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Italy

Documents for Italy

Which route your papers take depends on the country that issued them, not on where you live now. And one change is recent enough that most guidance has not caught up: since 30 March 2025 Bangladeshi documents need an apostille, not consular legalisation.

Key facts

  • Since 30 March 2025 Bangladeshi documents need an apostille instead of consular legalisation. [2]
  • India and Pakistan use the apostille. [3]
  • Sri Lanka and Nigeria are not Hague parties: their documents need Italian consular legalisation. [2]
  • Translations must bear the stamp «per traduzione conforme». [1]

Apostille or consular legalisation: by country of issue

  • The general rule from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: deeds and documents issued by foreign authorities must be legalised by Italian diplomatic or consular missions abroad in order to be valid in Italy. [1]
  • For states party to the 1961 Hague Convention that requirement is replaced by a single formality — the apostille. A person coming from a member state does not need to approach the consular mission at all, but the competent authority designated by their own state. [1]
  • BANGLADESH — the recent change. Bangladesh acceded on 29 July 2024 and the Convention entered into force for it on 30 March 2025. An apostille from the Bangladeshi authorities now replaces consular legalisation. [2]
  • Note the practical consequence: Italy’s own reference guide for document exchange is dated 11 January 2024 and therefore does not list Bangladesh yet. If an office quotes that guide to you, the HCCH status table is the more recent record. [3]
  • INDIA — apostille, issued since 14 July 2005. PAKISTAN — apostille, issued since 9 March 2023. ALBANIA — apostille since 9 May 2004. [3]
  • SRI LANKA and NIGERIA are not parties to the Convention. Their documents follow the diplomatic route: the internal chain in the issuing country, then legalisation by the competent Italian mission there. [2]
  • A Pakistani specificity worth knowing: civil status and criminal record certificates attested by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs may also be authenticated by the Pakistani Embassy in Rome or the Consulate General. [3]

Where the Hague Convention does not apply between two states

  • One trap that catches people who move on from Italy: the Convention can be in force for a country and still not apply between that country and a particular European state, because of an objection lodged at accession. [3]
  • Pakistan is the clearest case in the Italian guide: the Convention is not in force between Pakistan and Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, among others. This does not affect use in Italy, but it changes the route if you later present the same paper elsewhere. [3]

Translation: the stamp to ask for

  • Foreign documents must be translated into Italian. The exception is documents drawn up on multilingual forms provided for by international conventions — those need no translation at all. [1]
  • Translations must bear the stamp «per traduzione conforme». That is the wording Italian offices look for. [1]
  • In countries whose legal system recognises the figure of the official translator, the translator may certify conformity themselves, and their signature is then legalised by the consular office. [1]
  • Where the local system has no such figure, you must use the certificate of conformity issued by the Italian consular office itself. That means attending in person, by appointment, with the original and the translation together. [1]

If you translate inside Italy instead

  • Inside Italy the person who made the translation swears to it — the verbale di giuramento — before the clerk of any judicial office (including the justice of the peace office) or a notary. [4]
  • The prefecture guide points to two registers where translators can be found: the Albo dei Consulenti Tecnici d’Ufficio at the court and the Ruolo periti ed esperti at the Chamber of Commerce. [4]

Before you pay

  • Apostille and legalisation are formalities. The Italian guide is explicit that they certify neither the truth of the content nor the document’s suitability for a particular administrative procedure — that depends solely on the rules governing that procedure. [3]
  • It follows that a document accepted for one procedure is not automatically usable for another. The guide gives the example of papers filed for citizenship versus transcription into Italian civil status registers, where a stricter special rule applies. [3]
  • The apostille is affixed by the competent authority of the country that issued the document, before you file anything in Italy. [1]
  • Fees are charged according to the consular tariff in force, and legalisation or a certificate of conformity requires an appointment booked in advance. [1]
  • Check the spelling of your name in the translation against your passport before you file. Transliteration tables and a name converter are on our transliteration page. [1]

This material is for guidance and reflects the position as at September 2026. The requirements of a particular municipality, court or university may be stricter — check them on the official website of the body you are filing with.

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Sources

Every statement above rests on official Italian and international sources:

  1. Italian MFA (Farnesina) — Traduzione e legalizzazione dei documenti: general rule, «per traduzione conforme», consular certificate of conformity
  2. HCCH — Apostille Convention status table (Bangladesh: accession 29.07.2024, entry into force 30.03.2025; India 2005; Pakistan 2023)
  3. Italian Ministry of the Interior — «Supertabella» guide to the exchange of public documents, edition of 11.01.2024
  4. Prefettura (Ministry of the Interior) — Traduzione e asseverazione: verbale di giuramento, court and Chamber of Commerce registers
Certified translation in Ireland: who translates and who certifiesTranslating a birth certificate and certificate of good conduct for GermanyTranslation for recognition of foreign qualifications in AustriaSworn translation for evaluating your foreign diploma in the NetherlandsCertified translation for recognition of foreign education in the Czech RepublicTranslations for Swiss authorities: certification, notary, apostilleTraducteur agréé: when and how to have a document translated in FranceSworn translation and asseverazione: how it works in ItalyGetting a foreign qualification recognised in GermanySworn translation and recognition of qualifications (homologación) in SpainSworn translator in Poland: who they are and how to check a certificationExchanging a foreign driving licence for a Polish one: when a translation is neededDoctors and nurses: translating diplomas and documents for Polish chambersCivil-status records and criminal record certificates for Polish authorities
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