What is an Apostille in Italy?
An apostille in Italy is a special certification stamp attached to an official document. It confirms that the document is genuine and issued by a recognised Italian authority, so that it can be accepted in other countries without further checks.
Italy is a party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. The apostille certifies the authenticity of the signature on the document, the capacity of the person who signed it, and the seal or stamp it bears. This makes it easier to use Italian documents like birth certificates or legal papers abroad, without extra checks in each destination country.
As of 30 June 2026, 130 countries are party to the Convention, according to the official HCCH status table. Membership changes as new countries accede, so it's worth checking the list for your specific destination.
In short, an apostille is Italy's way of vouching for a document so that another Hague Convention country doesn't need to verify it independently.
When do you need an Apostille in Italy?
You typically need an apostille on Italian documents for:
Getting married or registering a civil status abroad.
Immigration, residency, and work permit applications in another country.
Admission to a foreign university or credential recognition.
Incorporating a company or doing business abroad
Foreign documents also need an apostille before Italian authorities will accept them. For example, for citizenship applications or registering a marriage at a comune.
What does an Apostille in Italy look like?
Every apostille must contain ten standard references, fixed by the Convention:
The country of issue (Italy).
The name of the person who signed the underlying document.
The capacity in which that person acted.
For unsigned documents, the authority that affixed the seal or stamp.
The place of certification.
The date of certification.
The authority issuing the apostille.
The apostille's unique number.
The seal or stamp of the issuing authority.
The signature of the issuing authority.
Since 2006, the electronic Apostille Programme (e-APP) has supported the electronic issuance and verification of Apostilles. A receiving authority can verify an Italian apostille against the issuing office's register using its unique number.
Apostille in Italy
How to get an Apostille in Italy (Step by step)
1. Identify your document type: Confirm whether your document is a civil registry document, a judicial document, a notarial act, or an academic or administrative certificate. The office that issues the apostille depends on the type.
2. Obtain the correct version: Request an up-to-date certified copy from the issuing office, such as the comune for civil status certificates. Photocopies and unofficial printouts cannot be apostilled. If several foreign offices will each keep an original, request one certified copy and one apostille per office.
3. Submit to the correct authority: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegates apostille issuance to two offices. The Procura della Repubblica (Public Prosecutor's Office at the court) handles notarial acts and judicial documents. The Prefettura handles civil status certificates, educational documents, and other administrative documents.
4. Pay any stamp duty: The apostille itself is generally issued without a service fee. Some document types require a €16 marca da bollo revenue stamp, depending on the document and its use. See the cost section below for a full breakdown.
5. Collect your apostilled document: In-person requests are often processed within a few days. Postal requests take longer, depending on the office's workload. Check the specific Procura or Prefettura for its timelines, as they vary by province.
6. Translate if required: Get an apostille first, then translate. The destination authority will usually want the apostille certificate itself translated along with the document, so one translation covers everything. The exception is a sworn translation being apostilled for use abroad; in that case, the translation is sworn in court first, and the Procura then apostilles it.
Italy's Apostille requirements
Depending on the details of your needs or situations, the Italian authority has a few requirements for you to issue an Apostille. We share these requirements below:
Official documents: First, the document you have must be an official one. This means it should be a recognized paper like a birth certificate, marriage certificate, or any other official or legal document.
Certified translation: Sometimes, your document might be in Italian, but the country where you want to use it speaks a different language. In this case, you need a certified translation in Italy. A professional translator makes an official copy of your document in the new language. For example, if you’re going to an English-speaking country, you would get a certified translation from Italian to English.
Getting the Apostille Stamp: After you have your official document and its certified translation, if needed, you should take it to the Public Prosecutor's office in Italy. There, they check your documents to make sure everything is correct. If it is, they put an "apostille stamp" on your document.
Documents that require an Apostille in Italy
Birth, death, divorce, and marriage certificates, and similar civil status records.
Educational documents.
Extracts from the Italian trade register.
Court orders, powers of attorney, and court statements.
Land register extracts.
Documents issued or certified by a notary public.
Certified translations of official documents
Criminal record certificates (casellario giudiziale) and certificates of pending proceedings (carichi pendenti).
Citizenship and naturalisation records.
Archival certificates.
Company registration and good-standing extracts.
Patents and financial statements (once notarised).
Documents that cannot be Apostilled
ID cards.
Customs documents.
Diplomatic and consular documents.
Personal letters.
Medical records and prescriptions for personal use.
Informal notes or non-official correspondence.
Private documents such as contracts and patents cannot be apostilled as they are. Once notarised, they can be apostilled as notarial acts through the Procura della Repubblica.
Difference between an Apostille and a Legalisation
An apostille and a legalisation are both ways to make your Italy-issued documents acceptable in other countries, but they apply in different situations.
An apostille applies when the destination country is a Hague Convention member. It's a shortcut: once apostilled, the document is accepted in any of the Convention's member countries.
A legalisation applies when the destination country is not a Hague Convention member. For non-Hague destinations, the document is first verified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or its delegated offices (Procura or Prefettura). It is then legalised by the embassy or consulate of the destination country in Italy.
Exemptions: When no Apostille is needed
For use in another EU country, EU Regulation 2016/1191 exempts certain public documents from both apostille and legalisation. This covers documents such as birth, marriage, and criminal record certificates issued with a multilingual standard form.
Italy also has bilateral agreements with specific countries that waive legalisation for certain documents. Check with the receiving authority whether an exemption applies before paying for an apostille.
Where to get an Apostille in Italy
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegates apostilles to the Procura della Repubblica for notarial and judicial documents, and to the Prefettura for civil status, educational, and administrative documents. Translayte also offers apostille services for all certified translated documents.
Foreign documents for use in Italy
If your document was issued outside Italy, the apostille must be obtained in the issuing country. Only that country's designated authorities can issue it.
If the issuing country is not a Hague member, the document goes through legalisation instead. It is authenticated in the issuing country and then legalised by the Italian embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over that country.
Afterward, the document must then be translated into Italian. Requirements vary by receiving office. Some Italian consulates only accept translators from their own approved list, while others accept any qualified translator meeting their certification standards.
Comuni also differ on how recently a document must have been issued and on formatting. Confirm the receiving office's requirements before you apostille anything, because the apostille attaches to that specific version of the document.
Check that names, dates, and places match exactly across all your documents. Italian offices compare records line by line, and discrepancies are easier to fix before the apostille than after.
How much does an Apostille cost in Italy?
Government apostille fee: generally free of charge.
Marca da bollo (revenue stamp), where required: €16 per document.
Sworn translation (traduzione giurata): pricing varies by document and language pair, plus court stamp duties; rates start at €64.99 on Translayte.
Certified copies from the issuing office: variable.
Courier or postal fees: variable.
Does an Italian Apostille expire?
An Italian apostille has no expiry date. However, if the underlying document has limited validity, the apostille is only useful within that period. Some receiving authorities also require documents issued within the last 3 to 6 months. If a document is reissued or corrected, the new version needs its own apostille.
Do I need a sworn translation of my Apostilled Italian document?
If the official language of the destination country is not Italian, you will need an official translation of the document and its apostille into the destination country’s accepted language.
In Italy, the standard mechanism is the traduzione giurata, a translation sworn before a court official, which makes it legally valid for use.
Requirements differ by destination. UK authorities, such as UKVI, require a certified translation into English. Other countries require translations by their own sworn or accredited translators. Confirm the destination's rules before ordering.
Translayte provides certified and sworn translations of Italian documents, including the apostille page, accepted by authorities such as UK Visas and Immigration. Request a free quote for your apostilled Italian document.
