document again.
Where is more convenient to obtain the atto notorio?
Obtaining the Atto Notorio in Italy is often considerably simpler.
In Italy, the American citizen appears before the competent Italian Court official and declares that, according to the laws of the U.S. state in which they reside, there are no impediments to the marriage.
‼️In some Italian courts, it is therefore possible to complete the procedure without first obtaining apostilles and certified translations of supporting documents.
For this reason, we generally recommend obtaining the Atto Notorio in Italy.
This approach can avoid the burden of collecting documents, obtaining apostilles in the United States, and arranging translations for consular purposes.
Of course, it is important to attend a court that does at their discretion does not require any documents to prove your status.
Over the years, we have developed working relationships with Italian courts that regularly handle these matters with flexibility without requiring any documents from the US to prove your status.
Naturally, both the Italian Consulate in the United States and the competent Italian court retain the discretion to request additional documentation in specific cases.
Explaining this part is important because many American citizens feel overwhelmed by what appears to be a complex bureaucratic process.
👉🏻In reality, there are lawful and fully legitimate ways to simplify the procedure while remaining fully compliant with Italian law.
That is how we work: respecting the law while making the process as efficient as possible for U.S. citizens who wish to marry in Italy.
Picture of an Atto Notorio
