Certified Italian to French translation

Italian-speaking source countries covered

Italian is the official or co-official language in four distinct European jurisdictions:

• Italy (Repubblica Italiana): 60 million inhabitants, civil status records issued by the Comuni (municipalities). The Ministero dell'Interno oversees national civil status.
• Italian-speaking Switzerland: the canton of Ticino (Italian as official language) and four Italian-speaking valleys of the Graubünden canton (Val Mesolcina, Val Calanca, Val Bregaglia, Val Poschiavo). Italian-speaking Swiss records are issued by the cantonal civil registry offices.
• San Marino (Repubblica di San Marino): a micro-state of 34,000 inhabitants, records issued by the Ufficio di Stato Civile.
• The Vatican (Città del Vaticano): an ecclesiastical state, limited use but which can issue official documents (notably marriage annulments, diplomatic records).

Italian is also spoken in certain historic communities (Croatian and Slovenian Istria, Malta to a lesser extent), but the official documents from these regions are in Croatian, Slovenian or Maltese.

The most common Italian documents

We also translate: sentenza di divorzio (divorce judgment), atto notarile (notarial deed), procura (power of attorney), certificato di residenza, certificato di stato di famiglia (household composition), autocertificazione, contracts, company bylaws (visura camerale).

Italy's EU apostille exemption & plurilingual documents (forms A, B)

Italy: an EU member, apostille-exempt for civil status

As Italy is a member of the European Union, EU Regulation 2016/1191 of 16 February 2019 applies in full. Birth, marriage, death, matrimonial capacity, name, filiation and adoption records issued in Italy are exempt from apostille for use in France.

Plurilingual forms: the 1976 Vienna Convention

Italy is a signatory to the Vienna Convention of 8 September 1976, which establishes plurilingual civil status forms. Italian Comuni can issue, free of charge, on request:

• Form A: plurilingual birth certificate extract;
• Form B: plurilingual marriage certificate extract;
• Form C: plurilingual death certificate extract.

These forms are accepted directly in France without translation. However, for high-stakes procedures (naturalisation, PACS, marriage, notarised inheritance), a full certified translation remains preferable: it includes the marginal notes (annotazioni) · divorces, remarriages, name changes, acknowledgments · which do not always appear on the plurilingual forms.

Documents outside civil status: Italian apostille

For diplomas, criminal records, notarial deeds or judgments, the Italian apostille is still required. It is issued by:

• The Prefettura of the provincial capital for administrative and civil status documents issued outside the EU regulation;
• The Procura della Repubblica attached to the Tribunale for notarial and judicial documents;
• The Ministero degli Affari Esteri for certain ministerial documents.

The Italian university system: laurea, master's, doctorate

Italy has harmonised its university system with the Bologna process. Understanding the equivalences is essential for correct ENIC-NARIC recognition:

The diploma di maturità is the Italian baccalaureate (end of liceo), with different tracks: classico (humanities), scientifico (science), linguistico, artistico, scienze umane, tecnico, professionale. The final grade is out of 100.

Dual French-Italian citizenship

Dual French-Italian nationality is allowed without restriction. Two main situations require translations:

Recognition of Italian citizenship (jure sanguinis)

If you are descended from an Italian national, you can apply for recognition of Italian citizenship by right of blood (jure sanguinis), with no limit on the number of generations. The file requires French civil status records translated into Italian (birth certificate, marriage certificate, possibly the death certificate of the Italian ancestor). Our translators also translate from French into Italian.

French naturalisation of an Italian national

An Italian national applying for French naturalisation will need to translate their Italian birth certificate, marriage certificate where applicable, and their criminal record. See our naturalisation page. The procedure is identical to that for other EU nationals.

Transcribing Italian records in France

When a civil status event takes place in Italy (birth, marriage, divorce) and involves a French national, it may be recorded in the margin of the French registers. Two frequent cases:

• Transcription of a French-Italian marriage celebrated in Italy onto the registers of the central civil registry office in Nantes (international marriage).
• Transcription of the Italian recognition of a divorce (delibazione) obtained abroad, before registration in France.

Common French procedures

• French naturalisation: Italian nationals living in France wishing to acquire French nationality. See our naturalisation page.
• French-Italian marriages: very common given geographic and cultural proximity. Translation of the atto di nascita and the certificato di capacità matrimoniale.
• Medical equivalence: Italian doctors wishing to practise in France. Automatic EU recognition simplifies the procedure, but translation of the laurea, specialisation certificates and Ordine dei Medici registration remains necessary.
• Degree equivalence via ENIC-NARIC for regulated professions (lawyer, architect, engineer).
• International inheritance: many cross-border estates between France and Italy (second homes in Italy, inherited property).
• Jure sanguinis recognition (Italian) for Franco-Italians.
• Exchanging an Italian driving licence in France (see our driving licence translation page).

Turnaround times & pricing for Italian-French translation

Italian is classed as a standard language (×1 multiplier), at the same rate as other common European languages.

How to order your Italian-French translation

Frequently asked questions about Italian-French translation