Getting Married in Italy: CNI and Nulla Osta Explained

It is Italy’s name for a certificate of no impediment. The FCDO says a CNI is equivalent to a nulla osta, and the British Embassy Rome issues the local CNI that Italian authorities accept. There are two ways to get it:

• You live in the UK: get a UK CNI from your register office, then exchange it for a local CNI by post.
• You live in Italy or elsewhere abroad: apply by post with the FCDO’s Italy notice and affirmation, signed before a notary in Italy.

We checked the FCDO’s Italy pages on 24 September 2026.

1. Give notice at your UK register office and say you need a CNI to marry, or to register a same-sex civil partnership, abroad.
2. Within three months of receiving the UK CNI, apply online and pay £50 (non-refundable), plus postage: £19 to an Italian address or £47 to anywhere else.
3. Post your UK CNI to the British Embassy Rome.
4. Rome processes the application and posts the local CNI to your chosen address in Italy.

The local CNI carries the same issue date as your UK CNI, and Italian authorities accept it for six months.

1. Download the Italy notice and affirmation, fill them in by hand exactly as your passport shows your details, and do not sign.
2. Book a notary in Italy. If you do not live in Italy, you must have been there for 3 whole days before the appointment, counting from the day after you arrive.
3. Sign both forms in front of the notary, who notarises them.
4. Apply online and pay £100: £50 for receiving notice (non-refundable) and £50 for issuing the CNI. Post the documents to the British Embassy Rome.
5. Your notice is displayed for 7 days. If nobody raises a legal objection, the CNI is issued. Collect it by appointment, or pay £19 (Italy) or £47 (elsewhere) to have it posted.

A recent divorce, any existing civil partnership, and your partner’s own paperwork. The FCDO flags these points for Italy:

• If you are a woman who was divorced less than 300 days ago, contact the Italian authorities to find out whether you can marry or form a civil partnership.
• You cannot get a CNI while you are in a civil partnership. Convert a UK same-sex civil partnership into a marriage, or dissolve it, first.
• If your partner is British, they apply for their own CNI. If they are neither British nor Italian, they should ask their own embassy what they need.

The FCDO’s Italy service covers both marriage and registering a same-sex civil partnership in Italy.

Only if your comune asks for one in writing. The FCDO route does not use one: its sworn statement is the affirmation you sign before a notary in Italy, or the notice you give at a UK register office. If a comune does ask, our single status statutory declaration (£14.99) is witnessed by a UK solicitor or notary and then apostilled.

Not for the nulla osta, if you follow the FCDO route: you post your UK CNI to the British Embassy Rome, which issues the local one. The FCDO adds that you may need other documents legalised or translated into Italian by a qualified translator, so ask your comune or the person conducting your ceremony for its list.

An e-Apostille is only for a PDF that a UK notary or solicitor has signed electronically. Birth, death, marriage and other General Register Office certificates cannot have one, so they need the paper service. Ask the authority abroad whether it accepts an e-Apostille before you choose it.

From the register office or registrar where you live: the process and fee depend on whether you live in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Tell them when you book that the certificate is for a marriage abroad.

• The names on your UK CNI should match your passports, including middle names, the FCDO says. If you have changed your name, update your passport before you give notice.
• Bring proof that any earlier marriage ended. England and Wales issue a final order or decree absolute; Scotland a divorce certificate or “extract”; Northern Ireland a decree absolute or final conditional order.
• You cannot get a CNI while you are still in a civil partnership. Convert a UK same-sex civil partnership into a marriage, or end it, first.

Yes, if it was lawful in Italy and would be allowed under UK law, GOV.UK says. The marriage is registered in Italy, not in the UK: no UK register office or British embassy will register it or issue a UK certificate, so keep the local certificate safe. GOV.UK suggests a translation if you will use it outside Italy. If you want a UK marriage certificate, you can have the legal ceremony in the UK and a commitment ceremony abroad.

Taking your spouse’s surname afterwards? Ask each UK organisation what evidence it accepts for a marriage abroad; our guide to changing your name after an overseas marriage explains what to check.

Planning elsewhere? See our guides for Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Malta, or the freedom to marry declaration overview.