Legalising Italian documents for use abroad

An Italian document that must be valid abroad needs, in most cases, a legalisation or an apostille: the attestation that the signature of the person who issued it is authentic and that the person had the power to sign it. The general rule is simple, the difficulties arise in the specific case: each type of document is signed by a different public officer, and the signatory determines the competent office, the form in which the document must be presented and the order to follow with respect to the translation. This page is organised by type of document. The general legal framework, the conventions and the exemptions are on the page on legalisation and apostille.

What determines the competent office

In Italy legalisations and apostilles are issued by two authorities, according to the capacity of the person who signed the document. The Public Prosecutor’s Office at the court legalises the signatures of notaries, court clerks and bailiffs: notarial deeds, powers of attorney, notarial certified copies, judgments, criminal record and pending proceedings certificates and the records of oath of sworn translations. The Prefecture, the territorial office of the Government, legalises the signatures of all other public officers: head teachers and rectors, municipal officials, keepers of the business register, medical directors, officers of public bodies. The signature must be on file with the legalising office: if it is not, the document is rejected and the signature must be deposited or the document obtained from a signatory already on file. In Rome the Public Prosecutor’s Office also handles civil status records.

Guide by type of document

Document	Who signs it	Office in Italy	What to check first
Birth, marriage, death and civil status certificates and extracts	Civil status officer of the comune	Prefecture of the province of the comune (in Rome, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for civil status records)	Many countries accept certificates issued less than six months earlier. Within the European Union the multilingual form of Regulation 2016/1191 avoids apostille and translation.
Criminal record and pending proceedings certificates	Clerk of the Public Prosecutor’s Office or of the court	Public Prosecutor’s Office	Request it in the original and recently issued. For visas and residence abroad a sworn translation is often required too, apostilled separately.
School leaving diploma, degree, master’s, doctorate, transcripts	Head teacher, rector or administrative director	Prefecture of the province of the institution	The signature must be on file at the Prefecture. The original or the certified copy issued by the institution is legalised, never a photocopy. For recognition abroad check whether the authority also requires a Dichiarazione di valore.
Powers of attorney, notarial deeds, certified copies, authenticated declarations	Notary	Public Prosecutor’s Office of the notary’s district	If the document must be apostilled but bears no signature on file, the notary issues a certified copy or authenticates the signature, and that is apostilled.
Judgments, decrees, court certificates	Clerk of the court	Public Prosecutor’s Office	A certified copy issued by the clerk’s office is needed, with the certificate of finality if the foreign authority requires it.
Company register extracts, certificates of registration, filed accounts	Keeper of the business register	Prefecture	The document must be requested from the Chamber of Commerce with a handwritten or verifiable digital signature, not printed from the portal.
Medical certificates, clinical records, vaccination certificates	Medical director or officer of the public body	Prefecture	Certificates of private doctors are first authenticated by a notary, which brings them under the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Passport, identity card, driving licence	No legalisable signature on the document	Public Prosecutor’s Office, after a notarial certified copy	The certified copy drawn up by the notary is apostilled, not the document.
Sworn translation of any document	Clerk who received the oath	Public Prosecutor’s Office of the court where the oath was taken	The apostille on the translation authenticates the clerk’s signature. If the foreign country also wants the original apostilled, two apostilles are needed.

The order of operations

When the document must also be translated, there is only one correct sequence. First the document is obtained in a legalisable form, original or certified copy, and apostilled or legalised by the office competent for the signature it bears. Then the complete document, apostille included, is translated by sworn translation before the court. Finally the translation is apostilled at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, so that the foreign authority can verify the clerk’s signature as well. Whoever translates first and legalises afterwards ends up with a translation that does not reproduce the apostille on the original, and that is often rejected.

Not every foreign authority demands both apostilles: some are satisfied with the apostille on the original, others with the one on the sworn translation. That is why the quote always starts from the question of which authority will receive the bundle, and when the authority has published instructions we follow them to the letter. For countries that are not party to the Hague Convention, after the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the Prefecture the bundle goes to that country’s consulate in Italy for consular legalisation, which has its own timing and fees.

Apostille, legalisation or nothing: it depends on the country

For countries party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 the apostille is enough, a single stamp recognised without any consular step. The list grows every year: among the recent accessions most relevant to our clients, China applies the Convention since 7 November 2023 and Canada since 11 January 2024, and for both the long consular legalisation has disappeared. For countries that are not party, among them the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Vietnam, Thailand and most of French-speaking Africa, the two-step legalisation remains. Between Member States of the European Union the public documents listed in Regulation (EU) 2016/1191, among them birth, marriage, residence, nationality and absence of a criminal record, circulate without apostille and, with the multilingual standard form, often without translation. Bilateral conventions with some countries exempt certain documents from legalisation, for example with Germany and Austria for civil status records: in these cases it must be checked case by case that the document falls within the convention, because a diploma or a power of attorney is as a rule excluded. The official list of States party to the Hague Convention is published by the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

How the firm works

The firm receives the document, checks that it is in a legalisable form and that the signature is on file, and if it is not, explains how to obtain it. It arranges the legalisation or apostille at the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the Prefecture, the sworn translation into the language of the destination country, the apostille on the translation and, where needed, the consular step, under authorisation and without the client having to attend. The complete bundle is delivered at the office by appointment or sent by courier in Italy and abroad. The written quote, within one working day, states for each step the fees due to the offices and the expected timing. For foreign documents that must be valid in Italy the route is the reverse and takes place in the country of origin: it is explained on the page on legalisation and apostille.

Frequently asked questions

Does an Italian birth certificate expire when it goes abroad?

In Italy civil status certificates do not expire, but many foreign authorities, above all consulates and immigration offices, accept only certificates issued less than six months earlier, sometimes three. It is best to request the certificate shortly before starting the legalisation.

Should the diploma be apostilled in the original or can I use a copy?

The original can be apostilled, but many prefer not to let the diploma travel. The alternative is the certified copy issued by the school or university, with a signature on file at the Prefecture, or a copy authenticated by a notary, which is apostilled at the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The foreign authority sometimes indicates which of the two it prefers.

I have a translation made abroad: can I legalise it in Italy?

No. The Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office legalises only the signatures of Italian public officers. A translation made abroad is legalised in the country where it was made, or it is redone in Italy with an oath before the court and the clerk’s signature is apostilled.

The destination country joined the Hague Convention recently: is the apostille already valid?

From the date on which the Convention entered into force for that country, yes, and consular legalisation is no longer due. In the first months some local offices of the destination country may not be up to date: keep the receipt of the apostille and, if the office insists, point to the accession date published by the Hague Conference.

Why did the Prefecture reject my document for a signature not on file?

Because the office legalises only the signatures of which it holds a specimen. If the signatory has not deposited one, the issuing body is asked to deposit it or to have the document signed by an official already on file. The firm checks this point before presenting the bundle.