Bureaucratic process of Marriage: what documents are needed to get married

The wedding bureaucracy is perhaps one of the most boring aspects of the preparations and a great confusion ensues.

Knowing which documents are needed for the Civil Rite and for the Religious Rite always triggers some doubts, especially if you choose to get married in a municipality other than that of residence. So I thought of enclosing here the steps to follow in order not to run into misunderstandings and unexpected events.

Let’s see what are the procedures for the most frequent cases and if you have any questions you can contact me directly from here.

If you have the same municipality of residence

In common, a request must be made at the Civil Status Office which must contain the following data:

  • Name and surname
  • Date and place of birth, citizenship
  • Certificate of residence
  • Certificate of free status (pending the absence of marriage impediments, for example divorce or widowhood)

It will then be necessary to communicate the choice of witnesses, who for the civil ceremony will be only two (one for each party) with relative identity documents.

  • The publications posted for 8 days then leave.
  • After these, another 3 must pass for any opposition.
  • After the first 8 + 3 days, the officer will issue you the Certificate of Publication (known as nulla osta).
  • This document is valid for 180 days.

If you have two different residences

Even in the case of a different residence for one of the two spouses, the procedure listed above is valid and must be carried out in only the two municipalities, at your choice.

If you get married in a municipality different from your residence

In this case, the first thing to do is to ask the Civil Status Office of your municipality of residence (and not of marriage), or of one of the two, for authorization to marry in a different municipality.

Once the proxy is issued to you, you can proceed with the whole procedure listed above at the offices of the city that will host your celebration.

If you get married in your parish

Usually in this case it is the parish priest who takes care of the bureaucracy.

The documents to be collected are:

  • Certificate of attendance at the premarital course
  • Certificate of Baptism and Confirmation (to be requested in the Parish where both Sacraments have been recognized)
  • Certificate of free ecclesiastical status
  • The publications will be exhibited first in the Municipality and then in the Church: to initiate them, the request for publication of the Minister of Worship must be signed by the parish priest of the parish to which at least one of the two spouses belongs (if you are from two different parishes) and delivered to the Officer. of Civil Status.
  • At the end of the days of publication, it will be possible to celebrate the wedding.

So when the ceremony is religious, if the parish priest manages the documentation, you will not have to follow the civil bureaucratic process. Otherwise you will have to collect the Certificate of completed publications to be delivered to the parish priest.

If you get married in a parish different from yours

As for those who decide to marry in a municipality other than their own with a civil ceremony, a delegation is also required for the religious rite if your choice is to marry outside the parish.

You will therefore have to request the ecclesiastical clearance from the Curia, you can also do it through your parish priest if he agrees to help you, start the classic procedure reported here in the case above at your parish and only afterwards, you will then have to go to the church where the wedding will be celebrated for deliver the certificate of the publications and the delegation of the Curia.

As you can see there may be more cases and this list may still be added, Do not hesitate to contact me for more explanations and if you like share this post!

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