The minor child of an Italian parent, even if born abroad, is considered an Italian citizen. Therefore, the birth certificate must be sent, for registration, to the Italian Municipality of last residence (or AIRE registration) of the Italian parent. If both parents are Italian, the municipality for registration will be that of the mother, (unless specifically requested to register the birth in the father’s AIRE town). In order to register birth certificate of your child, your marriage must first be transcribed.
1. LIST OF DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO REGISTER A BIRTH CERTIFICATE IN ITALY:
• Birth certificate-long form (Original or certified copy) with an Apostille and Italian translation;
• Copy of the minor child’s U.S. passport;
• Copy of both parents’ passports :
• Completed and signed application form. FORM to download!
2. DOCUMENTATION INFORMATION
LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE:
• The birth certificate can be obtained from the Department of Health of the State where the child was born;
• The birth certificate must also indicate the city and county of birth (a certificate issued with only the county name will NOT be accepted);
• The birth certificate must also include parents names, their date of birth, or their age at the time of the child’s birth;
• The certificate must be properly and completely translated into Italian (see below for translation information).
APOSTILLE:
• The Apostille can be requested at the Secretary of State of the State in which the document was issued (for example, if the birth certificate was issued by the Department of Health in Pennsylvania, the apostille must be requested to the Secretary of State of Pennsylvania).
• The apostille does NOT have to be translated into Italian
• The following link contains useful information regarding the U.S. Secretaries of State within this consular jurisdiction Useful information on how to request the Apostille
TRANSLATIONS:
The translation must be complete and correspond to the order of the fields and data shown on the original, must be typed and must not show conversions of weights and/or measures. Translations that do not meet these requirements will be rejected. The Consulate does not provide document translation services. Self-produced translations are acceptable if they are complete, accurate, and typewritten. The Consulate provides a list of professional translators, or you can use other professional translation services found elsewhere.
The complete documentation may be submitted in person or sent by mail to:
Consulate General of Italy in Philadelphia Attention: Ufficio di Stato Civile 600 Chestnut St, Suite 956 Philadelphia, PA 19106
The method of mailing the documents is the choice of the applicant and it is strongly suggested that you mail using a tracking number
Original documents will NOT be returned
3. Births outside of marriage
- For children born outside of marriage and whose last name is that of the father, you must present the ‘paternity acknowledgment’ certificate, issued by Vital Statistic, or any other document able to prove that the father recognized the child as his, and that such recognition is reported on the birth certificate;
- Alternatively, you can book an appointment with our Vital Records office, and present all documents listed in point 1. to process the recognition of maternity and paternity;
- To recognize adoptions you must book an appointment with our Vital Records office.