Direct answer
If you marry validly in Italy, you are married in the UK and the US. There is no home registration step to complete and no register to be added to. Both governments state this directly.
What you may need is a copy of the Italian certificate, sometimes with an apostille, when an institution asks you to prove the marriage.
Married in Italy = married at home, automatically. Certificate + apostille only if an institution asks.
Common misconception
- Certificate
- Apostille
- Register at home This step doesn’t exist
Where the marriage is recorded
For a civil ceremony, the record is made at the time. The Ufficiale dello Stato Civile who marries you enters the act in that comune’s civil status registers during the ceremony (Ministero dell’Interno).
For a Catholic ceremony, the record is made afterwards. The priest requests transcription in writing within five days of the ceremony, and the registrar completes it within twenty-four hours of receiving the act (Law 121/1985, art. 8).
The marriage has civil effect from the moment of the ceremony, not from the date of transcription, even where the registrar transcribes late. A late transcription can also be requested afterwards by either spouse, provided both remained free to marry in the meantime (same source). Still worth confirming it was done, because the certificate you will later need comes from that register entry.
Either way, the marriage lives in the register of the comune where you married. That comune issues the certificates, however long afterwards you ask.
Getting the certificate
Ask the institution that wants the document which form it needs before you request anything, and ask your comune what it issues. Practice and fees vary between comuni.
There is also a multilingual extract under the 1976 Vienna Convention, usable in the countries party to it without translation or legalization (Comune di Vinci). Neither the UK nor the US is a party, so for those two countries the multilingual form does not remove the legalization step. It is still useful if you need the certificate in a country that is party to the convention.
Apostilles: which office
An apostille certifies the signature on a document so another country will accept it. Which Italian office issues it depends on what the document is.
- The marriage certificate is an administrative act signed by the civil registrar, so its apostille comes from the Prefettura (Procura di Ravenna).
- A sworn translation of that certificate is a notarial-type act, so its apostille comes from the Procura della Repubblica (Procura di Parma).
If you need both the certificate and a sworn translation apostilled, that is two documents at two different offices. Prefettura Milano charges a €16 revenue stamp per document and works by appointment (Prefettura di Milano). Other prefetture set their own arrangements. For how much this can actually vary office to office, see our guide on official costs.
Recognition at home: the UK and the US
The UK: nothing to register
There is no UK registration step, and there has not been one since 2014.
The UK government’s own words: “There is no legal requirement to deposit your foreign marriage or civil partnership certificate with the GRO, or to have your marriage/civil partnership recorded in the UK,” and “The validity in UK law of a marriage or civil partnership contracted in a foreign country is in no way affected by its having been, or not having been, recorded in the UK.” The Foreign and Commonwealth Office discontinued the deposit service on 1 January 2014 (GOV.UK).
A marriage abroad is recognized in the UK if it was validly contracted under the law of the country where it took place.
The US: nothing to register
The same answer, from the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual: “In general, marriages which are legally performed and valid abroad are also legally valid in the United States.” Questions about a specific marriage’s validity go to the attorney general of the state where you live (7 FAM 1450).
For immigration, USCIS applies the place-of-celebration rule: a marriage valid where it was performed is valid for immigration purposes, and a marriage certificate is prima facie evidence of it (USCIS Policy Manual).
USCIS requires a full, certified English translation of any foreign-language document, including an Italian marriage certificate — a summary translation isn’t accepted (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 1, Part E, Chapter 6). A plain photocopy of the certificate is enough when you file; USCIS can still ask for the original later, but its policy manual doesn’t require an apostille or a notarized copy for this purpose — some commercial immigration-services sites claim otherwise, but that claim doesn’t appear anywhere in USCIS’s own published policy, which we’re treating as the more reliable source. This holds the same way for a marriage-based petition and for a name change on a USCIS-issued document, both checked directly against USCIS’s own manual. We could not check the naturalization case the same way and are relying on secondary sources for it, so confirm this specifically if you’re filing Form N-400.
For Social Security, file Form SS-5 by mail or in person — the online name-change path only works for a marriage certificate issued by a participating US state, so an Italian certificate needs the paper route. Submit the original certificate or a copy certified by the Italian civil registry itself; SSA doesn’t accept notarized or uncertified photocopies. You don’t need a translation before applying — SSA can arrange one internally, though this can slow things down — but only a translation from an SSA-authorized translator speeds the process up; SSA’s own criteria for that are narrower than any certified commercial translator, and can vary by field office. One thing we can’t confirm: whether SSA ever requires an apostille specifically for a foreign marriage certificate. The Social Security Administration’s own policy section written to answer exactly that (POMS RM 10212.050) currently returns an error on SSA’s own site, despite two other current SSA policy pages still citing it by name.
Why the myth persists
The idea that a foreign marriage must be registered at home is widespread, and the UK once ran a deposit service that made it look mandatory. That service was withdrawn in 2014, and the guidance above says plainly that depositing a certificate never affected the validity of the marriage.
You may still want extra certified copies, and an apostille when an institution asks for one. That is document logistics rather than registration.
What to do
- Confirm the marriage was entered in the comune’s register: at the ceremony for a civil marriage, and shortly after for a Catholic one, once the priest has filed the act.
- Request certificates from that comune, having first asked the receiving institution which form it wants.
- Get an apostille only when something specific requires it. Prefettura for the certificate, Procura for a sworn translation.
Before you rely on this
Practice varies by comune, and name-change requirements vary by institution and, in the US, by state. Two things above are still open: whether SSA requires an apostille for a foreign marriage certificate (its own guidance page on this was unreachable when we checked), and the naturalization case for USCIS, which rests on secondary sources rather than USCIS’s own manual read directly. Confirm both with the agency if they apply to you. For anything not covered here, check directly with the agency concerned.
This guide covers what happens to your certificate once you’re home. It does not cover which ceremonies are legally binding in the first place (see our guide on which ceremonies are legally binding in Italy), what your comune needs from you before it will confirm a date (see our guide on comune requirements), where a civil ceremony can legally take place (see our guide on where you can legally marry in Italy), what any of this costs (see our guide on official costs), or what your guests need to enter the country (see our guide on guest entry requirements).
US citizens who are still arranging the marriage can start with our US-citizen process Guide; this Guide begins after the comune has created the record.
British nationals who are still arranging the marriage can start with our UK-citizen process Guide; this Guide begins after the Comune has created the record.
Sources and review
Reviewed 13 August 2026 by Luka Belik for Plan a Wedding. This guide is reviewed periodically. Read our editorial policy or use our contact page to report a correction.