Registering a newborn in Italy

The dichiarazione di nascita in 3/10 days, the atto di nascita, a codice fiscale for the newborn, the child's citizenship and extracts for the consulate.

Author: permesso.love editorial team- updated October 12, 2026- 9 min read- how we verify

In short

Birth registration is the child's first and most deadline-driven document in Italy: the birth must be declared within 3 or 10 days, depending on where you go. Everything else grows out of this registration: the civil record, the extracts, the codice fiscale, the pediatrician enrollment and the consular procedures. Below is the whole route step by step: who files and where, what to bring, how to get extracts for the Russian consulate and what happens with the child's citizenship. This is part of the series on paperwork after giving birth in Italy; everything here is a guide based on general rules and community experience, not legal advice.

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In brief: community data

Tight deadlines: the dichiarazione di nascita is filed within 3 days via the hospital (direzione sanitaria) or 10 days via the comune; the basis is the attestazione di nascita.
Marriage and acknowledgement: if the parents are married, one of them can declare it; without a marriage both come as a rule, and the father acknowledges the child (riconoscimento).
The codice fiscale usually comes automatically: per the community the comune more often passes the data to the Agenzia delle Entrate itself, the code is assigned and the card arrives by mail; if nothing comes, you request it in person with the birth record.
Citizenship is not Italian: Italy passes it by blood (ius sanguinis), a child of foreigners is born with the parents' citizenship, and the Italian one can be requested at 18 (application before 19) after continuous legal residence since birth.
For the Russian consulate - three steps: per the community you take an extract from the civil record, get an apostille at the prefettura and have it translated into Russian; format requirements differ between consulates - check in advance.

What the law says about registering a birth

Rules from the current texts on normattiva.it (checked 12.10.2026):

What	Rule	Norm
Who declares	One of the parents, a holder of a special power of attorney, the doctor, the midwife or another person present at the birth	art. 30(1) DPR 396/2000
What it rests on	The attestazione di avvenuta nascita: the mother's details, place, day and time of birth, sex of the child	art. 30(2) DPR 396/2000
3 days - at the hospital	Declaration to the direzione sanitaria of the hospital or clinic; a child born outside marriage can be recognised at the same time; the hospital sends the papers to the comune within the next 10 days	art. 30(4) DPR 396/2000
10 days - at the comune	At the comune where the birth took place or at the parents' comune of residence; if the parents live in different comuni and have not agreed otherwise - the mother's	art. 30(4) and (7) DPR 396/2000
After 10 days	You must state the reason for the delay; the record is made, but the comune reports it to the public prosecutor. Without the attestazione or a reason - only through a court (rettificazione)	art. 31 DPR 396/2000
Italian citizenship	A person born in Italy who has lived here legally without interruption until 18 becomes a citizen by declaring it within one year of coming of age	art. 4(2) L. 91/1992

When this matters and how to use it: the easiest route is the 3 days at the hospital - recognition by the father, if the parents are not married, is settled the same day. If you miss it, you still have 10 days at the comune; from day 11 the registration is "tardiva" and the prosecutor is notified. For citizenship under art. 4(2) the legal residence must be uninterrupted, so from birth keep the child on the parents' permesso and in the anagrafe - how: permesso for a child.

Sources: art. 30 and art. 31 DPR 396/2000, art. 4 L. 91/1992 - normattiva.it (checked 12.10.2026).

Step 1. Dichiarazione di nascita: 3 or 10 days

The dichiarazione di nascita is the official birth declaration that starts the child's legal life. The general rule gives two windows:

3 days - via the hospital. The declaration is filed at the direzione sanitaria of the hospital or clinic where the birth took place. This is the most common and convenient path: everything happens where you already are.
10 days - via the comune. The declaration is filed with the ufficiale dello stato civile in the comune of the child's place of birth or of the parents' residence.

The basis for the declaration is the attestazione di nascita, the birth attestation issued by the doctor or midwife. If the parents are married, one of them can come. If there is no marriage, as a general rule both come: together with the registration the father acknowledges the child (riconoscimento). Missing the deadline does not leave the child without documents, but it turns a simple procedure into a long one involving the prosecutor's office - so do not test the deadlines.

What to bring

Both parents' passports or permessi, the attestazione di nascita from the hospital and, if you have it, the marriage certificate. Some comuni ask for a translation of a foreign marriage certificate - check in advance. How to translate and apostille documents is covered in the article on legalization.

Step 2. The atto di nascita and the extracts

Based on the declaration, the atto di nascita is drawn up - the birth record in the stato civile registers. The record itself is not handed out; the comune produces derivative documents from it:

certificato di nascita - a short certificate: who was born, where and when;
estratto dell'atto di nascita - an extract with the details of the record, including the parents;
copia integrale - a full copy of the record, requested less often.

Extracts are ordered at the anagrafe or stato civile office, in many comuni online. For Italian offices a plain certificato is enough; foreign ones, including the Russian consulate, need an extract with an apostille and a translation - more on that below.

The registration at the hospital turned out to be the easiest part: they pointed us to the right desk and it was done in one visit. The extracts for the consulate we later ordered twice - the first version was rejected over the translation, so clarify the requirements ahead of time.

community member, rephrasedpersonal opinion

Step 3. A codice fiscale for the newborn

The child needs the tax code almost immediately: without it there is no pediatrician enrollment, no tessera sanitaria and no benefit applications. The procedure:

In many comuni the birth data goes to the Agenzia delle Entrate automatically, the code is assigned on its own, and the card or letter arrives at the parents' address.
If nothing arrives within a couple of weeks, a parent goes to an Agenzia delle Entrate office with their own document and the birth record and gets the code on the spot.

How the code itself works and why every Italian procedure needs it is covered in the article on the codice fiscale and residenza. After the code the child is enrolled in the SSN and a pediatrician is chosen - the mechanics are described in the article on the tessera sanitaria.

The child's citizenship: why not Italian

The most common misconception is that being born in Italy grants an Italian passport. It does not: Italy passes citizenship by the blood principle, ius sanguinis. A child of foreign parents is born with the parents' citizenship, however Italian the maternity ward. The Italian option appears later: a foreigner born in Italy can request citizenship at 18 after continuous legal residence in the country since birth; the application is filed before turning 19. Conditions and practice change - check the current rules on interno.gov.it. The general map of paths to the passport is in the article on Italian citizenship.

For a Russian family this means: the child's Russian citizenship is arranged through the consulate, while the status in Italy comes through the parents - via the addition to a permit or an own permesso for a child.

Extracts for the Russian consulate: apostille and translation

To arrange Russian citizenship and a passport for the child, the consulate needs confirmation of the birth from the Italian registers. Per community experience the route looks like this:

Order an extract from the civil record at the comune. Better to take a couple of copies: consular procedures like to keep originals.
Get an apostille at the prefettura of the province where the document was issued. Details are in the article on document legalization.
Have it translated into Russian. Translation and certification requirements vary by consulate: some certify the translation themselves, some accept a ready one. Check your consulate's website before booking.

Then comes the booking and filing: the whole consular route with citizenship and the passport is covered in the article on a child's passport at the consulate, and the general overview of how the consulates work is in the article on the Russian consulate.

This is not legal advice

The dichiarazione di nascita deadlines come from general rules, but the procedure at a specific hospital or comune may differ, and consulate requirements for extracts and translations change. Verify with the official sources and your own offices.

Giving birth in Italy: the paperwork - the parent article for the whole paperwork program before and after the birth.
Permesso for a child - how to legalize the newborn through the parents.
A child's passport at the consulate - Russian citizenship and the passport by appointment.
Document legalization - the apostille at the prefettura and translations.
The SSN and the tessera sanitaria - enrolling the child in healthcare and choosing a pediatrician.
Pregnancy and birth in Italy - the medical side of the topic.

Official sources

interno.gov.it - Italian Ministry of the Interior: stato civile, anagrafe, citizenship.
normattiva.it - the texts of the civil status rules (DPR 396/2000) and the citizenship law (law 91/1992); art. 30-31 DPR 396/2000 and art. 4 L. 91/1992 checked 12.10.2026.
agenziaentrate.gov.it - the codice fiscale: assignment and duplicates.
salute.gov.it - the SSN, pediatrics, newborns' rights.
esteri.it - apostilles and legalization of Italian documents for use abroad.

Frequently asked questions

Where and by when is the dichiarazione di nascita filed?

Two standard windows: within 3 days at the direzione sanitaria of the hospital where the birth took place, or within 10 days at the civil registry office of the comune - of the place of birth or of the parents' residence. The maternity hospital usually explains the procedure itself. The deadlines come from general rules; confirm the details locally - this is not legal advice.

What is needed to register a birth if the parents are not married?

If the parents are married, either of them can declare the birth. If there is no marriage, as a general rule both must come: the father acknowledges the child (riconoscimento) and this is recorded in the civil record. The set is the parents' documents and the attestazione di nascita from the hospital. Confirm the procedure in your comune in advance - this is not legal advice.

How does a newborn get a codice fiscale?

Most often the comune passes the birth data to the Agenzia delle Entrate during registration and the code is assigned automatically, with the card or letter arriving by mail. If the code never arrives, a parent requests it at an Agenzia delle Entrate office with the birth record and their own documents. Check the current procedure on agenziaentrate.gov.it - this is not legal advice.

Does a child born in Italy get Italian citizenship?

No, not automatically. Italy passes citizenship by blood (ius sanguinis): a child of foreign parents is born with the parents' citizenship. The child can request the Italian one at 18, after continuous legal residence in Italy since birth - the application is filed before turning 19. Check the rules on interno.gov.it - this is not legal advice.

Which extracts does the Russian consulate need and where do you get them?

From the civil record the comune issues a certificato and an estratto di nascita. For the Russian consulate, per community experience, you take an extract from the civil record, get an apostille on it at the prefettura and have it translated into Russian. Format and translation requirements differ between consulates - check your consulate's website before booking. This is not legal advice.

Does a newborn need to be registered as a resident separately?

Usually not: when registering the birth the comune enters the child into the anagrafe at the parents' address, and no separate cambio di residenza is needed. If the parents are registered in another comune or the addresses do not match, clarify the procedure with your anagrafe office. This is community-based guidance, not legal advice.

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