Translation and legalization of documents
Notary services
The Notarial Office of the Consulate is responsible for receiving deeds between living persons and those of last will, taking care of their deposit and issuing copies and extracts. The notary service is due to Italian citizens who are abroad permanently or temporarily.
The notary services most frequently requested from a Consular Office are:
- Power of attorney
- Wills
- Public Acts
- Authentication Tasks
POWERS OF ATTORNEY
The power of attorney is a unilateral act by which the principal confers on an attorney the power to act in front of third parties in the name and on behalf of the principal himself: with this act, another person is given the right to act in his or her place and representative, as well as to perform the acts necessary to achieve a specific purpose (e.g. selling, buy, administer, donate, accept donations, establish or dissolve companies, apply for marriage banns, etc.).
Powers of attorney are divided into two categories:
- general powers of attorney: with these, which can only be issued in the form of a public deed, the interested party entrusts his representative with the management of all his affairs, both present and future. The general power of attorney can be issued indefinitely.
- special powers of attorney: they allow the representative to act for a specific business and can be issued either by public deed or by private deed with a notarized signature.
WILLS
The activities of the Notary Office at a Consulate include the drafting of certain deeds concerning the declarations of last will and testament of persons who are abroad. A public will is the testator’s declaration of intent to a notary in the presence of two witnesses and written in writing. In the secret will, on the other hand, the functions of the Notary Office are limited to the formal receipt of the deed (the content of which remains secret) and its deposit with the Office. Finally, the holographic will does not require the drafting by an official of the Notary Office and can be deposited anywhere and with anyone. It is usually deposited at the Notary’s Office in order to avoid the possibility of its loss and to ensure its immediate publication upon the death of the testator.
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS
This is a type of legal act (such as the deed of donation) for which the law provides for the form of a public deed.
AUTHENTICATION TASKS
The authentication activity can be carried out by a notary or other public official. A notarized private deed is a document drawn up by any means, signed by the author with a handwritten signature authenticated by the notary or other public official, who verifies the identity and full awareness of the signatory at the time of signing the deed. An authenticated private deed constitutes full proof, even in court and up to a complaint of forgery, about the authorship of the document and the wishes expressed in it.
The authentication of signature, in particular, consists of the public official certifying the origin of a document by the person who signed it. To proceed with the authentication of the signature, it is necessary to present yourself in person at the Notary or Consular Office with an identification document and your tax code. For the authentication of a photograph, however, it is necessary to present oneself in person at the Notary or Consular Office with an identification document and three identical photographs.
SELF-CERTIFICATION
“Self-certification” means “the certification produced by the interested party in place of the normal certification” (art.2, law 15/1968). In other words, it represents the possibility for the citizen to provide the same information present in a public register in a simpler way and with less burden.
The possibility of making use of self-certification is granted to all Italian citizens and citizens of European countries.
The right to make use of self-declarations has also been extended to non-EU citizens legally residing in Italy limited to data that can be verified or certified in Italy by public bodies.
Self-certification and self-declarations can be used in relations with the Public Administration and with concessionaires and managers of public services. On the other hand, they cannot be used in relations between private individuals, unless they consent to them, and before the judicial authority in the performance of judicial functions.
Certificates replaced by self-certification
The self-certification can be a substitute for:
- NORMAL CERTIFICATIONSThe following cases can therefore be used for self-certification:– date and place of birth;– residence;– citizenship;– enjoyment of political rights;– single, married or widowed status;– family status;– existence in life;– birth of the child;– death of the spouse, ascendant or descendant;– position for the purposes of military obligations;– registration in registers or lists kept by the Public Administration;– qualifications acquired;– qualifications – university and state exams;– specialization qualifications;– qualification qualifications;– training qualifications;– refresher qualifications;– technical qualification qualifications;– income or economic situation also for the purpose of granting benefits and advantages of any kind provided for by special laws;– fulfilment of specific contribution obligations with an indication of the amount;– tax code or VAT number;– any data from the tax registry;– status of unemployment;– status of pensioner and pension category;– status of student;– status of housewife;– status of legal representative of natural or legal persons, guardian, curator and the like;
– registration with associations or social formations of any kind;– fulfilment or non-fulfilment of military obligations, including those referred to in Article 77 of Presidential Decree no. 237/64 as amended by Article 22 of Law 958/86;– absence of criminal convictions;– quality of dependent life;– all data directly known to the person concerned contained in the civil status registers.
Procedures for the declaration in lieu of certificates:
The declaration in lieu of normal certifications can be made by writing on plain paper and signing under one’s own and exclusive responsibility (it is not necessary to sign in front of the employee) or by filling in substitute declarations. In addition, it is possible to transmit documents, deeds and certificates by fax, by post or by telematic and computer means to Public Administrations.
AFFIDAVIT
The interested parties can resort to self-certification for all states, facts and personal qualities that cannot be certified by a public administration, by means of a declaration in lieu of the affidavit pursuant to Article 47 of Presidential Decree 445/2000.In addition, the declaration in lieu of the affidavit can also concern circumstances relating to other subjects, of which the declarant has direct knowledge, as well as the possibility of certifying the conformity of a publication to the original.
The declaration in lieu of affidavits can be made by declaring facts, states or personal qualities directly known to the person concerned before the official competent to receive the documentation, or before a notary, clerk, municipal secretary or other official appointed by the mayor.
If it is a matter of states, facts and personal qualities that can be certified or attested by another public entity and the administration deems it necessary to check the veracity of the declarations, it has 15 days from the declarations to request the necessary documentation.
Validity of declarations in lieu of normal certifications and affidavits:
the substitute declarations have the same validity as the acts they replace. Certificates are normally valid for six months from the date on which they were issued, unless legal or regulatory provisions provide for a longer validity. The validity of the registry certificates and those relating to civil status can be extended if the interested party declares that the data contained in the certificate have not been modified and signs this declaration.
On the other hand, certificates and substitute declarations attesting to personal states and facts that are not subject to change (birth certificates, death certificates, educational qualifications, etc.) have unlimited validity.
What are the cases in which self-certification is NEVER allowed
The possibility of making use of self-certification is never allowed for certificates:
- doctors;
- sanitary ware;
- veterinarians;
- of origin;
- EU compliance;
- trademarks;
- patents.
Cases in which the Public Administration CAN NO longer ask citizens for certifications
In the event that data relating to surname, name, place and date of birth, citizenship, marital status and residence must be certified, the Public Administration can no longer ask for certifications but the presentation of an identification document is sufficient.
The data is recorded through the unauthenticated photocopy of the document itself. If the document is no longer valid, the interested party must declare, in the margin of the photocopy, that the data contained in the document have not changed since the date of issue.
Penalties for citizens who provide untruthful statements
If the administrations have doubts about the veracity of the self-certifications, they are required to carry out the necessary checks. In the event of false declarations, the falsity of the documents and the use of false documents are punished under the criminal code and the relevant laws. The declarant also forfeits any benefits obtained thanks to measures based on untrue declarations.
Identification and identity documents
In all cases where an identity document is required, it can be replaced by an equivalent identification document. The following are equivalent to the identity card:
- The passport;
- The driver’s license;
- The boat license;
- The pension booklet;
- The license to operate heating systems;
- The firearms license;
- Identification cards issued by a State Administration, provided that they have a photograph and a stamp or other equivalent signature.
If the document has expired, it can still be shown, with a declaration by the interested party on the photocopy of the document that the data contained in it have not changed.