Recognition and registration of divorce judgements in Italy
Private International Law Act No. 218/1995 provides – as a general rule – for the automatic effectiveness in Italy of foreign judgements (divorce sentences) that meet some basic requirements of compatibility with the Italian legal system.
Foreign judgements shall be registered with the competent Italian Municipality.
Foreign judgements, apostillized and translated into Italian, can be submitted for registration in Italy:
- to the Italian Municipality, directly by the person concerned;
- or to the Italian Consulate in the district of which the judgement was issued.
Recognition and registration of Canadian divorce judgements in Italy
The Italian Consulate General in Toronto may receive requests for registration in Italy of Canadian divorce sentences.
Required documents
Canadian “certificates of divorce” alone do not contain all information as required by Italian legislation. For this reason, all documents listed below are necessary (documents at points 1 and 2 must be original or certified copies issued by the designated Court):
1) Original Decree Nisi or Divorce Judgement or Divorce Order
2) Original Decree Absolute or Certificate of Divorce
NOTE: Documents under point 1) and 2) must be sent to the Consulate once they have been apostillized and translated.
APOSTILLE: HOW TO OBTAIN IT
As of January 11, 2024, the Convention of The Hague on the Apostille enters into effect in Canada. This means that Global Affairs Canada and Provincial Authentication Services will no longer authenticate public documents or other notarized private documents. Instead, they will issue an Apostille (a certificate that will accompany the original document it refers to). The Apostille eliminates steps required to get documents accepted in countries where the convention is in effect (including Italy). As an example, if a document carries the apostille, the legalization by the Consulate General of Italy will no longer be required.
a) If a document has been issued by the Authorities of Manitoba or North West Territories or if it has been notarized by Manitoba or NWT Authorities, the Apostille will be issued by Global Affairs Canada.
Click here for information on the procedure to apply for an Apostille issued by Global Affairs Canada.
b) If a document has been issued or notarized in Ontario, the request for an Apostille will have to be sent to the Ministry for Public and Business Service Delivery of Ontario.
Click here for information on the procedure to apply for an Apostille issued by MPSBD Ontario.
If a document carries the Apostille, it does not require further legalization by the Consulate. As of January 1, 2025, the Consulate no longer legalises Canadian vital records, orders or certificates. Said documents must be apostilled by the relevant Canadian authorities.
In Ontario, there are two ways of applying to obtain an Apostille certificate for a sentence or a certificate of divorce:
- You may contact a notary public/lawyer to have the original certificate/sentence duly notarized. Once you obtain the notarization, you may apply for the Apostille, which will be referred to the notarization.
- Alternatively, you may contact directly the Official Documents Service of Ontario with the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery. In this case, the ODS will reach out to the Ministry of the Attorney-General to authenticate the signature on the certificate or sentence of divorce. Once authenticated by the Ministry of the Attorney-General, the certificate/sentence will be subject to apostillization by the MPBSD.
- Please, contact the relevant Canadian Authorities responsible for the Apostille, should you need any further assistance.
- In any case, please note that this Consulate can only accept original certificates and sentences, not true copies.
TRANSLATIONS CARRIED OUT BY ATIO CERTIFIED TRANSLATORS:
The Consulate can legalise translations carried out by ATIO certified translators whose signature is on file with this Consulate (list available here). Please note that a consular fee is due for the legalization of translators’ signature (art. 69 of the Consular Fee).
If you wish to contact a translator not registered with our Consulate, you may do so but, in order for that translation to be used/recognized in Italy:
a) You will have to have the translation notarized by a notary public/lawyer operating in Canada;
b) Then, you will have to apply for the Apostille issued either by Global Affairs Canada or by the Official Documents Service of Ontario, based on where your translation is notarized.
Once your translation is apostilled, no further legalization of the Consulate will be required.
The consular fee (Art. 69 above) must be included in the envelope, in the form of a money order/bank draft for the exact amount, in Canadian dollars, made out to the Consulate General of Italy in Toronto. If in doubt with reference to the amount due, kindly reach out to toronto.anagrafe@esteri.it.
3) Application for divorce or Petition of divorce
4) Dichiarazione sostitutiva dell’atto di notorietà and request for registration of a divorce signed by the applicant, together with a valid piece of photo ID (include photo and signature pages).
All the documents must be mailed (including via courier service) to:
Consulate General of Italy
136 Beverley Street
M5T 1Y5
Toronto, ON
Please note that the Consulate will be keeping the original documents.
Incomplete applications will not be processed.
If you wish to have your documents returned to you in case of incomplete application, please include a self-addressed and pre-stamped envelope (XpressPost or any other courier service) in addition to all the documents already listed above.