Weddings

Before a couple can enter a valid Catholic marriage, they need documentary proof that they are free to marry. These documents are to be obtained by each partner from his/her local parish and should reach us not less than one month before the day of the wedding. Your parish clergy should be notified at least five months before the wedding to allow the necessary documents to be prepared. The principal documents needed are the following:

Pre-nuptial enquiry form for each party (obtained from your present parish.)
Baptismal certificate, issued from the parish of your baptism and dated within the last six months (an old certificate from your Confirmation days will not do).
Confirmation certificate issued from the parish of your confirmation and dated within the last six months.
Permission from the bride’s Parish Priest (or one of his curates) that she may be married outside her own parish.
When these documents have been gathered for both parties, they should be forwarded by the bride’s parish priest to his bishop for a covering letter and then dispatched to the Irish College at the address on page 1.

In particular circumstances, some extra documents may be required. Your local clergy will say whether these are needed:

Letters of freedom from places where either party has lived for a considerable period since their sixteenth year.
Mixed marriage dispensation: all the papers for a mixed marriage are prepared by the priest of the Catholic partner.
Where required, a document certifying the cessation of a previous bond, e.g. a death certificate, or a decree of nullity
Where required, a document certifying the dispensation of an impediment.
When completing forms, you will be asked the name of the Church in Rome which is St. John Lateran and also the name of the priest in charge of arrangements in Rome, who is Reverend Paul Finnerty.

PREPARATION

Attendance at a pre-marriage course is strongly recommended for all couples getting married in Rome. Suitable courses are held regularly under the direction of Accord. For information, see www.accord.ie Alternatively, a couple might prefer to enrol in an Engaged Encounter weekend. Your local clergy will advise how to go about attending either of these.

REQUIRED BY THE ITALIAN AUTHORITIES – DOCUMENT OF NO IMPEDIMENT “NULLA OSTA”.

Everybody wishing to marry in Rome must apply for a Certificate of No Impediment, (Nulla Osta) regardless of nationality. A Certificate of No Impediment is a document issued by the civil authorities in the country of which you are a citizen which states that, as far as they are aware, you are free to marry. Weddings in Rome cannot be carried out without this document.

IRISH PASSPORT HOLDERS

Irish Passport holders who are resident Ireland (including Northern Ireland) should apply to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin for a Certificate of No Impediment/Nulla Osta

Department of Foreign Affairs, Consular Section, 80 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2. Tel 01 4082568

Consular Services are also available in Cork for those living in the counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Waterford. For further information please contact:

Consular Services, Department of Foreign Affairs, 1a South Mall, Cork. 
Tel 021-4944765 or 021-4944763. Fax. 021-4944772

Irish nationals living abroad, should apply to the Irish Embassy in their country of residence

Further Information can be obtained from the Irish Embassy here in Italy by viewing their website www.irishembassy.it or by contacting rome.consular@dfa.ie

Both the bride and groom should fill out separate application forms for the Certificate.
In all forms, to avoid confusion, please use your name as it appears on your passport.
Please note that the forms should be completed at least 16 weeks before the wedding (and should be returned to the office of issue within 10 weeks of the wedding). This is very important. The enclosed Irish College questionnaire should not be returned to the College until the Certificate of No Impediment application has been completed.

Before returning the forms to the Department of Foreign Affairs, check carefully that each section has been filled in clearly and legibly and, above all, CORRECTLY. It is important to ensure that there are no discrepancies between names and other details on church and civil documents.

HOLDERS OF BRITISH PASSPORTS

Contact the local town hall before making any plans to find out about local marriage laws, including what documents you’ll need.

What you need to do

You will need to get a certificate of no impediment (CNI) from the authorities in the UK to prove you’re allowed to marry. You can normally get a CNI by giving a notice of marriage at your local register office or registrar in the UK. A CNI issued in England, Wales or Northern Ireland is valid for 6 months

Getting a statutory declaration

While you are waiting for your CNI, you and your partner will need to make a statutory declaration before a solicitor or public notary. The Italian authorities will need this in addition to your CNI. There’s a standard template in English and Italian that you can download and use from the web-site www.gov.uk/marriage-abroad. Download ‘Bilingual statutory declaration for marriage in Italy’ (PDF, 90KB)

You will need to get your statutory declaration and CNI ‘legalised’ (certified as genuine) by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). You’ll also need to get your CNI translated and sworn before the Italian courts or an Italian Justice of the Peace. For this you can contact Dalla Vedova Studio Legale on e-mail dvsl@dallavedova.com

OTHER NATIONALITIES

Information concerning other nationalities can be obtained by writing to the Rector of the Irish College, or by contacting your Dept. of Foreign Affairs in your own country.