GENERAL REGISTRY
The Registry Office is authorised for the Registry of Citizens Residing Abroad (AIRE). Law no. 470/1988 states that all Italian citizens who intend to live abroad must register at an authorised Consulate within 90 days of arriving in their country of residence. Even those who emigrated before this law went into effect must register. AIRE registration is necessary in order to obtain any and all documents and certificates issued by the Consulate as well as requests for passport renewal or issuance. Registration with the Consulate significantly reduces the time required for all procedures.
How to register with the AIRE
Application for registration with the AIRE can be made (by an individual Italian citizen and family members) through the Italian Consulate in the country of residence. The Italian municipality is also to provide for registration in its AIRE when it is made aware of the fact that the citizen has established residency abroad. Likewise, the Italian Consulate where that Italian citizen has taken up residency is to request the Italian municipality to register the citizen — for whom it has verified permanent residency abroad (e.g. with the issuance of a passport) — in the AIRE.
Registration with AIRE can, therefore, be done in the absence of any direct initiative on the part of the citizen concerned, who will, however, be notified of the fact by means of an administrative act of the municipality, which will be communicated, in turn, through the Italian Consulate where he/she resides.
Persons wishing to request registration with the AIRE of an Italian municipality should do so at the Italian Consulate in the place where they reside abroad, where they will have to show the following documents:
– valid Italian passport;
– proof of stable and legal residence abroad;
Changes in AIRE registration data
The Italian citizen is obliged to notify his/her municipality of origin of any and all changes in registration data (marital status, citizenship, address, family composition, residency). The Italian municipality automatically incorporates changes in data if these take place inside of Italy, but if the citizen resides abroad the Italian municipality can only be made aware of changes by that Italian citizen and through the Italian Consulate where he/she is living.
Italian citizens living outside of Italy are obliged, therefore, to notify their local Italian Consulate of any change regarding:
– address abroad;
– citizenship;
– marital status;
– composition of nuclear family;
– name change.
Notifying the Consulate of changes regarding registration data, in addition to being a citizen’s duty, allows the Italian Consulates to maintain updated records regarding their citizens residing abroad, thus facilitating both the distribution of all services requested in Italy and abroad, as well as communication between the Consulates and Italian citizens living within their jurisdiction.
Link to the relevant section of the Italian Foreign Ministry’s web site