Obtaining vital records (atti di stato civile) from Italian municipalities is one of the most important and sometimes most challenging steps in the citizenship by descent process. You need your ancestor’s Italian birth certificate at minimum, and often their marriage and death certificates as well. Italian record-keeping practices, municipal office hours, and communication norms are very different from what Americans are used to. This guide walks you through how to find, request, and obtain the documents you need.
What Records Exist and Where
Italy began mandatory civil registration (stato civile) in different years depending on the region. In the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (southern Italy and Sicily), civil records date back to 1809 under Napoleonic rule. In most of northern and central Italy, civil registration began with Italian unification in 1866. Church records (registri parrocchiali) go back centuries earlier but are generally not accepted for citizenship purposes. You need civil (government) records.
Italian vital records are held at two levels. The comune (municipality) where the event occurred holds the original registers. These offices are called the Ufficio di Stato Civile (civil status office) or Ufficio Anagrafe (registry office). The Tribunale (court) of the relevant district holds duplicate registers, useful as a backup if the comune’s records were damaged or destroyed (as happened in parts of Italy during World War II). For records older than 75 years, the Archivio di Stato (state archives) in each provincial capital may also hold copies.
Types of Certificates
Certificato di Nascita / Estratto dell’Atto di Nascita (birth certificate / extract of birth record): Shows the person’s name, date and place of birth, and parents’ names. The estratto (extract) is the standard document used for citizenship. The copia integrale (full copy) reproduces the entire original register entry, including marginal annotations (annotazioni marginali) that may record marriage, death, citizenship changes, or other legal events. For citizenship cases, the copia integrale is sometimes requested because the annotations can confirm that no renunciation of citizenship was recorded.
Certificato di Matrimonio / Estratto dell’Atto di Matrimonio (marriage certificate): Shows both parties’ names, date and place of marriage, and parents’ names. Needed to connect generations and verify name changes.
Certificato di Morte / Estratto dell’Atto di Morte (death certificate): Shows the person’s name, date and place of death, and sometimes parents’ names and spouse’s name.
Certificato di Non-Rinuncia (certificate of non-renunciation): A crucial document for citizenship cases. This certificate, issued by the relevant Italian consulate or the comune, confirms that the individual never formally renounced Italian citizenship. Not all consulates or comuni issue this in the same format. Some provide a specific certificate; others include the information as an annotation on other documents.
Identifying the Right Comune
You need to identify the specific comune where your ancestor was born, married, or died. Italy has approximately 7,900 comuni, and they range from major cities to villages with fewer than 100 residents. The name of the town your family remembers may not be the official name of the comune (villages are sometimes frazioni, subdivisions of a larger comune).
Resources for identifying the correct comune: Family oral history and old documents (letters, passports, naturalization papers often list the birthplace). U.S. immigration records on FamilySearch and Ancestry.com (ship manifests, naturalization petitions, census records). Italian Antenati portal (the Italian State Archives’ free online database of digitized civil records, covering many comuni from the 1800s through early 1900s). Church records from the relevant diocesi (diocese), which can help identify the exact parish and thus the comune. Social media groups dedicated to Italian genealogy and specific regions.
Once you identify the comune, verify its current status. Some historic comuni have been merged (fusione di comuni) into larger municipalities over the decades. The records will be held by whatever entity currently administers that territory. A quick search on the Italian government’s Comuni-Italiani.it directory confirms the current name, province, and contact information.
How to Request Records
Writing to the Comune
The standard approach is to write a formal letter or email to the comune’s Ufficio di Stato Civile. Most small comuni have a single email address or PEC (certified email) address listed on their website. Larger cities may have online request forms or dedicated offices.
Your request should be in Italian (even a simple, clear Italian letter dramatically increases your chances of a response versus writing in English). Include: your full name and contact information, the full name of the person whose record you are requesting, the approximate date of the event (birth, marriage, death), the names of the person’s parents if known, the reason for the request (for riconoscimento della cittadinanza italiana per discendenza, recognition of Italian citizenship by descent), and a request for either the estratto dell’atto or copia integrale as appropriate.
Response Times
Response times vary enormously. Some comuni respond within days. Others take weeks or months. Very small comuni may have a single part-time employee handling all administrative functions. Large cities (Naples, Palermo, Rome) have enormous volumes of requests and significant backlogs. During summer (July and August) and around Christmas/New Year, many small municipal offices operate on reduced schedules or close entirely.
If you do not receive a response within 4 to 6 weeks, send a polite follow-up. If the comune has a PEC address, using PEC can sometimes get faster results because PEC communications have legal standing in Italy.
Fees
Italian vital records requested for citizenship purposes are typically issued free of charge (esente da bollo) under Italian law, as they fall under citizenship recognition proceedings. Some comuni may request a small fee (EUR 1 to EUR 5) for administrative costs or postage. If a comune asks for a larger fee, it may be worth politely noting that records for citizenship recognition are exempt from stamp duty under DPR 445/2000 and related regulations.
Apostille on Italian Documents
If you are applying through an Italian consulate in the U.S., Italian-issued documents generally do not need an apostille (they are already Italian documents being submitted to an Italian authority). If you are applying through a comune in Italy, Italian documents similarly do not need apostilles. However, specific consulates or comuni may have particular requirements, so always confirm with the receiving authority.
Common Challenges
Records destroyed or missing. World War II bombing, fires, floods, and earthquakes have destroyed records in some comuni, particularly in areas of heavy fighting (Cassino, Naples, parts of Sicily, coastal Tuscany and Lazio). In these cases, check the Tribunale duplicate registers, the Archivio di Stato, or church records as secondary evidence. A formal declaration from the comune that records were destroyed (certificato di inesistenza) is itself a useful document for your case.
Name spelling variations. Italian names were often recorded phonetically by American immigration officials, and spellings shifted over generations. Giuseppe became Joseph, Giovanni became John, and surnames were frequently altered (Di Marco became DeMarco or Demarco). Italian records will use the original Italian spelling. Cross-reference multiple U.S. documents to identify the original Italian name, and search Italian records using the Italian form.
Comune does not respond. Persistence is key. Try email, PEC, registered mail (raccomandata), phone calls, and if possible, having an Italian-speaking person call during office hours (typically weekday mornings, 9:00 to 12:00). In some cases, engaging a local researcher (ricercatore) or professional genealogist in Italy who can visit the comune in person is the most effective solution.
Records not yet digitized. The Antenati portal is extensive but does not cover all comuni or all time periods. Many records exist only in handwritten ledgers stored in municipal offices or archives. In-person research or hiring a local researcher may be necessary for records not available online.
The Antenati Portal
Italy’s Antenati portal is a free, searchable database of digitized civil records from Italian state archives. Coverage varies by region and time period, but it includes millions of records from the 1800s and early 1900s. You can search by name or browse registers by comune and year. The records are scans of the original handwritten ledgers, so reading them requires some familiarity with 19th-century Italian handwriting and the administrative format of the period. Even if you cannot read the records yourself, finding the specific register page is invaluable for identifying the exact document to request from the comune.
Working with PortaleItaly
Document gathering from Italian comuni is one of the most time-consuming and unpredictable parts of the citizenship process. Language barriers, unresponsive offices, missing records, and bureaucratic idiosyncrasies can add months to your timeline if you are navigating this alone. PortaleItaly handles Italian document requests on behalf of our clients, leveraging established relationships with comuni across Italy, native Italian communication, and experience with the specific requirements of citizenship cases. Contact us to discuss your case.